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Reynoldsburg gets stimulus funds for new path along Civic Park
(by Rachel Scofield, Staff Writer - April 21, 2009)
Pedestrians, cyclists and skaters soon will share a new path along Civic Park funded with $425,000 of federal stimulus funds.
The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) informed Reynoldsburg on April 16 that it had selected the multi-use path for funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The city must cover the design and engineering at an estimated cost of $60,000, Parks Director Jason Shamblin said.
"For $60,000, we will get quite an investment," Councilwoman Leslie Kelly said at the April 20 council meeting.
The new path will not form a complete loop. It will begin at the Daugherty Drive parking lot and follow the perimeter to Black Oak Drive.
Originally, the city planned the path as an 8-foot wide trail forming a loop around the park. However, MORPC requires multi-use trails to be 10 feet wide with a 2-foot shoulder, Shamblin said.
To meet MORPC's standards and still remain within the estimated budget, the city shortened its plan.
Construction will begin in 2010.
In other news, Mayor Brad McCloud briefed council members on a Rosehill Road high-pressure gas line that construction workers struck April 20.
Police and firefighters evacuated the nearby mobile home park, 10 businesses and several nearby houses. Officials also closed Main Street near the break.
McCloud also said the city plans to rehire Pyrotecnico for the July 4 fireworks display.
Reynoldsburg has used the company in the past. The police and Truro Township fire department "are comfortable with their safety practices and procedures," McCloud said.
Many residents contacted the city after last year's show to say the display seemed shortened.
In 2008, an industry-wide shortage of fireworks caused the show to end after 24 minutes, McCloud said. This year, Pyrotecnico promised "to come close to the full half hour which is what the city bid requested."
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