LISBON - Columbiana County commissioners chose to fund projects in Lisbon, New Waterford and Unity Township with their 2013 allocation of federal Community Development Block Grant money.
The biggest chunk of the $249,600 in CDBG money available went to Lisbon, with the village being awarded $100,000, followed by $72,600 for New Waterford, $47,000 for Unity Township and $40,000 to the county engineer's office for relocation of a historic bridge.
Lisbon received $100,000 to help cover the $317,289 estimated cost of resurfacing and making other improvements to West High Street. The village has received $216,000 in combined state loans and grants for the project.
New Waterford received 100 percent of what it was seeking to help cover the $81,950 needed to complete development of a new well field to service the village, which was begun last year to replace an existing well where production has begun to decline. New Waterford is covering the rest of the cost itself.
Unity Township trustees also received 100 percent of what they were seeking from commissioners, which will be used to complete extension of a municipal sewer line another 300 feet on North Market Street. This would provide sewer service to eight residences with malfunctioning septic systems. The trustees are putting $10,000 toward the project.
The $40,000 awarded to the engineer's office is the last remaining piece of the financial puzzle needed by Engineer Bert Dawson to restore a 105-foot bowstring arch bridge and move it to the county fairgrounds, where the bridge will be used as a pedestrian walkway spanning a ravine that separates the campground and midway.
The bridge, built in the 1880s, once spanned the Middle Fork of the Little Beaver Creek on South Market Street in Lisbon. The project cost is $542,203, with Dawson securing a $433,762 grant from Ohio Department of Transportation to cover the majority of the expense and the fair board covering the rest.
Ten applications for funding were received, and commissioners Mike Halleck and John Payne said they chose to use the money to complete existing projects rather than on new ones.
In the case of Lisbon, Halleck indicated he felt they owed the village some consideration given that twice in recent years Lisbon had been awarded $100,000 in CDBG money by commissioners, and both times the village returned the money when the county needed to spend it elsewhere.
