Hinckley's Valley Brook Boulevard and Salem Court construction project likely to experience delay

HINCKLEY TWP. — Road construction on Valley Brook Boulevard and the entrance of Salem Court in Hinckley Township is likely to occur later than originally anticipated. The Hinckley Township Board of Trustees discussed the project's delay during its meeting on Tuesday. Chairman Jack Swedyk said a portion of the township's American Rescue Plan Act funding and an Ohio Public Works Commission grant were intended to fund the project. Medina County applied for the grant on behalf of the township, and the grant's approval was not received until around January. "The county engineer's office said it's a close time frame to get all the work done to engineer the project in time for it to go out for bid in June," he said. "That's where we ran into a problem." Service Superintendent Mike Behary said instead the project will be put out to bid in November or December and work will start next spring. Yet, ARPA funding has to be encumbered by the end of the year, Swedyk said. As a result, there would be a risk of losing the money if there was a failure to bid at the end of 2024. "We have another project going on at Bethany Lane that we were utilizing regular budget funds for," he said. "What we'll do is transpose those monies and put the ARPA money into that project, which will be done this year, so that way we won't have any risk of losing that money." Fiscal Officer Martha Catherwood said the OPWC grant is worth about $850,000 and is slated to be used for roadwork. The township's intention is also to use all of its ARPA funding on road construction as well, she said. About $461,000 from ARPA was spent in 2023, and the township has just over $400,000 left. Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.