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EAST LIVERPOOL - City council has approved matching funds for a long-anticipated bike trail.
During a special meeting Sept. 29, council unanimously approved to pay the matching funds required by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to obtain the grant to begin construction trail.
With the matching funds secured, East Liverpool will now receive $1.7million in TAP funding for the East Liverpool Heritage Bike and Walking Trail. Once completed, the trail will connect downtown East Liverpool to the Ohio Riverfront and could possibly eventually link to the Lake-to-River Greenway Network.
Construction is anticipated to begin after the first year on Phase One which includes a stretch along East Fifth Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.
To meet the matching funds required, council members voted to increase the appropriations by $125,000 to float the money needed to get the grant with the funds to be paid back to the General Funds once received.
Council voted to pay the match out of the General Fund because the deadline was quickly approaching to have that money to ODOT. The $125,000 is a donation from NOPEC Foundation as a commemorative grant specifically for the East Liverpool Trail Project.
In a notice previously sent to Mayor Bobby Smith by NOPEC announcing they would cover the remaining $125,000 the city needed to reach the $185,000 match, Chuck Kelper, NOPEC executive director and CEO, said "The NOPEC Foundation and myself personally could not be more excited about this opportunity for our organization and for your wonderful community. We will be looking forward to walking the trail with you in the not so distance future."
The city had previously received donations for the matching funds from Norfolk Southern in the amount of $40,000 and America 250 in the amount of 25,000 and the Friends of the Trail raised $47,000.