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PARKERSBURG -- Parkersburg City Council will consider applying federal funding to get the ball rolling on improvements to the City Park pond at its meeting Tuesday.
It's one of two items on the agenda for the 7:30 p.m. regular meeting, which will be followed by an Urban Renewal Authority meeting with four properties on the docket.
One council resolution will set the meeting dates for December on the 12th and 19th, while the other would authorize Mayor Tom Joyce to apply for a $227,439 National Park Service Land and Water Conservation Fund grant to enhance the pond at City Park.
The project, which would include replacement of the seawall and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalks around the perimeter, is estimated to cost $900,000. But the city must provide equal matching funds and $227,439 is what was available and allocated through recent budget revisions, Joyce said.
"Ideally, it would be better to have the entire (amount) encumbered or appropriated, but I believe that any grant assistance is worth applying for and if we are awarded, we will source and seek additional funds internally to close the gap," he said.
When the original budget revision was proposed earlier this month, Joyce said it could be used for the pond at City or Southwood Park. City Park was ultimately chosen because the estimate for it was completed two or three years ago and could be easily updated and improvements to the Southwood Park water slide are expected to take substantial funds in the next budget cycle, Joyce said Friday.
The Urban Renewal Authority will consider whether to accept donations of property at 1712 Latrobe St. and 1807 Beaver St. Both structures have already been marked for demolition by the city's Building Enforcement Agency, but accepting the properties would allow the authority to market them for redevelopment or yard expansion. Otherwise, a lien would be placed on the properties that could hinder future use, according to memos from the city's Planning Division.
The owner of 4828 First Ave. has petitioned the authority to purchase it at fair market value, determined by an independent appraisal to be $5,000. The request was made before the property went before the BEA, which the Planning Division said will have to address it if the URA does not.
The fourth item is an application to purchase 1714 19th St., donated to the URA earlier this year, for $4,000. Applicant Deirdre Prince of Prince Rentals said that even though the house is in disrepair, she plans to renovate it to sell or rent.
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.