Logan County Engineer Scott C. Coleman has been nominated for the National Association of County Engineers (NACE)’s Rural Engineer of the Year Award.
He was nominated by the Board of Directors of the County Engineers Association of Ohio
“Scott has been extremely involved in county engineering activities on the local, state and national levels, serving and leading multiple committees,” Kenneth Bennett, Stark County engineer and 2022 CEAO President, said in his nomination letter.
“Scott Coleman has served our county engineering profession very well and continues to share his innovative knowledge and expertise throughout the state and country.”
In January 2002, Coleman was appointed to fulfill the remaining unexpired term of the former County Engineer James K. Cox. Since then, he has been re-elected six times.
He is certified as a Professional Engineer and a Professional Surveyor with the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors of the State of Ohio.
The Logan County engineer previously has been named 2021 CEAO Rural County Engineer of the Year Award winner and a 2013 CEAO Engineer of the Year Award recipient.
Additionally, he received the 2011 Historic Bridge Award for the rehabilitation of the CR 63-2.63 bridge; and a Historic Bridge Award in 2005 for the rehabilitation of the CR 38 Bickham Covered Bridge. Those awards are presented by the Federal Highway Administration, Ohio Department of Transportation and Ohio Historic Preservation Office.
Born and raised in Bellefontaine, he graduated from Bellefontaine High School in 1990. He attended The Ohio State University to study civil engineering, graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering in June of 1994 and a Master’s Science in Civil Engineering, Hydraulics and Hydrology in 2001.
Coleman began his career at the Logan County Engineer’s office in the summer of 1990. During his first two summers of employment, he installed survey monument boxes on the county and township highways. In the summer of 1992, he worked on the survey crew.
The award nominee then went to work for the Ohio Department of Transportation in the summer of 1993.
In 1994, Coleman again returned to Logan County as an engineer intern. His primary responsibilities were to design roads, bridges and drainage structures. He has also worked on the Bell Lake Dam repair, the Perry Township salt shed, township and village paving projects, and specifications and review of the digital aerial photography of the county in 1996.
Coleman was the project manager for the digitizing of the county’s property tax maps and implementation of a Geographical Information System for the Map Room and the Auditor’s Office.
In his current role as county engineer, he has helped to pass a 0.05 percent sales tax for roads and bridges in 1997, with renewals in 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021.
Currently, the sales tax generates about $ 2 million annually for county road and bridge projects.
Since 2001, he has replaced or rehabilitated 130 of the 296 county bridges. There are only 24 bridges with posted load restrictions and only 13 bridges with a general appraisal rating of 5 or less.
Coleman has also been an innovator in bridge construction and innovation — utilizing galvanizing in reinforcing steel and beams, concrete sealers, waterproofing, painting bridges, preserving Logan County’s two remaining timber covered bridges, and building the longest span recycled plastic bridge at the time in 2011/2012.
Since 2001, his office has resurfaced 531 miles of county highways with asphalt cement concrete, and has developed and aggressive pavement preservation program utilizing chip sealing, asphalt rejuvenators and micro-surfacing.
The county engineer also has developed a safety training program, which has greatly reduced workplace injuries.
Coleman is a member of the Ohio Council of County Officials, which advocates for legislative issues for local governments and educates the public about local government. He served as OCCO secretary/treasurer (2015-2016), vice president (2017-2018), president (2019-2020), and immediate past president (2021-2022).
He also is the District 7 Director for the County Engineers Association of Ohio and serves as the bridge committee co-chair, recognition committee co-chair, salary committee chair, ways and means committee, and represents CEAO at OCCO.
Coleman has served as an executive committee member of the Logan Union Champaign County Regional Planning Commission since 2002, was president of the organization in 2004, serves as chair of the zoning and subdivision committee, serves on the budget and finance committee, served on the building committee.
An adviser for 4-H and assistant with Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts, he graduated from the 1997-1998 class of Leadership Logan County and served as an officer for the Bellefontaine Elks Lodge.