By Paula Scott
A third Neighborhood Revitalization meeting was held on January 14 to further develop a grant application that could raise as much as $750,000 to improve certain areas of the village.
Discussion revolved around what projects are allowed and favored by the state and what areas of the village may be included in the application. Areas north of North Ave./State Route 81 and south of Lima Ave. cannot be part of the application.
Following this meeting, cost estimates will be generated for a variety of proposed projects. To allow time for this, the next meeting has been scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on March 18 at the Depot, 9 Central Ave.
Fourteen people including four Ada elected officials and the village administrator were in attendance at the meeting, as well as reporters from the Ada Icon and Hometown Stations. The meeting was led by senior planner Whitaker Wright of CDC of Ohio, Inc.
STREETS
Deteriorating curbs on Montford Avenue were named as a future need. Hall noted that the curbs were unlikely to be replaced unless other work was also needed at this location. On Gilbert Ave. there are two blocks with collapsed storm tiles. Grand Ave. also has drainage problems.
Hall also mentioned that the village traffic lights don’t operate in a power outage; a battery backup system would be about $43K.
SIDEWALKS
Areas with bad sidewalks and no sidewalks were considered. While some homeowners do not want sidewalks due to construction costs, which are split with the village, and because of snow removal responsibilities, they are favored by the state because they improve the safety and freedom of pedestrians. In the course of the meeting, it was decided that areas without sidewalks would take precedence.
Wright noted that when trees are damaging sidewalks the cost of tree removal is an eligible expense.
WATER PROJECTS
Several water supply-related issues were identified as safety concerns. Some 16 fire hydrants are currently out of service. The village has budgeted five replacements per year at a cost of about $10K per hydrant. While hydrant work is needed throughout the village, the application could be written to cover hydrant replacement only in the eligible block groups.
If there is uncertainty about the eligibility of any project, Wright will review it with the state in advance.
COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Discussion turned from projects that could use state funding to the “sweat equity” community projects that will be included on the application. Murals on downtown buildings, a dog park art festival, cleanup of the canon in War Memorial Park, an information kiosk, display of historic cast iron Ada signs, a water feature in Depot Park, Eagle Scout projects, wayfinding signs and little libraries were named as potential projects.
Grant application coordinators will create a list from the meeting notes and get basic cost estimates for the projects identified. To give them time to complete this work, the next meeting was scheduled for 10 a.m. on March 18 at the Depot.
