At a recent meeting of the Genoa Township Board of Trustees, it was announced the township has been awarded an Ohio Public Works Commission grant.
“I’ve got some good news for the board,” said Administrator Paul Wise. “I received a call from the Delaware County Engineer’s Office. We have been granted our OPWC grant money this year. The township does have a match in that grant. … The township has been granted a project to pave Highland Lakes Avenue from state Route 3 all the way down to Worthington Road.”
The paving would take place on about 1.7 miles of road.
Wise said the grant will be for $375,624, and Delaware County has agreed to match and contribute to that $98,982. “We’re basically getting over a half-million-dollar improvement for about $33,000, so I’m tickled,” he said.
Projects using OPWC grant funding can’t start until after July 1, said Maintenance Director Bob Mathews, so the project will take place in July or August. He added the township will be doing work in the area in preparation for the project.
Also during the meeting on Feb. 8, new Trustee Renee Vaughan made her first formal remarks. She thanked former Trustee Frank Dantonio for his service, thanked voters for electing her, and the township staff for their assistance.
Trustee Karl Gebhardt said of the township’s financials, “Even though we aren’t in bad shape, we aren’t flush with money.” He spoke about being at the annual Ohio Township Association winter conference. There are 1,308 townships in Ohio.
“There’s a real diversity in Ohio,” Gebhardt said of the townships, with some only having a couple thousand people, some with a population of 25,000 like Genoa, and some with twice that many people. “We are very fortunate in Genoa Township. There are a lot of townships out there that are really struggling.
“We have come a very long way as a township,” he added. “We are in a very good position as a township, and I think there are things we can learn from other townships that have grown and get some new ideas from them as far as how to provide more and additional services for the residents.”
Sara Walsh made a donation to the Genoa Police Department on behalf of the alumni of the 2019 Citizens Police Academy for $625. “We’d like to thank the police department for all the great work they do for us,” Walsh said. “We literally passed around the hat.”
Architect Dave King said progress on the new $7 million police station has gone well despite weather issues. Chief Stephen Gammill said the station will now have three flagpoles to fly the American flag, Ohio flag, and the Genoa PD flag.
Originally, the station was going to have only one donated flagpole.
