Trustees OK funds for road work

April 16, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

By Robert Connelly

AUSTINTOWN

Trustees approved the township’s share of funding for grants on three road projects.

Austintown officials Monday approved the transfer of $59,900 from the general fund to go toward concrete resurfacing on the west end of LeHarps Drive. A grant through Issue 1, a state bond program used for road and infrastructure improvements, is paying $131,000 toward the project. Township Administrator Mike Dockry said the project is to fix the road due to commercial trucks damaging the asphalt roads.

Trustees also approved $30,000 to go toward adding lines to ease the storm water flow to prevent flooding on Pinecrest Avenue. The township used an Issue 1 grant of $155,000 for the project that has been ongoing. A sidewalk project for Bexley Drive set to begin next week was given $15,000 from the general fund and the township is receiving $70,000 through a Community Development Block Grant.

The meeting began with Dockry reminding voters that a renewal for Issue 1 funding is on the May 6 ballot. He said the township has used funding through Issue 1 for years and this would be a renewal for 10 years. It has been previously approved twice.

“They sell bonds and that’s where they get the money to provide money,” Dockry said. He added this means residents will not see their taxes increase.

Zoning Inspector Darren Crivelli said the township approved 22 permits last month, with a construction value of $850,000.

Todd Shaffer, parks supervisor, said the upgrades to the kitchen at Stacey Park’s pavilion are complete, with upgrades to electric work being completed after breakers blew last summer. Shaffer also said the pavilion construction at the dog park would be finished by the end of the week.

Jim Henshaw, director of Austintown’s senior center, told township officials that attendance keeps rising at the center.

“It’s now to the point where we ran out of room,” Henshaw said, who added they have added more tables and chairs to accommodate the increase in attendance.

“We’ve grown quite a bit.”