Park to buy land for bike path parking

AUSTINTOWN -- Patrons of the Mahoning County Bikeway will soon have a new place to park.
The county has agreed to sell Mill Creek MetroParks an acre and a half adjacent to the bike path and accessible from Kirk Road, said William Schollaert, the park director.
The land, formerly used by the county's hazardous materials response team, will be developed with a parking lot and restrooms, he said. On Monday, the park board approved purchasing the plot for $10.
"Generally, any land adjacent to the existing park, if it becomes available and we can afford it, we buy it," Schollaert said.
The board also approved buying two city lots on McKinley Avenue, adjacent to Fellows Riverside Gardens. A house at 34 McKinley Ave. is being purchased for $32,500, and a duplex at 25 and 27 McKinley Ave. for $71,000. Both structures will be razed and the land used for park purposes, perhaps eventually as the site for a greenhouse, Schollaert said.
The park has been buying land on McKinley Avenue for the past 16 years, he said.