The road to infrastructure improvements proved to be a tricky one to navigate as the Athens County Commissioners struggled to find the most efficient way to spend its limited funds during their meeting Tuesday.
Athens County has been allocated $146,400 to fund no more than four infrastructure projects this year, and the commissioners have yet to make the decision on which four projects it can afford to fund.
Various local governments throughout the county requested more than $700,000 for infrastructure repairs and improvements — almost five times as much money as the county has to spend this year.
Athens County Commissioner Lenny Eliason said the county will fund the $27,396 paving of Kennedy Road in Trimble Township because it had promised to do so in the past.
The remaining three projects have yet to be determined.
The commissioners also discussed using existing grant money to apply for a $500,000 competitive grant from the state and national government, around a three-to-one return on Athens’ existing grant, Eliason said.
“The county can use a portion of its funding to apply for competitive grants and we are strategizing the best way to do this,” said Glenn Crippen, the Community Development Coordinator for Hocking, Athens, Perry Community Action.
Eliason said Athens was unable to receive this grant last year because it had received one only a few years ago.
“Once you get a competitive grant you are locked out for two years because (the state and national governments) have a limited amount of money they are going to award,” Eliason said.
The prospect of the county taking possession of 140 acres that will be used for a bike path was also discussed during the meeting.
The commissioners decided that, at this time, the county would not be able to afford the costs associated with acquiring this new property which would include $10,000-$100,000 per bridge, $500 for signs to mark private property from the trail, creating a bypass around private property, clearing land and assuming liability for the land.
Despite the commissioners’ decision to not accept the land, they did express interest in picking up the property once money is available.
“The sooner we can get people on the trail, the less this liability will arise,” John Knouse, the coordinator for the Athens Trail Project said.
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