Ironton residents are questioning a recent city council decision to seek a joint city-county paving grant, councilman Hugh Donald Scott said.

Friday, October 06, 2000

Ironton residents are questioning a recent city council decision to seek a joint city-county paving grant, councilman Hugh Donald Scott said.

During council’s Sept. 28 meeting, Scott voted against a resolution that allows Mayor Bob Cleary to participate in the joint project and said after the meeting that he felt streets proposed to benefit from the grant are being put ahead of other streets that have needed paving for some time.

"I don’t support these grants. That’s not to say we don’t need them, but I feel we have people who have been trying to get roads for years now," Scott said. "And my understanding is this grant, if we get it, will be used for roads on (Ohio) 141 that I don’t feel have as great a need."

City engineer Joe McCallister said at the September meeting if the joint application for grant money is awarded to the county, subdivision streets such as David Avenue, Woodlawn, Avenue and Valleyview Drive are among several that could be resurfaced.

Scott said there are other streets that should be considered in the project, and residents along at least one road feel the same.

"I’m not being biased, because those people need their roads, too," he said. "At least a year and a half ago, city council promised the individuals living on Deep Cut Road they would get a paved road out there They pay for city water and sewage, they have a city fire hydrant installed out there and they pay city taxes. They are a part of the City of Ironton, yet they still have a gravel-covered dirt road."

Councilman Jesse Roberts said the city could not afford to pave the road in question.

"The city’s budget will not allow us to pave the road at this time," Roberts said. "We have gone out there and placed fresh gravel on the road for the residents. We have asked the residents to consider paying for the city’s cost of paving, but I’m not sure what the result of that has been."

Scott said the six families living on Deep Cut Road have asked the Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization for help in a paving project.

"My understanding is that the money to pave the road is there," he said. "As far as I know, the CAO has the money. We just need to get it. The Public Works Committee has agreed to use the CAO grant money, but my biggest question is why hasn’t anything been done. It almost seems like the haves can get in this town and the have-nots can’t get."