By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
In an era of political bickering and obstinance, Wood County Planning Commission saw a rare example of compromise and cooperation Tuesday evening.
As usual during the annual awarding of Community Development Block Grants, the planning commission had far more requests than there was funding. Seven towns asked for a total of $307,800, but the county had just $162,000 to hand out.
Each town described its request, with the mayor or other official giving their best pitch.
“Now’s the hard part,” Dave Steiner, director of the county planning commission, said of the selection process.
“The state puts us in the position of only selecting four and the money is finite,” said commission member John Alexander.
The commission weighed the value of the projects and the amounts the towns were willing to pay on their own. And then they tried to shuffle the projects around to meet the winning combination of $162,000 – but with no success.
So instead of digging in and defending their requests, the four towns on the top of the funding list all agreed to shave some money off their requests and try to come up with more funding own their own.
So when the math was done, the following communities got funding:
- Bairdstown, through the efforts of the Northwestern Water and Sewer District, will get $40,000 to help low and moderate income homeowners pay for sewer lateral installation costs. The town had asked for $50,000. Bairdstown is the last village in Wood County to get public sewers for its 50 homes. “There are a lot of low income and fixed income people,” in the village, Mayor Jerry Ickes said.
- Bradner will get $50,000 to replace 715 feet of water main on Main Street, plus add two new fire hydrants. The village had asked for $55,000 and was already putting $122,107 toward the project. “It’s gonna be a squeeze,” but the village should be able to complete the project with that amount, said Jim Smith, of the Bradner Board of Public Affairs.
- Walbridge will get $36,500 to demolish the existing stairs, construct new ADA ramps and replace a door at the village’s new location of the municipal building and senior center. The village asked for $41,300, and was already putting $4,590 toward the project. Kenneth Frost, representing the village, said 30 to 50 seniors visit the site each day. “I spend a lot of time helping people get up and down those stairs,” he said.
- North Baltimore will get $35,500 to renovate existing restrooms in the village park to comply with ADA requirements. The original request was for $39,200, with the village already chipping in $4,300. Village Administrator Allyson Murray said the community had lost some young people to heroin and needs to offer more activities for youth. “It’s very important for us to create healthy activities to participate in,” she said, saying the park improvements would make it a “healthy family friendly environment.”
The county commissioners will make the final decision on the grant funds Thursday at 10 a.m.
Chosen as alternates in case one of the selected projects doesn’t proceed were Haskins and Weston. Haskins had requested $32,500 to install about 29 ADA compliant curb ramps. Weston had applied for $30,400 to install about 16 curb ramps and detectable warning signals. Not making either list was Jerry City, which requested $59,400 to resurface Dickson Street.
The planning commission members agreed helping Bairdstown residents hook up to the sewer was the top priority.
“I feel if we don’t help fund this, it’s going to be a real economic detriment to them,” Commissioner Joel Kuhlman said.
Wood County Engineer Ray Huber agreed. “I’m a staunch advocate of sewering the entire county,” he said, explaining that his job requires him to inspect ditches throughout the county. “There’s some bad stuff out there.”
Tom Stalter, of the Northwestern Water and Sewer District, also emphasized the need. “If you drive down the roads in the summer, you know why they need sewers,” he said.
