LISBON — The Columbiana County Park District is expected to receive $490,000 for trail maintenance through the Ohio Department of Transportation as part of the Ohio Trails Partnership, according to board members.

Park District Board Vice Chairman Tom Butch said the district is guaranteed to receive the funding, which will be used for repaving three sections of the Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail, redecking a bridge along the trail and replacing the culvert on the trail just below the state Route 45 overpass.

Butch did say it is a reimbursement type of funding, which means they will have to pay up front and then be reimbursed. They are expecting to receive the funding next year, but may see the agreement for the funding soon.

Regarding the feasibility study related to extending the trail from Lisbon to East Liverpool, park district board Chairman Eileen Dray-Bardon said she and Butch met with county Engineer Bert Dawson asking for his support, but she indicated he wasn’t supportive. A lot of the route is on county roads, all following the roadways.

Her suggestion was to start with going along state Route 154 into Elkton and ending at the park in Elkton for now.

Woolpert, the company which completed the study regarding the route, also mentioned the idea of sending a proposal for funding to U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Salem.

Nothing was decided for sure.

Dray-Bardon agreed to approach county Auditor Nancy Gause Milliken about paying the money owed for the failed levy from 2024 in installments instead of all at once. She presented the board with the $11,201 bill for the park board’s share for the election, noting it was a lot more than when the levy failed in 2022. She questioned the amount and said she was told it had to do with the amount of ballots printed, particularly with so many voting absentee plus it was a presidential election with a lot more turnout.

“That’s a lot of money for us,” Dray-Bardon said, adding the cash flow is going to be pretty tight this summer.

Board member Crystal Siembida Boggs commented that the park district needs to promote itself and pointed out how the Columbiana County Republican Party promoted the parks levy in Salem during this last election.

“We have to show the county what we offer,” she said.

In other business, the board approved the purchase of a new trailer for $3,850 from Route 45 Trailer in Salem for the mowers, reviewed T-shirt designs for this year’s shirt, and agreed to purchase two boxes of brochures at a cost of $500, with one box for Hellbender Bluff and one for the disc golf course at Scenic Vista Park.

The board held first reading for two amendments to the bylaws to clean up some misleading language related to the proceedings of Columbiana County Parks Commission meetings and the procedure for when property items are no longer needed for the parks, such as equipment. The second reading will be done next month.

In a maintenance matter, Butch said he was contacted by the Columbiana County Archery Club concerning some dumping that is happening in a parking area off of the park district’s pull out along Logtown Road in Center Township. Dray-Bardon said they should talk to the township about it and board member Dave Hughes asked how you stop people from dumping. Butch was going to contact the township.

The board reviewed bills and Dray-Bardon noted the district received a reimbursement of $98,000 back from the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, which had been related to the Kerestes property purchase through a Clean Ohio grant.

A project for a few culvert replacements on the Greenway trail was pushed back to July due to scheduling.

The next meeting of the park board will be 3:30 p.m. June 10 at the park office on Maple Street, Lisbon.