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LORDSTOWN Council seeking grant for waterline

Tuesday, January 14, 2003


The grant would be combined with money committed by the village and the state.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LORDSTOWN -- Village leaders hope a federal grant will fill in the funding gaps for a new waterline to the General Motors plant here.
Council unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday authorizing Ron Barnhart, village planning and zoning administrator, to apply for a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration. The money will be used in the construction of a 24-inch waterline to the GM plant.
The construction was part of the village and state's pledge of services to keep GM operating its local facility.
The project's total cost is expected to run more than $2.9 million. To date, the village has committed $926,760, and the state granted $1.3 million.
Mayor Arno Hill said the village had submitted a pre-application for the money, and was given the go-ahead to proceed from the federal government.
"They invited us to submit a full application," he said.
If approved, the grant calls for the village to own and maintain any portion of the waterline on village property, while GM will own and maintain any portion on its property.
Other matters
Council also took care of several housekeeping items at the meeting, including reappointing Richard Biggs as council president and George Ebling as streets commissioner for this year.
Legislators also unanimously agreed to change the starting time of regular meetings for the next three months.
Through April, council will meet in caucus at 5 p.m. the first and third Mondays of the month, with the regular meeting to immediately follow.
Biggs said council would try the new time as an experiment and decide at the end of April whether to continue.
Council canceled the second meeting for this month. The next meeting will be at 5 p.m. Feb. 3.
slshaulis@vindy.com