Post-meeting release 5/30

Commissioners approve Community Development Block Grant applications
Village of Bloomville could receive more than $750,000 for improvements

[Tiffin, OH May 30, 2019] – The Seneca County commissioners approved resolutions Thursday morning allowing Seneca Regional Planning Commission to submit applications for the Community Development Block Grant Program.
SRPC Executive Director Charlene Watkins told the board that paperwork for grant applications is due June 14.
She said the county’s allocation for 2019-2020 is about $158,000. The money is to be used on four projects, which were prioritized and chosen by the public through the Community Development Implementation Strategy meeting process.
The projects to receive funding include $9,400 for the Tiffin-Seneca United Way and Fostoria United Way for homelessness prevention, $43,100 for park improvements at the park in Melmore, $31,600 for administration and Fair Housing and $73,900 to be used as a match for the Village of Bloomville’s Neighborhood Revitalization Grant application.
The park improvements in Melmore include the addition of a restroom and a community pavilion.
Bloomville is also applying for the competitive revitalization grant, which would include $750,000 on top of the allocation funds used for the match.
The revitalization grant application is to include project suggestions that were devised via public input. Some project suggestions include basketball courts, pool upgrades and sidewalk work at the park and also electricity, air conditioning, windows, roof and gas generator work at the village community center.
If Bloomville does not receive the competitive grant fund, a fallback village sidewalk enhancement program is the alternate project to be funded with allocation money.
In other business, the commissioners agreed to use previous CDBG funding to upgrade playground equipment in Bloomville. One of the CDBG projects from the 2017-2018 allocation was to upgrade restrooms at the County Services building, but since no company has come forward to do the project, the commissioners agreed to use the roughly $16,000 from that project for the playground equipment.
Also during the meeting, the board held a public hearing related to the vacation of the Perry-Wilhelm Tile Group. The board also viewed the tile Thursday morning.
Claude Perry petitioned for the county to vacate the tile and allow him to own and take care of it.
The commissioners wouldn’t typically vacate county infrastructure, but because Perry’s case was a unique exception, they approved his request.
The case is unique because it is a tile that primarily affects only one property owner. No one has objected to the potential vacation of the tile.
In other action, the board agreed to set a work session for 9:30 a.m. on June 20 to meet with Gossman Group officials to discuss the county’s facilities master plan, which outlines the future of county-owned buildings. The board also learned that paving on the Cemetery Lane paving project has begun.

During new business, the board approved all resolutions from the pre-meeting release. This included entering into a contract with Gerken Paving for the CR 26/CR 592 pavement/resurfacing project. The company’s bid for the work was $1,105,197.60.