T-L Photo/CARRI GRAHAM Marla Krupnik, fiscal officer for the village of Bellaire, sits at her desk after talking about the village securing a $400,000 grant through the Ohio Public Works Commission for a paving and catch basins project.

BELLAIRE — Bellaire officials are thrilled after recently learning the village secured a $400,000 grant and a $400,000 interest-free loan to aid in funding an extensive paving project.

Marla Krupnik, fiscal officer for the village, said they heard the news Tuesday that they had secured the small government grant through the Ohio Public Works Commission. The village was among 37 other entities in the district looking to secure the funding opportunity and scored No. 1 in Belmont County in points.

“It’s an honor to do something for the community,” she said.

“We’re trying our best. … We’re just very happy that we were able to bring these funds to Bellaire. It’s been a long time for a paving project. The last two projects we got funding for were water related, and the one before that was for sewer.”

Securing the grant was a joint effort between Krupnik, grant writer Phyllis Barnehart and members of the street committee.

The funds will be used for an estimated $1.08 million paving and catch basins project that includes the paving of 11 streets — 47th, 46th, 38th, Monroe, Trumbull, the 33rd block of Franklin, 36th, Washington, Folk, 21st and 33rd streets — and the installation of 25 catch basins that will keep water off the new pavement. Krupnik said village leaders wanted to complete paving on additional streets but had to decrease the number to add catch basins to stay within the grant requirements.

“We know there are a lot of streets in Bellaire that need to be paved, but we did the best we could to get this grant,” she said.

“The street committee and Service Foreman D.J. Cassidy went out and looked at the streets and took pictures, and we reviewed them. To make the grant work, we took the worst streets and worked backwards.”

The final list of streets was determined by members of the street committee — Councilmen Robert “Bubba” Kapral, Mike Doyle and Jerry Olack — and Cassidy.

Krupnik said the village was required to contribute a 26% match for the project, which will come from permissive taxes.

Kapral said he was ecstatic to learn of the news.

“It will be a great boost to the village,” he said.

“Much thanks goes out to Phyllis Barnehart and Marla Krupnik for their passionate and quality work. … This grant reflects another positive step forward for the village.”

Two other entities in the county also secured funding — Belmont County, which received a $400,000 grant and $215,760 loan for the Ramsey Ridge paving and slide repair project, and Union and Colerain townships, which received a $319,041 grant and $106,348 loan for a road project.

Krupnik said the funds are typically released from the state in July. Once the village has the funds, the project can be put out for bid. She said village officials are hoping to get the project underway by the end of summer 2023.