In good news for Ironton drivers, Mayor Katrina Keith announced at the Ironton City Council meeting on Thursday that there will be several road-paving projects this summer.

“We have about five projects that will take place throughout the entire summer,” she said. Part of Sixth Street will begin in about two weeks. In July, it will shift to Maple Avenue.

“Since Ohio 141 will be paved by ODOT coming into Ironton, we wanted to follow that around. Start there and go all the way down to Ninth Street,” Keith said.

After that, it will be Third Street at the entrance into Ironton.

“We want that to look nice with the new bridge, so we will butt up to that concrete and go on down to, I believe, Monroe Street.”

Then it will be onto Jefferson Street from Third to Fourth Street, by the fire department.

“It will make a big impact on downtown,” she said. “In August, the remaining part of Sixth Street will be done.”

She added that next year, State Route 93 would be paved all the way to the bridge.

Keith also explained that in regards to the Revolving Loan Fund for façade improvement, it was explained to her that under the RLF rules, that a Community Action Organization rep clarified that the funds can be used as a grant if the owner of the property can come up with half of the cost of the project.

The owner of the property at corner building on Third and Vernon streets wants to put a new roof on the building and applied for RLF money. The total cost of the project is $42,469.

“We approve or disapprove that (loan or grant),” Keith said, although the CAO administers the fund.

Councilman Jim Tordiff asked that if the determining factor is whether the person could come up with half the money as to whether it was considered a grant or loan.

“Yes, correct,” Keith said.

The seed money for the RLF came from the state many years ago, Keith said.

In the ordinances and resolutions part of the meeting, the council gave first and second readings and then approved the mayor to submit an application to the RFL for the roof improvement.

They also did the same for a budget amendment and executing a quit-claim deed on a piece of unused property to go to Sherman Thompson LLC.

They also passed a resolution to hire a person to compile data on similar sized Ohio towns to compare their financial data to Ironton. The position is temporary and the amount paid is not to exceed $600.

A resolution to execute consent for the mayor to let SBA Communications sublease space on a cell tower to T-Mobile remained tabled.

Councilman Bob Cleary asked where they were at on the lease. Finance Director John Elam said the contract had been sent to legal counsel.

Councilman Chuck O’Leary asked about the status of the Brumberg Building in downtown Ironton.

Keith said that the CAO grant had been approved, so work on the roof and windows should start soon.

“If they don’t, within a month or two, can we condemn it and tear it down?” O’Leary asked. “It’s time.”

Councilman Kevin Waldo said the thing that irritates him was that it had been eight years and nothing has happened with it.

“You have a building that is right in downtown Ironton in deplorable condition,” he said. “It either needs to be fixed or there needs to be a definite date in the near, very near future that has got to be a plan to be fixed.”

He said that if it was privately owned, they would have already taken some kind of action to make sure it was done up or planned to be done.

“How can we let that continue,” he asked, adding that last time he counted there were 23 windows that were open to the air with no protection from the elements and its been that way for six or seven years.

“We need to do something about it. If there is a way to do it, I don’t know if there is something the city can do to make sure it’s boarded up or torn down,” Waldo said.

Keith said she would ask the CAO about it.

It was announced that the Strategic Planning Committee would meet at 5 p.m. on June 19.