Thursday, April 21, 2011
By Kristine Gill
CANFIELD
City council approved upgrading traffic-control devices at five city intersections.
A grant through the Ohio Department of Transportation for $600,000 will fund the project, improving intersections along state route 46 and U.S. Routes 224 and 62, said City Manager Joe Warino.
A second ordinance approved participation in the Federal Justice Assistance Grant, which will update the current technology at Canfield Police Department. The JAG is known as the Mobile Data Terminals Fund.
As cruisers pull up alongside the station now, information from their laptops detailing all activity automatically is transferred to the station’s mainframe computer. The grant will improve that system, which is out of date, Warino said.
That JAG totals $6,656, and the city will pay an additional $739, or 10 percent of the total cost of the $7,390 project.
Council also created a sidewalk-grant fund to improve Fairground Boulevard and Hood Drive, using funds from ODOT. The project will add sidewalks to both streets to get foot-traffic out of the roadways during the busy fair season.
The $316,000 project will begin construction after this year’s fair. It is 80 percent funded by a state grant for beautification and sidewalk improvements, with ODOT funds totaling $252,800. The city will pay $63,200 toward the project.
Council also approved an ordinance authorizing the city manager to enter into a mutual-aid agreement. The agreement would allow for collaboration among police departments in Mahoning and Trumbull counties for task force and bomb-squad duties and other things “outside the scope of regular police duty.”
Warino also announced that the sign along the Village Green at the intersection of Routes 46 and 224 will be changed from a “no right on red” to a “right turn with caution.” That change will go into effect on Memorial Day.
“That’s one issue I’ve heard plenty about,” Warino said.