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State, foundation grants to fund addition to Great Miami trail

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By Michael D. Pitman, Staff Writer 10:05 PM Monday, August 23, 2010

HAMILTON — Four more miles of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail will be added in Butler County.

The county was awarded a $500,000 Clean Ohio Trails Fund grant from the state this month to complete a two-mile stretch from Rentschler Forest Preserve to Allison Avenue at the old Miami-Erie Canal towpath. The grant was announced at the Monday, Aug. 23, commission meeting.

A $1 million Hamilton Community Foundation donation — which was the only unfulfilled legacy project from the foundation’s 50th anniversary — will assist in funding the next piece of the trail.

The donation will also pay for another two miles from Allison Avenue to U.S. 127 in Hamilton. Butler County senior planner Joe Schmidt said the county and city are not paying for the project.

Within five years, cyclists and hikers will be able to travel from Water Works Park in Fairfield to Rentschler Forest, Schmidt said. A Hamilton sewer project along the Great Miami River is preventing the trail to be connected sooner, he said..

The price tag of the project is upwards of $1.5 million. “It’s a little more involved than just rolling out some asphalt on the ground,”said Butler County Planning Director David Fehr. The project will involve a brand new 10-foot-wide trail, plus culverts and safety measures.

The $1 million Hamilton Community Foundation donation was for a project to have a “major impact” on the community, said foundation president and CEO John Guidugli.

“We made that commitment and we’re going to make sure to see it through,” he said. “I think it could really have a positive impact on a quality of life perspective.”

The Clean Ohio Fund was a voter-approved bond in 2000. Butler County received the most grant money of the August-announced grants.

Top funded projects

Thirty entities received funding from the Clean Ohio Trails Fund, totaling nearly $8.3 million. Here are all the projects receiving more than $400,000:

Butler County Commissioners, Butler County, $500,000 for the Great Miami River Recreation Trail

Medina, Medina County, $479,938 for the Champion Creek Trail

Cleveland Metro Parks, Cuyahoga County, $468,000 for the West Creek All-Purpose Greenway Trail

Woodlawn, Hamilton County, $460,200 for the West Fork Mill Creek Greenway Trail/Woodlawn Extension

Stark County Park District, Stark County, $456,000 for the Plain Center Trail

Sylvania, Lucas County, $430,000 for the Sylvania River Trail

Mill Creek Restoration Project, Hamilton County, $405,000 for the Queen City-South Mill Creek Greenway Trail Phase 3A

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