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THE EARLY
BIRD NEWSPAPER
THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER PAPER O OF THE GREAT DARKE COUNTY FAIR!
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Weekend edition
City Council hammers out sidewalk details GREENVILLE – After several regular and special Greenville City Council meetings discussing the proposed repair/replace sidewalk project, the issue once again dominated council’s meeting on Tuesday. After a special meeting on Thursday where Safety Service Director Curt Garrison pointed out certain items that needed to be decided, council seemed to be unsure of how to proceed and spent another 55-minutes hammering out the details. Councilman John Hensley, who was absent from the special meeting, asked many of the same questions that were answered at the previous meeting. He argued there wasn’t anything in place to differentiate a good from a bad sidewalk. However, Councilman Jeff Whitaker pulled out the guidelines that were presented to council and the public who attended the public meeting in June at St. Clair Memorial Hall. According to Garrison, those guidelines were used to determine the sidewalk defects in phase one of the project. With the revelation at the special meeting that the city’s ordinance regarding sidewalks had been repealed, it’s possible the guidelines would not be enforceable. Council suggested preparing legislation with the proposed guidelines. Council President John Burkett continued to argue against a Resolution of Necessity at this time, but the administration claimed the legislation was necessary to be able to enforce their demands that property owners fix their sidewalks. Garrison and Mayor Steve Willman claimed the city needed to let residents know ahead of time what to expect if they didn’t fix their sidewalks. The administration
was looking for council to establish a deadline for sidewalks to be fixed as well as length of assessment and fees associated with the assessment. It wasn’t until the city law director, Eric Band, spoke and suggested the city should inform property owners of the deadline and information relating to a possible assessment that Burkett nodded in agreement. That got council moving and within minutes a plan was set in place. The city is expected to set an Oct. 31, 2020 deadline for the phase of the project. If property owners haven’t fixed their sidewalks by then, the city will hire a contractor to finish the project in the spring of 2021. The property owner will have a minimum of 30 days to pay the balance or have the cost assessed to their property taxes. The assessment would be turned over to the county auditor in September 2021. The assessment would be for a period of five years and property owners would pay a onetime administrative fee not to exceed 5.5 percent as well as the three percent charged by the county. The city will also prepare legislation to waive the fee for a sidewalk permit, but a permit will still be required for the project. In other business, council approved the Safety Committee report in regards to the Merchant House’s proposal for outdoor seating. The committee unanimously agreed the proposal did not cause a safety concern. The Merchant House is required to seek approval for their plan from the Planning & Zoning Commission. Contact Editor Ryan Berry at rberry@aimmediamidwest.com or (937) 569-0066. Read more news, features and sports at DarkeCountyMedia.com.
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Ryan Berry | DarkeCountyMedia.com
The Chief Little Turtle statue was lifted high above the pond with a Joshua Shephard (center) gets a handshake from the Hupman’s crane as it made its way to its new home. Restoration of island begins Landscaping crew after the statue was set in place. Ryan Berry | DarkeCountyMedia.com
Friends raise funds for Little Turtle Island GREENVILLE – Work began this week to restore the small island in the Greenville City Park. The island, deemed Little Turtle Island, was cleared of trees and weeds early in the week, but by Thursday afternoon the project was beginning to take shape. According to Jenny Clark, president of Friends of the Greenville City Parks, the island will feature a few new decorative trees, waterfall, flowers and other landscaping features
including plenty of lighting. However, the centerpiece of the island will be a bronze statue of Chief Little Turtle. With Greenville set to celebrate Treaty Day on Aug. 3, Clark believes the tribute to the Miami chief is timely. He was one of the signers of the treaty. The statue was created by local artist, Joshua Shephard of Union City, Ind. Clark explained the Friends wanted a statue, but had no idea where to look for someone who could do the work. She made a trip to Garst Museum and director Dr. Clay Johnson pulled out a file he received from
Shephard showing some of his work. “I had no idea there was someone local that did this type of work,” she said. After viewing the statue, Clark was elated with how it turned it out. Some of the other members of the Friends group pointed out the detail on the statue. The island restoration and statue was made possible through local donations and a $100,000 grant from the State Capital Funding Bill. The restoration was estimated to cost $165,000. Hupman’s Landscaping, who was contracted to complete the project, tried to
save the waterfall, but Clark said it just fell apart. A new waterfall will be installed in the next few weeks. Clark is hoping the entire project will be completed within the next three weeks. The project was originally slated to begin in June, but this spring’s wet weather forced the delay. Friends of the Greenville City Parks completed restoration of the big island, known as Treasured Island, in July 2017.
Contact Editor Ryan Berry at rberry@ aimmediamidwest.com or (937) 5690066. Read more news, features and sports at DarkeCountyMedia.com.
City celebrates reconstruction safety, or signal project on the Federal-aid system. For example, it may be used for roundabouts, signals, road widening, and other related GREENVILLE – At the transportation projects. intersection of Fourth and The Fourth/Sweitzer Sycamore Streets, the city celebrated the fruits of their Street Reconstruction Project was also made possible labor with a ribbon-cutting thanks to the Ohio Public Thursday afternoon. Works Commission awardThe $3,138,000 Fourth/ Sweitzer Street Reconstruc- ing the city a $450,000 tion Project is officially com- grant. Between the two grants, the City of Greenplete. It was a lengthy one, ville covered the remaining but in the end, the almost $1,469,277.84 with various half-mile street has new water lines, sanitary sewer, enterprise funds and the Capital Improvement Prostorm sewer, curb-gutter, gram (CIP) fund. sidewalks, street lighting, ODOT awarded the and street construction. contract for the project to The project was made Brumbaugh Construction possible thanks to a grant with the work beginning in from the Ohio Department May 2018. of Transportation (ODOT) Safety Service Director and the Ohio Public Works Curt Garrison thanked mulCommission. tiple individuals, including ODOT awarded the city former City of Greenville $1,218,720 through the Mayor Mike Bowers on Small City Program which helping to bring the vision provides Federal funds to small cities with populations to reality. Garrison also thanked from 5,000 to 24,999. ODOT Capital Programs Troy Myers with BrumAdministrator, Matt Parrill, baugh Construction, “As a community, we want to sucfor District 7, shared inforceed, but we succeed only mation on the Small City Program. Localities may use if our businesses succeed. Troy and Brumbaugh had the program for any road,
Bethany J. Royer-DeLong | Darke County Media
The $3,138,000 Fourth/Sweitzer Street Reconstruction Project is officially complete. Leaders in the project, city officials, and many other project-related individuals attended a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the fruits of their labor on Thursday afternoon.
a direct impact on that success.” Garrison pointed out this is the third project with Brumbaugh in as many years. Darke County Chamber of Commerce President Sharon Deschambeau also spoke, stating the City of Greenville has been a valued Chamber member since November 2008. “We are always excited to help a business or government entities celebrate a project, especially one of this magnitude,” said Deschambeau. She went on to explain how infrastructure improvements such as the Fourth/Sweitzer Street Reconstruction Project sup-
port multiple businesses. Mayor Steve Willman had similar sentiments on partnerships, and how ODOT’s assistance made the project possible and allows the City of Greenville to make other improvements. Those also in attendance for the ribbon-cutting included Darke County Chamber of Commerce representatives, city council members, school officials, ODOT, and many other project-related representatives. Reach reporter Bethany J. RoyerDeLong at 937/548-3330 or email broyer-delong@aimmediamidwest. com. Read more news, features, and sports at DarkeCountyMedia.com.