Wednesday, October 31st, 2018
County approves Coldwater's annexation of 30.244 acres
By Ed Gebert
CELINA - Mercer County commissioners on Tuesday approved the annexation of 30.244 acres into the village of Coldwater.
The land, which is adjacent to the town's southern border, was originally purchased by the village for $485,000 from William J. Kramer and Murph Knapke.
The property contains about 15 wooded acres, according to village administrator/engineer Eric Thomas. A Clean Ohio Grant helped to assess and remove any invasive species on the property.
"We're going to use it to build a trail through the property," Thomas told the newspaper.
Construction of the trail is expected to be completed this winter. It should have a couple of different loops to walk with an overall length of approximately 1 mile, Thomas said.
The newly-annexed property is bounded on two sides by property already owned by the village and will protect the village's existing water wells, secure ground for future village well sites and provide an additional storm water detention area.
Village officials financed the land acquisition with a $50,000 Nature's Work Grant, a $310,400 Clean Ohio Grant, a $69,600 land acquisition note and $55,000 from the Boost the Park Fund.
Also on Tuesday, commissioners awarded a $149,642 bid for the Smith/State Route118/Frahm Pike group ditch project to Braun Excavating, Celina. Bids also were received from Sand Ridge Excavating, Cloverdale, $188,000; VTF Excavation, Celina, $209,104; and Tom's Construction, St. Henry, $212,485.
The project was estimated at $246,000.
Braun Excavating's bid was awarded despite the objection of property owner Matt Shindeldecker, who had written that almost 5 acres of a 30-acre parcel is not and never will be used as farmland and thus will not be benefitted by the project. The resolution awarding the bid states the ditch has three mains and Shindeldecker is not being assessed for the third part, which goes into the woods and is not functional, thus the assessment calculation meets Ohio law.
The project involves about nine landowners, in addition to property owned by the county and state. It will involve replacing 9,105 feet of tile to improve drainage in a 282-acre area.
