Ross Township Plans to Help Perrysville Business Owners Repair Sidewalk Along Perry Highway

About 4,200 square feet of damaged sidewalks in Perrysville along Perry Highway will soon be repaired by according to Township Engineer Art Gazdik. 

Sidewalks are usually the responsibility of abutting property owners. But township officials decided that the sidewalk repair was the best use of a small federal Department of Housing and Urban Development grant it was awarded out of the 2009 federal budget, Gazdik told the members of the Perrysville Business Association Wednesday during their monthly meeting. The grant money, $142,500, was awarded after the township requested about $1 million for the first phase of redoing Perrysville's streetscape.

The township received the go ahead from the federal agency to spend the money in July 2010 and has been working on identifying the needed repair work and designing the solutions. The Perrysville area was selected for the HUD grant application process because it is the most walkable of the the township's three business areas, Gazdik said. 

"We're using what we have the best way we think we can," Gazdik said. 

Plans to improve the Perrysville business district and expand it further along Perry Highway have been in the works since 2005. A formal study was conducted and submitted to the township with detailed plans in November 2007, with an estimated cost then of $1,907,055 to do the whole project. 

"There's virtually no funding to do anything any more," Gazdik said. 

The wrong trees were planted years ago along the sidewalks in Perrysville and their roots damaged the walking paths, said Dennis Stanko, president of the Perrysville Business Assocation. Stanko is married to Ross Township Commissioner Grace Stanko, who lobbied for the grant money to make the repairs. 

"It's long over due," Dennis Stanko said. 

In addition to the sidewalk repairs, the township will also add a handicap ramp near Good Lane, Gazdik said. New trees, Gingko Biloba, will be planted along the sidewalks. 

"I'm glad it's being done," said Donna Ford, owner of Trinity Risk Services and a member of the Perrysville Business Association. "That was a refreshing thing to hear." 

The plans will be available for viewing and comments at at 982 Perry Highway. The shop is owned by the Stankos. 

Gazdik said the goal is to finish the project by the end of the year, but that releases still need to be signed by each of the property owners abutting the sidewalks where repairs will be made. The releases ensure that the property owners know that this is a one-time deal, he said. 

"In the future, you may have to do the work yourself," he told the business association members. 

This story has been updated from a previous version to include details about the HUD award grant.