ain heard from Pultney Township Trustee Mark Cervelli about partnering with the township and possibly with Belmont County on projects of mutual benefit, but the applications are competitive and the village must decide on the scope of any effort.

Cervelli and other township trustees have proposed jointly applying for funding for projects through the Ohio Public Works Commission.

On Monday, Cervelli laid out options. He noted that paving Central Avenue is a goal, but only Issue 1 funding is available for paving projects and Shadyside would be competing against numerous other entities. The scope and cost must also be determined.

He suggested paving North Central Avenue, along with Hart Avenue and Pultney Street in the Avondale area, which includes county, township and village roadways.

“If you put them together, then the application comes in right at what’s the most you’re allowed to ask for, is $400,000,” Cervelli said.

However, he said the price might be prohibitive if Shadyside wanted to have all of Central Avenue paved.

“Because it’s such a long distance, the cost is so high you can’t put everybody together because you’re asking for well over $400,000, and you’re not going to earn any points in the application,” Cervelli said.

He and village leaders noted the local match of 26 percent might come to about $80,000, with $34,000 from the township and $26,000 from the county.

Cervelli said Central Avenue, as an arterial route through the village, would be awarded more points in competition.

The deadline to submit an application is Aug. 31, and the state would release funding after July 1, 2023.

“That’s if it’s successful, that’s not saying you’re going to get it,” Cervelli said. “It’s a highly competitive application process.”

They would be competing against the entities of OPWC District 18, which is comprised of Belmont, Monroe, Washington, Athens, Meigs, Morgan, Noble, Muskingum, Perry and Hocking counties.

“We’re going to explore both options,” Mayor Bob Newhart said.

“We definitely want to work with the township and county. I don’t know if we have the funds available to do both ends.”

Local engineer Jeff Vaughn will be contacted to provide a certified estimate. Cervelli said Belmont County likely will use its own engineer for its portion. Cervelli added that other factors might impact the estimate compared to the final price. Cervelli said the township will likely join in with Shadyside on the engineering estimate.

“In this business climate right now, with everything going on, they don’t really know how to estimate a job that won’t start until next year, so I don’t know how they’re going to come in with their estimate,” Cervelli said.

There may be more results by the next council meeting at 6 p.m. June 13 at the municipal building.

“Even if it doesn’t come together this year, we still have basically got all the information to move forward next year. We’re going to try, but the deadline … the delay was when we contacted paving companies to get an estimate of the cost. It took them almost two months to get back to us. … They were busy working on bid packages, and the cost of asphalt was increasing and they didn’t know how to bid the jobs out.”