Photo by Ryan Ottney | Daily Times
New Boston Village Council on Tuesday voted to restore the gazebo in Millbrook Park and dedicate it to former New Boston Fire Chief Elwood Turner.
Photo by Ryan Ottney | Daily Times
Road crews finished paving Lakeview Avenue this week, in front of the new school — seen behind the roller. The Village of New Boston sent a letter to the school this week telling them not to drive heavy construction vehicles on the new pavement.
RYAN SCOTT OTTNEY
PDT Staff Writer
NEW BOSTON — New Boston Village Administrator Steve Hamilton reported to Village Council Tuesday evening that a letter has been sent to New Boston Schools to inform that heavy construction vehicles from the school building site are not permitted to drive on the newly-laid pavement at Lakeview Avenue and lower-Oak Street until Sept. 20.
Even after that date, Hamilton said, weight limitations will be enforced.
“Pictures will be taken in front of the School site. If any (Damage) is done to the new (Pavement) either the contractor or construction management will be held liable,” the letter reads, signed by Hamilton and New Boston Mayor James Warren.
Scioto County Engineer Craig Opperman previously explained that the county and the village applied last year for state funding to repave Lakeview. He said the state awarded a 50-50 matching funds grant in the amount of $148,000 for the project and New Boston is paying half. That state funding, he said, would have expired if the Lakeview project had not started by Oct. 1.
The project was started on Wednesday last week with crews from the Shelly Company of Thornville, Ohio, milling the old pavement. The entire project was expected to have been done last week, but Hamilton said the company was behind on another job which ended up pushing them behind on this one, too. The company paved much of the road on Saturday, and finished the job on Monday this week.
With construction now several months behind its original schedule, New Boston School Superintendent Mike Staggs said the district is expected to finally take ownership of the new school building and begin classes in October.
In other actions, members of the Village Council individually took a moment to remember Elwood Turner, who passed away on Saturday. Turner was the former Chief of the New Boston Fire Department, and once a member of New Boston Village Council. In his memory, Hamilton proposed fixing the gazebo at Milbrook Park and dedicating it to Turner.
“Elwood Turner did a lot of work to that gazebo. He made a lot of boards, and stuff like that. I would like to fix it back up and dedicate that gazebo to Elwood Turner, in his name,” Hamilton said. “He worked many nights and days cutting wood, and the slats got kicked out. He did that on his own time, nailing slats back in. So I’d like to have it fixed back up and painted a little bit, put some lattice around it.”
New Boston Councilman Dan Fetty is Turner’s son-in-law. He was not at the council meeting on Tuesday, while he was instead attending the visitation at the funeral home.
The New Boston Village Council meets at the Vern Riffe Community Center on Rhodes Avenue, at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Oct. 2.
Ryan Scott Ottney can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 235, or rottney@heartlandpublications.com.
Is this double dipping by the contractor, putting that road down twice and the County Engineer will retire and be reappointed like the County Auditor and The Sheriff?
They could not work out a scheduling, critical path method, to avoid this conflict, extra public funds and enforcement?
What's that's saying, an ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of Cure? (Benjamin Franklin) In this case, "worth a pound of Ben's" and more.
How will they enforce this traffic, the Contractor's, the Sub-contractor's owning the vehicles, or the School District? That ought to put a lot of lawyers to work on the clock at their outrageous hourly rate. Hmmm, now we know why there was not "an ounce of prevention." Hah.
Good job, Ryan, nice dictation, not investigative reporting that would have help them do some forethought and planning, Hah. So now let's see if this comment makes if passed the M & M MEGO's?