LEWISBURG — Lewisburg Village Council met on Thursday, May 5, and discussed several projects and events coming this summer.

According to village officials, Lewisburg has been working hard applying for grants to improve the community.

One grant discussed at the meeting was a NatureWorks grant which uses state funds given to a county for a park or community nature area. Each community must compete and prove there is enough citizen participation and a park need.

If the grant is given to the village, some ideas discussed to improve the community park would be to update fencing for the ball diamond, put netting around the ball diamond, or to install a basketball court. Council discussed all the pros and cons of the ideas but has not settled on exactly what to do with the grant if received. Council will get cost estimates on what project to do first with the grant.

To kick off the summer, the village has opened the splash pad. It was announced there will be an “I Love the Community” week June 13-17, for community members and others to work together to build up the community. Council has five or six projects which will be completed that week.

It was discussed that the Park Committee approved removal of three large trees by Dayton Street. They will be replaced with cherry blossom trees. There will also be work to improve the village’s covered bridge.

Several groups will be taking over Lewisburg with events this summer. The Ohio State University Preble County Extension office is working on having a 4-H Festival on Saturday, June 18, stationed at the Safety Building, and will have a king and queen contest at the Joy and Whimsy Depot.

Brown Memorial Library announced the summer reading program has begun. The library has also started a new club called Manga Mondays, which is for Japanese art such as anime. It was also announced the first Friday of each month the library will show a movie.

Council discussed plans to partner with Tri-County North Schools utilizing shop equipment and possibly Miami Valley Career Technical Center as well, to set up an adult education workshop.

Mayor Marsha Jones met with non-profit organizations to look at the Bicentennial Square regarding possible projects for the future. Some of the discussion was about creating a welcome center/museum to display historical items from the community.