Council will seek money for park

The state wants to exclude the resurfacing of downtown Main Street.
By TIM YOVICH
Vindicator Trumbull Staff
CORTLAND -- City council has approved the filing of an application to help fund replacing playground equipment in Willow Park.
Council took the action Tuesday night to seek $38,250 from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' NatureWorks Program.
Service Director Don Wittman explained the resolution does not authorize an expenditure of $51,000 for the project.
Under the state program, the city would pay for park improvements and be reimbursed 75 percent of the cost.
John Picuri, a member of the city's park and recreation commission, explained that the commission wants to upgrade and expand the playground equipment and make the park handicapped accessible.
Resurfacing
On another matter, Wittman reported that he will be meeting with representatives of the Ohio Department of Transportation about the resurfacing of Main Street.
The road would be resurfaced from McCleary-Jacoby Road to state Route 11, excluding about 700 feet in the downtown, between Erie and High streets.
The city has requested federal highway funds through Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, an area planning agency.
Wittman said ODOT does not want to resurface the area in the downtown, asserting it was resurfaced in 2003. ODOT regulations require resurfacing every 10 years.
Wittman said that if ODOT does not fund the downtown portion, he will have it done using city funds.
Also during the meeting, Wittman explained that two of the city's six water wells went off line Jan. 3 and 4, causing complaints about low water pressure.
One of the wells was brought on line within days, but the second was just repaired by Tuesday afternoon.
The city was able to meet customer demand despite the outages, the service director explained.
He told council the wells have no alarm system to warn that they have gone off line. Water production rates are checked daily, giving the city some indication that something is wrong if the rates are down.
The city has dug three new wells in the past 13 months, Wittman said.
There is no annual maintenance check of the wells, although Mayor Curt Moll said the wells were all cleaned during 2005.
Council set a public hearing for 7 p.m. March 13 in council chambers on the creation of a landmark commission to deal with designated sites that have historical value.