East Palestine council OKs funding for development

EAST PALESTINE -- City council has approved transferring $950,240 from the city's electric trust fund to the capital improvement fund for a series of development projects.
City Manager Gary Clark said the money will be used primarily to extend water and sewer service to the south and north sides of the city, where residential development is planned.
The city will also extend the service just outside the city to the west in Unity Township, where it will develop 37 acres of city-owned property on Padgett Road. Officials also plan residential development on that land, which is contiguous to the city, he said.
There will also be improvements to the Kemple Road bridge, which crosses a creek. Clark said if the five-ton load limit is increased, there could be industrial development on both sides of the creek.
The ordinance allowing the transfer from the electric trust states the city will repay the electric trust fund as the Padgett Road residential lots are sold.
City officials established the electric trust fund in 1974 with the $3.8 million the city received from the sale of its electric light plant to Ohio Edison.