Wednesday, February 13th, 2019

West Market Street work OK'd

Celina council gives state green light to do reconstruction in 2020

By William Kincaid
CELINA - City council members on Monday night passed legislation authorizing the Ohio Department of Transportation to reconstruct West Market Street in 2020.
Councilors unanimously approved the ordinance as an emergency measure after suspending the rules requiring three public readings to meet ODOT's timeframe.
The project is estimated to cost $1.4 million. ODOT's Small Cities Program will pick up 80 percent of the cost, according to mayor Jeff Hazel.
"We all know how badly West Market Street needs redone in front of (Mercer) Landmark, and this is all part of that project," Hazel said about the legislation.
The section to be reconstructed, which ODOT designates as County Route 144, is "pretty much" from Main Street to the west edge of Mercer Landmark, city safety service director Tom Hitchcock pointed out.
Councilman Mike Sovinski then asked what city officials plan to do with a stretch of West Market Street that runs from the west side of Mercer Landmark to Riley Street.
"Not for this project because it gets into a lot of right-of-way issues and it would have pushed the project way back," Hitchcock replied. "That little triangle where (Brandon Avenue and Fayette and Market streets converge) causes a lot of problems with ODOT."
Sovinski then asked if plans exist to cover that stretch of road.
The work is expected to be undertaken sometime after the ODOT project, Hitchcock said.
Councilman June Scott asked if ODOT will reconstruct West Market Street knowing that Mercer Landmark experiences heavy truck traffic.
In fact, it averages about 100 trucks a day, Hazel noted.
"We look to also build that area out in front (of Mercer Landmark) with reinforced concrete so there would be base on there," Hazel said. "It's going to be (a) significant base because we have to reconstruct it. It's not just a repave job, this is a (reconstruction) of that area."
In anticipation of the ODOT-led reconstruction of the street, city officials this year aim to replace the underlying water line from Brandon Avenue to Main Street, which Hitchcock has estimated to cost $465,000.
An Ohio Public Works Commission grant will cover $200,000 of the cost.
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MINSTER - Minster Head Football Coach Geron Stokes has been fully reinstated by the school district.
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Celina
CELINA - Mayor Jeff Hazel painted a rosy picture of Celina's government and economy on Monday night during his state of the city address.
Now in his eighth year as mayor, Hazel spent the bulk of his lengthy address reflecting on positive city developments, trends and projects in 2018.
NEW BREMEN - John-Michael Lander told New Bremen New Knoxville Rotarians on Tuesday that he used to do anything his coach asked of him to become a better athlete.
School canceled 11 times thus far
ROCKFORD - Parkway school board members on Tuesday discussed possibly allowing three-hour delays during inclement weather.
Having canceled school
COLDWATER - By reducing the cost for making paper copies and replacing eight older copiers and printers, the village's school district will save an estimated $2,684 per year, according to a proposal from Perry Pro Tech.
WAPAKONETA - Immunization rates are declining nationwide and even more so in Ohio, and board of health members learned on Tuesday that Auglaize County's could be following suit.
CELINA - Both Fort Recovery and Celina had their offensive struggles on Tuesday night.
The teams were a combined 9 of 31 from the floor in the fir
MARIA STEIN - Marion Local hit top-ranked Fort Loramie with its best shot on Tuesday night.
But one second-quarter stretch was detrimental to the Flyers' upset bid.
Area Roundup
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
Celina wrapped up the Western Buckeye League regular season with a 6-3 dual-match record after defeating Van Wert 54-26 on Tuesday at the Cougar Den in Van Wert.