By NANCY BOWMAN

Record-Herald Writer

TIPP CITY – More than $240,000 in grants will be sought from a state recreational trails program to extend a Kyle Park bikeway and a sidewalk along North Hyatt Street to the high school.

The application for the grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources was approved Monday, Jan. 18, by the city council. The council reviewed the proposed application at a work session earlier this month.

Brad Vath, assistant city manager, said the requested $245,000 grant would cover 80 percent of the proposed projects.

The Kyle Park project, estimated at $156,500, would extend the 10- wide bikeway 1,500 feet west to South Third Street/Maple Hill Drive. 

The estimated $84,000 North Hyatt project would add a six-foot wide concrete sidewalk north of Manchester Chase Drive 1,600 feet to the Tipp-Cowlesville, Kessler-Cowlesville, Crane roads intersection. Extending that sidewalk has been discussed as a safety measure for students walking to and from Tippecanoe High School.

Council had no discussion before approving the application, 6-0, Monday. Dee Gillis was absent.

On Jan. 4, the discussion on the proposal centered on how the city would pay its local share of $48,100. There is no money included in the tight 2010 budget for the projects.

Vath said the projects would not be done until 2011. The application is due Feb. 1 and the city should receive word on any funding approval by August or September.

Council member John Kessler said he “would love” to see the projects done. However, if the city has to dip into reserves for any project, he would prefer seeing the money withdrawn go toward a road versus a trail or sidewalk project, Kessler said.

City Manager Jon Crusey said the council will have a better feel on 2010 finances by August, and could turn down any grant award if the city did not have the matching dollars.

Council President Pat Hale said it “doesn’t’ hurt to apply” for the grant, which might not be awarded by ODNR.

Vath said having the two links would “be definitely beneficial” to the community.

In other business, the council:

• Voted to submit two applications to the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission for a possible cut of an anticipated second round of federal stimulus dollars for transportation projects. 

• The city proposes paving County Road 25 from Donn Davis Way south to Evanston Road, minus the Interstate 75 bridge and the 25A section reconstructed a few years ago. The estimated cost for the project, which would be 100 percent federally funded, is $525,000 to $575,000.

• The city also proposes upgrading, at a cost of $200,000 to $275,000, all street and regulatory signs along streets listed on the federal highway system (such as 25A, Main Street, Evanston, Hyatt, Garber, Park and Hathaway) to meet mandatory sign reflectivity requirements.

• Heard a first reading of an ordinance that would give the city authority to order the repair or removal of an unsafe structure. A vote is expected at council’s Feb. 1 meeting.