Greene said that if approved, the grant would most likely go toward the Oxford Area Trail System’s (OATS) northwest segment and the addition of connecting the trail to business employment centers.
The grant would require a 10% match for the city, which would be up to $20,000. The resolution passed unanimously.
Councilors then passed resolutions authorizing project agreements to design and engineer three more phases of the OATS, as well as a connection from the Oxford Community park trail.
OATS is a network of trails to provide transportation and recreational opportunities to the residents of Oxford.
Sunesis Construction Company, which built phase two of the project, will be in charge of Phase III and Phase IV and it is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. The nearly $4.5 million project, which adds a 10% contingency totals nearly $5 million.
Phases III and IV have been funded $3 million by state funds ($2 million), the Ohio Kentucky Indiana Regional Council of Governments ($750,000), and Miami University ($303,922). The remaining total is being funded by the City of Oxford.
Phase III of the trail is 2.2 miles in length and plans to connect Bonham Road with Ohio 73, while also connecting Talawanda High School and University Drive.
Phase four is 1.8 miles in length, and plans to connect Talawanda Middle School with the Oxford Community Park.
Bayer & Becker, Inc. will build Phase V of the project at a cost of just north of $725,000. A 10% contingency pushes the total to just under $800,000.
Phase V plans to be finished by 2025 and plans to connect Talawanda High School with Talawanda Middle School.
Dreisbach said that Phase V will be “a technically challenging segment of the trail to build,” as the trail will have to either go over or under the CSX railroad line. The trail also plans to incorporate the BCRTA multimodal facility, Oxford’s planned solar array and the upcoming Amtrak rail platform.
The Oxford Community Park connection will cost just more than $142,000 and will be constructed by Majors Enterprise, Inc. The trail will connect Owls’ Landing with a pathway southwest of the Oxford Aquatic Center.
The three resolutions passed unanimously.
City approves projects to resurface streets, repair water storage reservoir
Oxford will pay up to $295,000 to re-coat their 2-million gallon water reservoir, which is expected to be completed in August 2023.
The city also agreed to pay up to $520,000 in street resurfacing and maintenance focusing on Tollgate Drive, Beech Street and Collins Street.
Additionally, the city passed a resolution to notify property owners of their responsibility to maintain proper curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and other driveway aprons.
If property owners won’t be making repairs to properties they’ve identified as “defective, missing or sub-standard,” the city will conduct repairs on their behalf, while also charging property owners via property taxes. A full list of affected property owners is available on the City of Oxford website.
All three resolutions passed unanimously.
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