LIME CITY — Township trustees approved $100,000 for the Perrysburg Heights Community Association community center expansion project from American Rescue Plan Act/Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds during the regular meeting on Wednesday.
“We’ve been looking at this ARPA money for the Perrysburg Heights Community Center project for quite a while,” Trustee Joe Schaller said. “It was money that was given to us. We were told that we could do whatever we wanted to with it, as long as it was government owned. We decided to help them with their project, and they were going to expand the (after-school section) for kids.”
The Heights project is considered shovel-ready. The group has already raised more than $930,000 in funding. They are asking for approximately $300,000.
“When the pandemic hit, that created more needs and impacted our ability to raise funds,” Paul Belazis, association board president, said in a previous meeting.
He said the current facility was used to capacity before the pandemic hit and now the needs are greater. The project would add an additional multipurpose room and two additional classrooms.
Schaller met with Belazis last week and asked if they could talk with Rossford Schools about also participating. Next week, Belazis will be meeting with Superintendent Dan Creps.
In other business, the trustees unanimously approved a resolution to proceed with the road levy renewal for the Nov. 8 general election.
The levy would be a renewal of the five-year, 1.5-mill road maintenance levy from the previous 2018 maintenance levy.
That 1.5-mill levy was based on a total tax valuation of $4.3 million which yielded $642,451 annually for the township. The owner of a $100,000 house paid $52.50 annually, but with the triennial reappraisals and increased cumulative property values, the effective rate dropped to $48.35 annually.
Because this would be a renewal of the current levy, the rate would remain the same, at $48.35.
Maintenance Director Marvin Conner said that the curb replacement project was more than half completed.
“It’s an inconvenience, but when it’s done it will be really nice,” Conner said. “It seems to be going pretty smoothly.”
Britten noted that this is the third year for curb projects, all in different neighborhoods, but the construction for each has gone better than the previous year.
Fire Chief Tom Brice will be working with the township on a new purchase order method designed to allow for the replacement of a staff utility pickup truck.
He had already consulted with the township maintenance department. Brice was surprised to learn that a 1-ton GMC or Chevy pickup was recommended.
“It makes no sense to be, but it was actually cheaper than the 3/4-ton … about $8,000,” Brice said.
After talking to automotive dealerships Brice learned that there aren’t any currently available for purchase and when they become available they are sold immediately, and are not taking orders.
“I don’t know exactly how to handle this,” Brice said of the current purchasing procedures that are now antiquated.
“When they get that type of vehicle in, within two or three days they are gone,” Trustee Gary Britten said. “I don’t see that you have much choice. That’s kind of how it is.”
