A pair of applications for $250,000 in recreation grants will be submitted on behalf of Oxford Village.
Council last week voted 4-0 to direct village President Steve Allen to submit two grant applications to the Department of Natural Resources – one for a $200,000 grant to build a ramp park at Scripter Park and another for a $50,000 grant for playground re-development/expansion at Scripter Park.
“I personally think that both of these (grants) would be a positive step forward for the village,” Allen said.
During a public hearing regarding the grant applications, resident Sue Jones told council, “I support it,” referring to the ramp park, which would be used by skateboarders, free-style bikers and roller-bladers.
Jones said she’s “real tired” of driving her son to ramp parks in Warren and Waterford. “I wanna keep my money here.”
Allen said the village does have an advantage in these grant processes in that “we (the village) have an approved, filed recreation plan, which some communities our size do not have. If you do not have an approved and filed recreation plan, you may not apply for these grants.”
Each DNR grant requires a minimum of 25 percent in matching funds be spent by the applicant.
In this case, the $200,000 ramp park grant would require a match of $50,000, which council indicated would be generated through fund-raising efforts by the village’s ramp park committee.
The village will put up $25,000 (or 50 percent) in matching funds from its general fund for the $50,000 playground grant, if it’s awarded to them.