NEW PARIS — The Village of New Paris plans to have the old school building located at the park demolished by the end of June.
During a New Paris Village Council meeting on Monday, Jan. 6, Mote & Associates Inc. Grant and Funding Specialist Susan Laux spoke regarding updates to the park project, sharing that the contract for demolition of the old school building has been awarded.
Evans Landscaping was the lowest bidder for the demolition portion of the project. Laux added, the pre-construction meeting was held on Dec.7 for the remediation portion of the project, with the construction company and North American Environmental Group. They are currently working on remediating the building, so it will be ready for demolition.
Laux explained, there isn’t going to be any change to the building with the remediation process, so it is hard to see the company at work. However, there are dumpsters on the side of the building they are utilizing and the company is “coming and going.”
“Other than that, you’re not going to see much change, simply because everything is on the inside,” she said.
They anticipate remediation will take 10 weeks to complete — they have until the end of March to complete the process, which is when the contract ends. Once this project begins wrapping up, Mote & Associates will issue a notice to proceed to Evans Landscaping. The company will have until the end of June to complete the demolition portion of the project.
“Then we’ll really see a big change,” Laux said.
Council approved the contracts with Evans Landscaping for the demolition of the old school building at the park and Mayor Kathy Smallwood was authorized to sign the contracts.
Council also discussed a potential Downtown Revitalization project in the Village of New Paris. Laux explained, the New Paris Chamber of Commerce is interested in partnering with the village on this project.
There have been several changes to the program that would make a project more accessible and streamlined. Now, the program offers a $250,000 grant for work on up-to three buildings.
“You can do [work on three buildings], get that grant done, and turn around and do work on three more buildings,” Laux said. “There is no requirement that you can only do it once or anything like that. I think they’re just trying to make it more manageable.”
In past projects, funds had to be awarded through the Preble County Board of Commissioners. However, now the Village of New Paris could apply for the project directly.
“The county doesn’t have any involvement anymore, unless you want them to,” she said. “Basically, you can apply for the money and it goes through the village’s books and would then be given to the property owners of the three buildings [you choose] to do projects for those buildings. The projects have to be pre-determined — there is a pre-application process and they have to be pretty secure in what they want to do.”
Laux reminded council, property owners will be responsible for matching any funds they are awarded.
Council agreed to look for interested parties and gauge the interest in a possible Downtown Revitalization project for the village.
In other business:
•Laux discussed Cardinal Hill Drive and potential plans and grant funds to improve the street and make it safer and easier to travel.
•Laux asked council to meet regarding a five-to-10 year plan for work on the village.
•Council scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 6:30 p.m. in the village building to discuss potential projects and future work.
