The city of Bexley is going to get a deal on some road repairs and water system work, thanks to a recent grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission.
Service Director Bill Harvey said he recently received notice that the city’s request had been approved and it would receive a $2.8 million grant for a project involving Sheridan and Francis avenues.
The city also will get a $900,000 interest-free loan, and will contribute $200,000 to the project.
The plan, Harvey said, is to rebuild Sheridan Avenue and do some work to the water system in the area.
A new water line will be installed beneath Francis Avenue, and the road will be resurfaced. Some work also needs to be done to fix water problems under the part of Pleasant Avenue that attaches to Francis.
I think it’s a great win for the city, a good deal for us, Harvey said at the Dec. 9 council meeting. We apply for these every year. This time we were lucky enough to get one.
Mayor John Brennan commended those who worked on getting the grant approved. He noted that out of 30 applicants for grants, only 10 got funding, and Bexley’s project didn’t make it by much.
It took some time and work, Brennan said.
The mayor and council members also took time to take some blame for the city’s response to the first snow of the year. He said he had gotten about a dozen calls and e-mails, and had apologized and promised the city would be more on top of the situation next time.
I learned my snow lesson, he said. I think it did come down a little quicker than some of us would have anticipated, Council Member Jed Morison said.
The first trial run of the sand and salt mixture for the roads did not go well, officials said.
We had maybe a little too much sand in our first mixture, Brennan said. The sand was not helping as much as we had hoped it would.
Council Member Robyn Jones pointed out that part of the snow plan seemed to have been on target. She said most of the accidents were on Broad Street and Main Street, which would seem to justify the idea of giving the most treatment to main roads.
Council Member Mark Masser countered by pointing out that near-misses wouldn’t be reported. At Powell and South Cassady, a four-way stop, he said, People were just sliding through. They couldn’t brake.
Brennan said he was not trying to diffuse blame, but noted that people need to drive more defensively in bad conditions.
In other news, Police Chief Larry Rinehart said work on the new police station is right on track with where it’s supposed to be.
Harvey said the Environmental Protection Agency wants area communities to sign an agreement to improve their sewer systems, or come up with a plan to make improvements.
The organization wants the city to sign the agreement in the next couple of months, he said. A study on what is needed could cost thousands of dollars, he said, and neither the state nor the EPA will provide funding.
