Fort Recovery to get 2nd signal

FORT RECOVERY — The village will be getting a new traffic signal soon.

Fort Recovery Village Council agreed Monday to move forward with plans for installing a device at the intersection of Elm (Ohio 49) and Butler (Ohio 119) streets.

Mercer County Commissioners recently awarded $300,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the village for the traffic signal.

Village administrator Randy Diller noted Choice Once Engineering proposed engineering work for the project at a cost of $28,650. The company has also reached out to Ohio Department of Transportation to get the OK to install the device at the intersection.

Council members agreed to contract with Choice One Engineering for the project and authorized Diller to sign an agreement with commissioners for the funding.

“We will be moving as quickly as we can with that,” Diller said.

Council also learned PMG Consulting started its study of the village’s water plant Monday. The Maryland company has been contracted for $27,000 to complete a study, which should be finished in about 120 days. Depending on the results, the village may consider other treatment options. (The village’s current treatment plan is nearly 40 years old.)

Fort Recovery has also been looking into the future of its wastewater treatment, with a study from Poggemeyer Design Group suggesting it shift to a mechanical plant.

Diller noted the village’s next step is to complete a rate study, which would look at the village’s history. That would include how Cooper Farms – Liquid Egg Products has impacted the system and how the village’s wastewater may change in coming years.

He reminded council that testing at wastewater lagoons continues to show low levels of hydrogen sulfide. Kainos Ag has been applying a product to the lagoons for months in an effort to reduce the odor that had been an issue earlier this year. Although Diller likened the product to a miracle solution, he said it’s hard to tell if any of the village’s current efforts will meet new EPA requirements on ammonia, phosphorus and E. coli limits.

Per Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines, the village is also working on installing supervisory control and data acquisition equipment at its water plant, pump stations and wastewater lagoons, allowing workers to monitor conditions via computer or phone.

Also Monday, Diller said the village has submitted a funding request through Ohio Department of Transportation’s Systemic Safety Funding program. If awarded a grant, the village would use the funds to reconstruct Butler Street from George Street to the western edge of town. Reconstruction would include lowering the hill along the west portion of the road, new sidewalks, curbs and street lights, and extending a sidewalk to the driveway to Ambassador Park. Additional safety work would also be included, improving conditions for pedestrians at Elm and Center streets and First and Butler streets.

The grant — it is offered through the department’s Highway Safety Program — would cover 90% of the cost for the construction, which has been cut from original plans to reconstruct the majority of Butler Street (Ohio 119).

ODOT previously awarded more than a $1 million Transportation Alternatives Program grant to the village to complete the project. Miscommunication between parties and inflation resulted in the cost being significantly higher than expected — $4.6 million up from the estimated $3.1 million.

The village decided to relinquish its grant dollars back to the state in December and look for other funding revenues. The Systemic Safety Funding grant was also awarded to Fort Recovery in 2022 for its plans to create a multi-use trail along Ohio 49 and Sharpsburg Road. It is scheduled to be constructed in 2025 or 2026.

In other business, council members Greg Schmitz, Scott Pearson, Luke Knapke, Al Post, Cliff Wendel and Erik Fiely:

•Heard the village has purchased the former Fort Recovery High School baseball field — it is being replaced by a new field on the east side of Fort Recovery Elementary/Middle School — located on the west side of Water Street just north of Fort Recovery Street Department.

•Were reminded the village is applying for another grant through the Small Government Program offered by Ohio Public Works Commission. If awarded, the village may consider reconstructing portions of Gwendolyn and Wiggs streets, estimated at $457,000, as well as reconstructing two blocks of Main Street and making some repairs to portions of Butler Street in the next year.

•Learned a funding request for a two-bay electric vehicle charging station through a program with Applied Energy Services was not approved. Diller noted there may be other sources of funding for the project, which officials hoped to install near the visitor center in the village. (If it had been selected, the village would not have paid any costs to have the station installed.)

•OK’d Psi Iota Xi sorority to close the brick portion of Wayne Street from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 29 for the Brick Street Market event.

•Heard another public hearing about exempting the Ohio 49 railroad crossing on the north side of the village near Railroad Street — the first public hearing was not advertised correctly — is slated for 2 p.m. today at St. Henry High School.