MOUNT VERNON — On June 12, the Board of Commissioners held the second of two public hearings relating to grant projects. Chris Cordle, chairman of the Knox County Regional Airport Authority, is the only community member who attended.
Amy Schocken of Community Development Consultants of Ohio coordinated the grant applications. The first application is for $150,000 in Community Development Block Grant money, $100,000 of which will be used for improvements to the Knox County Regional Airport.
Improvements include handicapped accessible restrooms and a vestibule with automatic accessible doors. The KCRAA will contribute $55,000 to the project.
If the grant is approved, $15,000 of the CDBG money will go toward a wheelchair lift for the Escape Zone Community Center. The lift will be installed in the stairwell to the second floor gymnasium. The Ariel Foundation is contributing $5,000 toward the project.
The remaining money will go toward administrative costs ($27,000), and a federally mandated planning survey and education/training relating to fair housing choices ($8,000).
The second application is for a critical infrastructure grant for the Parrott Street bridge replacement. The grant will cover $480,000 of the total $1 million cost; $450,000 will come from an Ohio Public Works grant and $100,000 will come from the Knox County Engineer’s budget.
Both applications are due June 15. Schocken said she should know in August whether the applications are approved. Of the critical infrastructure grant, she said, “I don’t see it not getting funded.”
If the CDBG grant is approved, the airport improvement project will begin in the spring of 2019 with completion around the end of July. The Parrott Street bridge replacement is also slated to begin in 2019 with completion in 2020.
