Meigs County Commissioners Approve Funding
The Meigs County Commissioners met on Thursday, May 22nd, at the Meigs County Courthouse in Pomeroy. Among the various topics discussed, the most prominent was the 2014 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Allocation Program and CDBG Critical Infrastructure Program. Both programs were approved.
The Community Allocation Program calls for the $82,000 in grant funds from the Ohio Development Services Agency to make improvement in various Meigs County communities. The money will go towards projects such as street improvements, demolitions, parks and recreation, and public services, among others. Applicants included Middleport Village, Racine Village, Syracuse Village, Bedford Township, the Meigs Cooperative Parish, the Portland Community Center, Scipio Township. Pomeroy Village, and Rutland Youth League. The projects to be funded under the program are the Admin/Fair Housing Project, which will cost $14,500, the Middleport Village Pool Demolition Project, which will cost $18,700, the Syracuse Village Well Enlargement Project, which will cost $20,000 in CDBG funds and $284,800 in total, and the Bedford Township Resurfacing of Park Street, which will cost $28,000. All grant applications are due to the Ohio Development Services Agency by June 20th, 2014. If awarded, funding will be available after September 1st, 2014.
The CDBG Critical Infrastructure Program calls to obtain $300,000 in grant funds from the Ohio Development Services Agency for the purpose of making improvements including public utilities, street and sidewalk improvements, and sewer and water facilities, among others. Applicants for the program were the Syracuse Village for Well Enlargement, and the Pomeroy Village for Street Slippage repair. The 2014 CDBG Critical Infrastructure Program will fund the Well Enlargement project for Syracuse, which will use $254,800 of CDBG Critical Infrastructure funds, and will cost $284,800 altogether.
Other topics of discussion at the meeting included the presentation of gas cards for Meigs County by Eric Rock, business owner and member of the Meigs County EMS. Commissioner Mike Bartrum was quoted saying the gas cards “will benefit everyone.” Meigs County Jobs and Family Services Director Christopher Shank proposed the suspension of employee Candice Jeffers for fifteen working days, which was approved. Reason for the suspension was not stated. Eber Pickens and Roy Johnson, representing the Village of Syracuse, requested $5,000 dollars to help fund the Syracuse Pool. When asked if the pool would be able to operate without the money, Johnson said that “we’ve got the doors open” for the current year. No decision was made on the proposal. The meeting also saw the approval of the minutes from the last meeting, as well as the approval of $12,493 for the County General bill and $236,797 in bills for the county as a whole.
