Controlling Board sends $250,000 in projects to the Valley

November 25, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS

New restrooms, a gazebo and a nature trail are among the projects selected for nearly $250,000 in state grants and approved Monday by the state Controlling Board.

Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties were among the sites picked in the latest round of NatureWorks grants, finalized by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Nearly $4 million in funding was approved for parks projects statewide. Ninety-eight out of 141 applications for grants from 71 counties were accepted.

In Columbiana County, $6,980 will be used to upgrade restrooms at Harvey Firestone Park in Columbiana, and $34,385 will be used to install permanent restrooms at Willow Grove Park in Lisbon.

In Mahoning County, $83,843 will be used to rehab a shelter house and pavilion and to construct a nature trail at Crandall Park in Youngstown. Another $15,048 will be used to upgrade the campground restroom and shower facility at the fairgrounds.

And in Trumbull County, $29,100 will go toward a restroom improvement project at Kinsman Township Park, $22,425 will be used for a paved path at Hartford Township Park, and $16,166 will go to a new gazebo at Weathersfield Township’s community park.

In other business Monday, the Controlling Board released nearly $41,000 for improvements to an employee location system at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown, allowing the prison’s control center to monitor the OSP camp.