By: Mayor Eileen Bulan
I thought today I would bring you up-to-date on many of our many upcoming projects in Vermilion this year.
In 2010, the City of Vermilion received a grant to replace the Highbridge Road Bridge. This grant was funded through the Ohio Department of Transportation for 80% of the cost. We also received funding through a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission and through the Erie County Metropolitan Planning Organization. It has taken a long time and a lot of collaboration to bring this project to a reality but just recently, on July 5, 2017 the City Council awarded the contract for the construction of the bridge to Mosser Construction Incorporated of Fremont, Ohio for $1,926,579.78. You will finally be seeing work begin on this bridge project.
Several years ago, we also received a grant through the Erie County Metropolitan Planning Organization to install new traffic signals on Liberty Avenue for 80% of the project cost. That work is also about to begin. You will see their trucks and equipment parked at the lot on the corner of Liberty and Vermilion Road during this project. They will begin their work at Sunnyside Road and move west. The contract was awarded to Perram Electric Incorporated of Wadsworth, Ohio in the amount of $1,146,795.00.
Last year, we received a pervious pavement grant for the parking areas on North Main Street headed down to the beach. This project is slated to begin in August and conclude in September of this year. This contract has just recently been awarded to Abraham Miller Excavating of Vermilion, Ohio for $371,460.88. This project also includes the replacement of the water distribution lines on North Main Street. These water lines are very old and this is a good first step to replace our old lines. These lines were probably installed in 1904 when the plant was built.
As you know the City acquired the Fulper property on the corner of Grand and Liberty Avenue through the Erie County Land Bank. The City received an Abandoned Gas Station Clean Up Grant from the Ohio Development Services Agency for $100,000. The Mannik & Smith Group out of Maumee, Ohio are presently working on this grant and we should be getting a Completion Report very shortly. This grant was 100% funded through this program.
We are also paving North Woodside, Sailorway Drive from Route 60 to Douglas Street, and Birchview Drive from West River Road to Hollyview Drive. This is being funded through our street levy that was passed a few years ago. This project has been awarded to Precision Paving of Milan, Ohio in the amount of $422,144.00.
We are completing two projects that are part of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program in the Vermilion on the Lake area. Herk Excavating of Vermilion, Ohio is making improvements to Fire Station #2 parking lot for $224,929.60 and also doing the Edgewater-Kensington Storm sewer project for $89,071.00. This will help alleviate some drainage problems in that area.
When you add all these projects together the total is $4,280,980.00. This only happens because the city works together with a lot of different public agencies that provide funds so that we move these projects forward.
This is just a short update of some of the projects that are going on this year. You can see we have been very busy. I know that these projects will cause some disruption in our daily lives but they are all improvements to the city that have been needed for many years. Have patience with us as we move forward and try to improve our Small Town on a Great Lake!
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