FR awarded grant for road work

FORT RECOVERY — The village has been approved for a $1 million grant.

Fort Recovery village administrator Randy Diller told village council members Monday the Ohio Department of Transportation grant will contribute $1,026,000 toward Butler Street (Ohio 119) reconstruction in 2024.

Work on the street will include a new water line, sidewalks, curbs and street, as well as replacing the traffic light at Wayne Street. Diller estimated the project will cost just over $3 million.

“That $1.026 is a great start,” he said.

The project will need to be started –– defined by at least having opened bids and decided on a contractor –– by July 2024.

Other potential funding for the multi-million dollar project includes grants from the Ohio Public Works Commission and the County Engineers Association of Ohio.

Village council also established a fund for incoming American Rescue Plan dollars. Diller and Fort Recovery fiscal officer Roberta Staugler said they didn’t yet know the exact amount coming in from the state, but the village should be receiving half of it within the next month and the rest next year.

Also Monday, council members discussed improvements to the odor coming from the villages lagoons at its wastewater treatment plant.

“Last week, I drove out there a couple times, and I felt like it was better every day,” said Mayor Dave Kaup.

Diller said the water department is making progress on reducing the smell. The last few weeks, they have been trying different tests to resolve the issue.

“We’re going to get it narrowed down and we’ll get it so we understand what the cause was and what we need to do to prevent that from happening again,” Diller added.

He noted the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency visited the lagoons April 23, although the village has yet to be informed of the reason for its visit.

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

•Heard new signs reducing the speed limit to 35 mph have been installed by ODOT on Ohio 119 (Boundary Street) from its intersection with John Street to eastern village limits. The village will be installing a flashing light on the signs to draw attention to the new speed limit.

•OK’d a $110,397.33 pay request for the Broadway and Elm streets reconstruction projects.

•Approved an amendment to the tax ordinance. Nothing was changed except clearing up some wording –– the section edited details for Fort Recovery residents working in Indiana –– for better understanding, Diller explained.

•Heard from Diller a group has requested closing off a public street for a private party. “That’s something, to my knowledge, we’ve never done for a private party,” he commented at the meeting. He told council he has asked the group to put in a formal request and receive the OK from each individual living on the street.