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MIAMI TWP. — A waterfall, with cascading pools, would decorate a new sign welcoming motorists on Interstate 675 to Miami Twp. if township trustees approve a $700,000 plan linked to construction of a $9 million Menards retail store south of the Dayton Mall.
The three-member board of trustees voted Wednesday to seek bids on the waterfall project. Contractors for the Wisconsin-based retailer have begun enlarging a retention basin behind the store. The township’s Government Center and library are part of the development.
“You’ve got to dig a bigger hole,” Trustee Mike Nolan said Wednesday after a work session on the project. “It’s a selling point for Miami Twp.”
In addition to the cascading waterfall, the plan includes a gazebo with a deck over the “wet basin” and walkways from the government center.
Miami Twp. is home to about 30,000 residents, as well as the Dayton Mall and more than $100 million in development under way east of I-75 and the Austin Boulevard interchange.
The trustees also approved a $21.5 million budget for 2012. Still residents appealed to trustees to erect signs at its gateways to boost its identity.
“Make it visible. Make it an amenity for the community,” Chris Snyder, director of planning and zoning, said during his presentation to the trustees. “Announce they’ve entered our neck of the woods.”
Rather than appropriate money from the township’s general funds, officials said the project would be funded through tax incremental financing from improvements on Menards that is being built at the southeast corner of Ohio 741 and Lyons Road.
The next step for trustees is review construction bids, due in January, before deciding whether to proceed with a portion or the entire project.
“We can easily pull out one of those features,” Snyder said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2261 or lbudd@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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