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Road paving underway in Struthers
By Sarah Lehr
STRUTHERS
The city’s 2016 road-resurfacing program is underway and expected to be completed within the next week.
The city is paving Brandon Avenue from Youngstown-Poland Road to Fifth Street; Hopewell Drive from Henry Street to Butler Street; Overlook Boulevard from Poland Avenue to Argonne Street; Poland Avenue from State Street to Bridge Street; Wetmore Drive from Poland Avenue to Center Street; and Ninth Street from Midlothian Boulevard to Elm Street.
The city awarded the contract to Butch & Mcree Paving of Hillsville, Pa., which submitted a $343,910 bid for the project. An Ohio Public Works Commission grant will cover 61 percent of the cost, and revenue from the city’s road levy will finance the remainder.
In 2017, the city will resurface Marion Street from Sexton Street to Elm Street; Grandview Street from Sexton Street to Elm Street; Columbus Street from Elm Street to Park Avenue; and Terrace Street from Bridge Street to Short Street using $92,000 awarded via a Mahoning County Community Development Block Grant.
The city hopes to receive additional funding from another OPWC grant to resurface seven more streets in 2017.
In other business, community members and city and school officials met Wednesday with representatives from the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. Library trustees voted in July to hire a team of consultants to study consolidation of the Struthers, Campbell and Brownlee Woods library branches. Consolidation would force two of those locations to close.
Mayor Terry Stocker said Struthers would be an ideal location for a new combined branch because of what he described as its central location between the two other communities.
“We’re doing the best that everybody can do – try to bring the library here,” Councilman-at-large Michael Patrick said during a committee meeting. “I don’t see [any] reason why, besides politics, that we shouldn’t fare well in this process.”