By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
Galion City Council only had four pieces of legislation before it Tuesday night, but among them were a couple of big ticket items.
Ordinance 2015-24 recommended a $6 million investment from the Investment Board, and Ordinance 2015-25 authorized the Safety Service Director to put the Church Street overpass project to bid.
The Church Street overpass project will completely replace the sidewalls and concrete underdeck. The structure was built in the early 1970s. A grant of $135,000 from the Ohio Public Works Commission will combine with $90,000 of Galion’s money to fund the project. It is expected to begin shortly after school is out and be completed over the summer.
The second and third readings on this ordinance were suspended to give the city the quickest opportunity to get this project to market so work can begin on time.
The overpass project is set to be one of two large paving projects for this summer; the other is the reconstruction of Portland Way South. During the Mayor’s Report, Tom O’Leary previewed the April 22 Finance Committee meeting as being a place where a lot of discussion will go into this project. Specifically up for consideration is how to go about funding the project. This will be a project of several hundred thousand dollars and O’Leary wants input on paying cash versus financing.
The other ordinance containing a large monetary number was the aforementioned investment ordinance. With the passage of that ordinance, the city will place $6 million into the Ohio Star Fund. This is an investment group for municipalities, school districts, and other government entities that was started in the 1980s. It is extremely low risk and has lenient penalties should money need to be drawn out early due to sudden expenditure needs. Crawford County has been invested in the group since the 1980s.
It will not be a huge financial windfall for the city, but it should help with cash flow and generate $35,000-$40,000 in the first year.