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Poland Village continues sidewalk plans
POLAND
Village council members continued plans at a meeting Tuesday night to put in a new sidewalk on Sheridan Road.
Council members have discussed the possibility of putting in a sidewalk near North Elementary School, along Sheridan between Island Drive and Johnston Place.
The village plans to apply for grant funds through Safe Routes to Schools, a state program that helps communities install sidewalks to increase foot traffic to schools.
“There are a lot of people, a lot of students that walk that street,” council member Bill Dunnavant previously said. “Right now, all the pedestrians are walking on the street. We especially want it to be safe for students, and we want to provide them with the opportunity to walk to school.”
It is unclear what will happen to the sidewalk plans, however, if North Elementary closes next school year, Sicafuse said.
Although a decision has not been made, district officials plan to close the North building next year to deal with declining enrollment rates, Superintendent David Janofa said at a meeting of the board of education Tuesday.
Sicafuse said the village will continue with the planning process and wait to see what happens with the school building. He and council members plan to meet with MS Consultants Inc. of Youngstown this week.
In other business, council passed an ordinance that will allow people to use credit cards to pay for tickets at the violations bureau along with a service fee.
Sicafuse said council also is considering making payment options available online.
Council also set its monthly meeting schedule for 2015. Council meets the first and third Tuesday of every month with a caucus at 7 p.m. and the meeting at 7:30.