Trail work is complete

FORT RECOVERY — Work on the Paul Staugler Memorial Trail in Community Park is now complete.

Fort Recovery Village Council members on Monday heard final details about the trail and were updated on how other work at the park is progressing.

They also received an update about the solid waste management district.

Village administrator Randy Diller told council all the paving is completed and grass seed and mulch have been laid on the trail. The final amount for the project came to $12,545.83, more than $14,500 less than originally planned. Diller said savings came because of changes over the course of construction.

The trail, which loops around Community Park, was named for Paul “Big P” Staugler, who died of cancer in 2009.

The dedication ceremony for the trail is at 2 p.m. Sunday. Speakers will include Mayor Dave Kaup and Diller, and light refreshments will be served.

Other updates to the park are continuing as well.

Work on the playground will be completed soon when rubber surfacing is poured, which will happen sometime after Fort Recovery’s Jubilee that runs June 14 through 18.

Also moving along is the restroom renovation project. Diller said all that remains is minor indoor work, painting the outside and laying the concrete, all of which will be done in conjunction with the playground project.

Specifications are being finalized for the project to construct basketball/tennis courts, with re-bidding expected to open in the next few weeks.

A three-season park shelter, planned for construction in 2018, will receive additional funding from pavers sponsored by residents and businesses, village solicitor Erin Minor said. Sponsors can have their names or the names of their businesses engraved on the pavers, which will be laid on the east side of the shelter. For $100, sponsors can get a 4-by-8-inch tile; $250 for an 8-by-8-inch tile; and $500 for an 8-by-16-inch paver, with the option of adding a corporate logo for an additional $50.

Diller also updated council members Dave Bretz, Dave Garman, Scott Pearson, Cliff Wendel and Al Post, absent Erik Fiely, on the village’s solid waste management program. The program receives its funding from tipping fees at the landfill, but has received notice that the landfill will most likely be closing next year. Fort Recovery is required to have a solid waste management program, so the board will have to figure out a different source of income. The village could cover the cost of the program, or there could be additional fees to collect waste.

In other business, council:

•Approved and accepted the plat of Indian Hills Estates, a subdivision on the south side of Sharpsburg Road across from Fort Recovery Elementary/Middle School. The subdivision is 7.9 acres, with 17 lots. Now that the plat is official and recorded, Kaup, who owns the subdivision, will be able to sell the lots.

•Learned that there have been no new developments in the possibility of an outdoor refreshment area in Fort Recovery. Minor brought up the idea to the merchants’ association, which expressed some concerns. Further discussion will occur at the association’s meeting this month.

“The biggest concern is that people are afraid that it will hurt organizations’ chances to raise funds, because they will no longer be temporary permit holders so they won’t be able to sell the alcohol and make the money off the sales,” Minor said. “They would have to work out some sort of a deal with the dealers in the outdoor refreshment area.”

•Heard from Diller that the tree commission met with a representative from Ohio Department of Natural Resources about planting trees in the village this fall. Diller is hoping to plant different types of native trees in local parks.