EAST LIVERPOOL – With the ground alongside Lisbon Street continuing to collapse, city officials are waiting for Gov. John Kasich to sign a proclamation declaring the slip an emergency in order to obtain funding to repair it.

Service-Safety Director Brian Allen said real estate agents from the Ohio Department of Transportation met at the scene of the slip Wednesday morning and surveyed the area and the three homes that were condemned as a result of the slip that was first noticed in mid-March when small cracks appeared in the southbound lane of Lisbon Street.

“We did a lot of talking. There is a lot of paperwork to complete and file,” Allen said after Wednesday’s meeting with ODOT.

Meanwhile, he said Federal Highway Administration funding could be forthcoming for remediating the slip, but Kasich first has to declare it an emergency by proclamation, which makes it eligible for federal funding.

“We really, really need that. The document is in his office,” Allen said, adding that the city also has to provide the FHA with documentation, photographs and other information regarding the slip.

The busy street is limited to local traffic only in the northbound lane, with school bus traffic detoured around the area.

A geologists’ report received late last week suggested construction of a retaining wall as part of the remediation with an estimated cost of $720,000, but Allen said the total cost will likely be over $1 million, due to excavation, relocation of utilities and purchasing the homes from their owners.

An engineer’s report with a full remediation plan and final tally has not yet been received by the city.