43
State denies funds to clean up Boardman nursery nuisance
The Vindicator ( Youngstown)
Photo
Mill Creek MetroParks did not receive a state grant to purchase the former Inglis Greenhouse on Southern Boulevard and restore it to nature. That property has been declared a nuisance. The park district, however, did secure a $225,000 grant to add land to the Mill Creek Preserve near the intersection of Western Reserve and Tippecanoe roads.
BOARDMAN
Mill Creek MetroParks has put its plans for the former Inglis Greenhouse on Southern Boulevard on hold after not receiving a $300,000 grant to restore the property.
The MetroParks applied for grants from the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund to add more land to two township park locations and return that land to nature, said Justin Rogers, planning manager for the park system.
The park wanted to acquire the former greenhouse property, and add it to the adjoining 24-acres that the park already owns, which contain the Cranberry Run tributary.
“We’re still interested, but we’ve more or less exercised all of our options for grant funding,” Rogers said. “I don’t know how aggressively we’ll pursue anything from this point on.”
The $300,000 grant would have covered 75 percent of the project cost with the remaining 25 percent paid for by the Mill Creek MetroParks Foundation, Rogers said. The cost of demolishing the greenhouse was not included in the grant.
The park district did secure a $225,000 grant to add land to the Mill Creek Preserve near the intersection of Western Reserve and Tippecanoe roads, Rogers said.
The grant will pay 75 percent of the total project cost, and park foundation will pay the remaining 25 percent.
Township Zoning Inspector Anna Mamone said the situation with the former greenhouse remains the same from the township’s perspective.
“It still remains an eyesore. ... It just remains a problem property,” Mamone said.
The property has been declared a nuisance. Mamone said the most recent home-rule violation sent this week to the California-based property owners Beck & Co. contains a $500 fine. The fines could reach $1,000 if the property is not cleaned and maintained, she added.