FR applying for grant

FORT RECOVERY — Fingers crossed.

Fort Recovery Village Council authorized an application Monday for the $500,000 Small Government Program grant offered through Ohio Public Works Commission. 

Fort Recovery is applying for the grant in hopes of doing a total reconstruction of Butler Street between Fort Site to Main streets. The project would cost about $1.5 million, including repaving the street and replacing the traffic signal, street lights, curbs, sidewalks and water line. If the village needs additional financial assistance, the program also allows applicants to request more funding with a 0% interest rate loan.

For other financial help with the program, Fort Recovery has approximately $2.3 million in unappropriated dollars in its general fund. (The village started saving extra dollars after the height of the coronavirus pandemic hit.)

Village administrator Randy Diller also gave council two other potential Butler Street projects on Aug. 21 they could complete with the grant if selected: reconstructing Butler Street from George Street to the village’s west corporation limit for about $1 million or replacing the water line on Butler Street from Fort Site Street to Williams Street for about $744,000. Council decided at that time to stick with the reconstruction of Butler Street from Fort Site to Main streets.

Plans are to submit the grant to Ohio Public Works Commission sometime this week. The grant approval had been on the agenda during council’s regular meeting Sept. 18, but there were only four council members present, meaning they could not legally pass the resolution. All six council members attended Monday’s meeting, which lasted approximately three minutes.