Local counties receive $1.5M in grants for upgrades

Communities in Miami, Darke and Preble counties will receive about $1.5 million in grants to help pay for street, bridge and public facility improvements.

The Ohio Development Services Agency provided the grant money, and it is expected to benefit almost 5,800 residents in those counties.

Miami County will receive a $300,000 neighborhood revitalization grant to upgrade streets, sidewalks and parks and recreational facilities in the village of Fletcher. The county will also receive a critical infrastructure grant in the same amount to improve drainage along Spring Street in the village of Covington. The projects will benefit 3,337 residents.

Darke County will receive a grants in the same amounts to upgrade sidewalks, stormwater and sewer facilities and park facilities in Union City, and to make improvements to Jefferson Street in the village of Pitsburg. The projects are projected to help 1,973 residents.

Preble County will also receive $300,000 to improve streets, sidewalks and public facilities in the village of West Manchester. The project will benefit 474 residents.

The Ohio Development Services Agency awarded 23 communities totaling more than $8 million that are expected to generate more than $12.7 million in additional project funds.

"The state is committed to investing in neighborhoods and business districts to improve the quality of life in a community and position it for growth," said David Goodman, the department's director, in a prepared statement.

The critical infrastructure and neighborhood revitalization programs are competitive grants within the Community Development Block Grant program. Projects funded through these programs improve public facilities and infrastructure as well as rehabilitate buildings in a community's central business district.

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