If the village receives a federal Community Development Block Grant, it would construct new sidewalks on the east side of South Xenia Drive, starting at Davis Avenue near Indian Valley Middle School, Village Administrator Chris Lohr said.
The sidewalk would run south to Hunter Road and then along the east side of Hunter Road to Galloway Park.
The application is a resubmittal of a similar $82,500 grant request that fell through last year, Lohr said. The village would pay an estimated $5,000 for engineering costs for that project.
If the grant falls through again, the village might need to consider using local money to install the sidewalks, said Councilman Rick Hanna, chairman of the streets and sidewalks and public safety committees.
“I just don’t know if we can continue having the kids walking up and down through there without having sidewalks,” he said.
The village will also apply for an $11,000 to $12,000 NatureWorks grant through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to buy seven new pieces of playground equipment for the village-operated Enon Park, Lohr said.
“The nice thing about this grant is that they will count toward the (local) match volunteer time, staff time, the cost to install any kind of product that we purchase,” he said. “The way that I’ve worked this out is what the village will pay will actually be a $1 (village contribution) to $7 (state contribution) match with state funds.
If the village were to receive the grant, a parks committee meeting would be held to discuss what kind of equipment it would buy and if it would replace existing equipment, buy all new equipment or a combination of those, Lohr said.
The village would need to match that grant with $1,500 in local funds, Lohr said.
“We’ve pulled so many things out of the park this last year that the insurance said was unsafe,” said Councilman Jerry Crane, parks committee chairman. “With the one to seven (ratio) we could … replace with really nice park equipment.”
It will also request a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant from ODNR to install six new pieces of playground equipment at Galloway Park, which is jointly owned and operated by the village and Mad River Twp.
Lohr proposed that because the grant requires a 50 percent match and because Galloway is jointly owned the village might work with the township for a combined local contribution, estimating the village would pay $1,400 and the township would pay $1,200 for the approximately $7,000 project.
Mad River Twp. Trustee Kathy Estep was on hand Tuesday night and said she would discuss a contribution to the Galloway project with the other trustees.
“We have not discussed that or voted on it yet, but I certainly think it’s a reasonable idea and I would support it and I believe the other trustees probably will,” she said.
The two parks equipment grants will be awarded in the fall and equipment could be installed next year if funding is secured.
In other business, the village agreed to contribute $5,000 to the new Western Communities Area Transportation system, set to begin running Monday.
WestCAT will serve riders in Springfield, the Rockway area of Springfield Twp., New Carlisle, Park Layne, Medway, Mad River Twp./Enon and Fairborn, and connect with the Greene County and Springfield transportation systems.
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