MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Council approved $1.45 million in American Rescue Plan Act spending on Tuesday, including $250,000 for a tunnel to eliminate a significant potential safety hazard as part of a planned bike trail connector project.
There was no discussion by council members about the 100-foot long tunnel beneath Trimble Road that would eliminate the possibility of vehicles colliding with bicycles and/or pedestrians on a connector linking the B&O Bike Trail and the sidewalk on the east side the four-lane road.
City engineer Bob Bianchi had prepared for a discussion on the proposal, including a document that showed where the $945,000 tunnel would be located and potential funding sources.
Council did discuss other ARPA expenses during a finance committee meeting, including $570,000 in premium pay for members of the International Association of Firefighters Local 266 ($6,000 each) and $530,000 in bonuses for full-time, non-union city employees ($4,000 each).
But Finance Committee chair Alomar Davenport, who represents the 4th Ward, never called on the engineer for details about the proposal. No other council members raised questions about it, either.
Bianchi said he will next ask Richland County commissioners for $200,000 from the county’s ARPA funds. He also plans to use $200,000 from the city’s permissive sales tax and will seek a $200,000 grant from the Richland County Foundation.
He said another $95,000 from the permissive sales tax would be needed to design the tunnel project.
Council will still need to approve usage of the sales tax portion of the project.
“This crossing is critical to the bike trail network and we wanted to make sure it’s as safe as possible,” Bianchi told Richland Source in February. “This is absolutely the safest alternative we have.”
The tunnel would become a part of a previously-approved $1.75 million connector project planned to built in 2025.
That project, approved in 2022 and under design, is being funded by $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money from the City of Mansfield, $500,000 in ARPA from Richland County, $150,000 in state capital funds and $600,000 through RCRPC.
When completed, the connector will be a 1.25-mile, 10-foot wide, multi-use path to the 18.4-mile bike trail that runs from Mansfield to Butler.
Bianchi said the Trimble Road crossing has been a safety concern since officials hiked the proposed connector trail five months ago. He said he has already had a conversation with county Commissioner Darrell Banks, who expressed his safety concerns.
Initially, the plan was to perhaps use the same kind of pedestrian-initiated strobe flashers used on Diamond Street in downtown Mansfield near the Richland County Administration Building.
“That kind of signal doesn’t work as well on a street as wide as Trimble,” Bianchi said. “It just wouldn’t be effective.”
The engineer said a full traffic signal light was also considered.
“That intersection is not warranted for a signal due to the (amount) of traffic,” he said. “Even then, we would have concerns about pedestrians crossing with cars traveling 35 miles an hour.”
A bridge over Trimble Road would not work due to the length of the ramps necessary to make it ADA-compliant, he said. “It would be way too expensive and it just wouldn’t work in that location.”
Other ARPA expenditures approved Tuesday were $50,000 for Catholic Charities for emergency housing assistance and its food pantry; $2,500 for eight chairs in the human resources conference room; and $50,000 for a blast-proof door, glass and materials for the city’s utility collection department.
The city received $20,005,402 in ARPA in 2021, part of a $1.9 trillion spending plan approved by the U.S. Congress to help local governments recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mansfield has about $2.1 million in ARPA funds remaining, according to the legislation approved Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, City Council:
— approved a final 2023 appropriations plan that includes general fund expenditures of $34,360,544 — an increase of $632,690 over the temporary plan approved in December.
— give a first read on the 2023 allocations for usage of the city’s share of federal Community Development Block Grant funds and HOME funds.
— vote to amend legislation approved in September to honor former 4th Ward Councilman Walden “Butch” Jefferson by adding his name to Johns Avenue between Harker Street and Longview Avenue. The original legislation didn’t include using his nickname of “Butch” on the sign.
— voted to accept a $55,452.02 grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services to be used to purchase an additional server and related equipment for the police department’s body-worn camera program. No local matching funds are needed for the grant.
— voted to accept an $84,935.98 grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services for use in administration of the 10-county METRICH Enforcement Unit. No local matching funds are required.
— approved a contract to lease Hangar 534, currently being built at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport to Rex Holdings, LLC, of Ashland. The company will pay $2,000 annually during the 10-year lease.
— approved a three-year contract to provide natural gas at city-owned facilities.
— approved spending $67,740 on a preventative maintenance agreement for the fire department with Stryker Corp. for several pieces of EMS equipment. MFD Chief Steve Strickling told council the agreement will cover about $1 million worth of equipment.
— spent nearly 30 minutes in an executive session to discuss possible land acquisition. No action was taken on the matter afterward.
