Two weeks ago the long-awaited rehab project on Greenfield’s rail spur officially began with crossing improvements, with four already done and repairs on a fifth crossing slated to begin Friday.
Greenfield City Manager Ron Coffey said at Wednesday’s village council meeting that a total of 24 crossings will be improved as part of the railroad project.
The repairs on crossings at McWilliams and Centerfield roads, as well as the crossing on Jury and Wilson roads, are completed.
Coffey previously said that a majority of the railroad work will be done Friday through Monday when no trains are scheduled to run.
The city manager provided anticipated start dates of crossing work through August which is as follows: June 19, Monroe Road; June 26, Ringer Lane and Underground Road; July 3, no crossing work; July 10, Eastern Avenue in Leesburg; July 17, SR 72 in Highland; July 24, Hixson Road; July 31, Careytown Road and Polk Road; Aug. 7, Gist Settlement and Church Street in New Vienna.
Coffey said the village administration continues to hold bi-weekly phone conferences with all parties involved in the project and that “everything seems to be going smoothly.”
On a related matter, the village has received a $205,000 Governor’s Office of Appalachia grant that will be used, Coffey said, “to fill in the gaps” between the contract price of the railroad project and the available funds.
Coffey reported that the village’s natural gas aggregation program with Volunteer Energy Services has been extended beyond the program’s original terms.
“Key elements of the agreement,” Coffey said, are: the term runs Oct. 1, 2015 through Sept. 30, 2016; customers that opt-in to the program but choose to leave within the term will not be charged a termination fee; and for the duration of the term natural gas will be delivered at a fixed price of $4.58 per Mcf.
Coffey said anyone with questions or wanting to opt-in to the program can do so by calling Volunteer Energy at 800-977-8374.
In other business, council member and Paint Creek Joint EMS/Fire District Board member Bill Redenbaugh said the district will be receiving an $8,500 grant from the Cassner Foundation. He said the money will be used to purchase an all-terrain vehicle “to assist in more off-terrain rescues and fires.”
The next meeting of the fire board is on June 23 at 7 p.m. at the station on North Washington Street in Greenfield. The public is welcome to attend.
Reach Angela Shepherd at 937-393-3456, ext. 1681, or on Twitter @wordyshepherd.
