Clean Ohio Fund to aid 4 projects

Tuesday, August 29, 2006 The latest round adds about 450 acres of open space to the 1,300 acres preserved through prior rounds. AUSTINTOWN — Four conservation projects have been tapped to receive funding through the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund. The fund was created in 2000 by Ohio voters through passage of a bond issue. Eastgate Regional Council of Governments is the administrator for the funds to Mahoning and Trumbull county entities. Under the bond issue, this marks the last round of funding for projects. The Natural Resource Assistance Council, comprised of local representatives, chooses which projects will be sent to the state for funding. The council has awarded more than $4 million since the beginning of the fund to protect more than 1,300 acres of open space in the two counties. The latest round, approved by the council last week, adds about 450 acres. The projects: Austintown Township Parks — Restoration of 230 feet of an eroded streambank in the park, off of Kirk Road. The total project cost is $36,437 with 75 percent, or $27,328 coming from the conservation fund. Trumbull County MetroParks — Preservation of 72 acres of Mahoning River floodplains, open space and forest in Braceville. The total cost is $384,000 with the conservation fund covering 75 percent, or $288,000. Trumbull County — The preservation of 270 acres of floodplains, open space, forest and part of Swine Creek and its tributaries in Farmington Township. Total cost is $1,088,000 with $816,000 from the conservation fund. Trumbull County — Preservation of 100 acres of floodplains, open space, forest and river access in the Grand River Corridor in Mesopotamia Township. Total cost is $115,418 with $86,563 coming from the conservation fund. Projects awarded in previous rounds of conservation funding include land acquisition for Mill Creek Park, an environmental learning lab in Campbell, a nature preserve in Beaver Township, a wildlife preserve in Howland and open space preservation in Youngstown. Austintown's project involves collecting data and creating a restoration design for the streambank in the park as well as construction. The park is working with the township zoning office to create language establishing riparian setback protection measures. Riparian setbacks are property next to a watercourse within which building cannot occur. They're used to protect the floodplain, decrease flooding, limit stream bank erosion and reduce pollution. The restoration site will serve as the example site for area contractors, officials and landowners as a correct riparian setback. The local match for the grant is being provided through in-kind labor by the park department and in-kind services through the township zoning office. Trumbull project The Trumbull MetroParks project is along the Mahoning River, near the Braceville exit on the Ohio Turnpike. It's a couple of miles west of Thomas A. Swift MetroPark. The local match will be provided as a donation by the landowner. Its aim is to preserve land along a waterway, officials have said. The Farmington and Mesopotamia projects aim to develop parks in each of the two townships. The Farmington property is near the Farmington Woods housing development off Girdle Road. Valued at about $1.6 million, the land would be used to create a metropolitan park, providing flood control, land preservation and activities like hiking and bird-watching. The Mesopotamia property, valued at $110,000, is located on state Route 87 and a portion includes part of the Grand River. Owners of both parcels are donating the portion of the land to meet the matching funds requirement for the grants.