Commissioners, village officials to discuss Industrial Park
The Belmont County Commissioners will meet with members of Barnesville Village Council on Friday, March 5 at 11 a.m. in Village Administrator Roger Deal's office at 126 E. Main St., Barnesville to discuss infrastructure needs for the Eastern Ohio Regional Industrial Park.
"We are moving forward with the Industrial Park," Deal said.
He said village officials have been meeting with one of the county commissioners for some time and meetings will continue to be held the first Friday of each month. Council members have also met with commissioners in St. Clairsville.
Deal said both village and county officials are committed to the project and will continue to work together.
In January, council voted to pay $7,250 for a preliminary engineering report to provide cost estimates and design alternatives for the water/sewer lines to the industrial park.
At that time, Administrator Deal said the village would fund the engineering report by Poggemeyer Design Group, but seek county assistance with the remainder of the project.
Deal said the study is being done now and will include a brief hydraulic model that will give the village an idea of where to connect water/sewer lines and how that connection will affect the overall system.
The preliminary engineering report is a key component to applications for grant funding to assist with continued development of the industrial park. Two sources of potential funding include the Ohio Department of Development Industrial Site Improvement Fund and the Ohio Job Ready Sites Program.
Deal said other sources of funding have been presented and he and Belmont County Port Authority Director Larry Merry have been preparing grant applications.
Interviews of four engineering firms were done on Nov. 6 by representatives from Belmont County, the Port Authority and the village. The Request For Qualifications process scores the firms quantitatively and ensures the best firm or firms are selected. Deal said the process has been completed, but a formal choice of an engineering firm has not been made.
Other projects completed at the 800-acre park since the groundbreaking in October include a paved road completed by the Port Authority. The $750,000 project was 100-percent grant funded.
Comments