MILTON TOWNSHIP — Mahoning County commissioners on Tuesday awarded a roughly $172,000 contract for paving and storm sewer improvements.

Anna DeAscentis, Mahoning County director of Grants Management and Fair Housing coordinator, said the contract awarded to RT Vernal Paving & Excavating of North Lima is one of three projects being paid for with a $672,000 Community Development Block Grant the county received through the Ohio Department of Development.

“That amount includes the responsibilities of administration and my office, and the balance is to go to projects. The Ohio Department of Development limited the county to three projects,” she said. The CDBG funds were assigned in 2024, and the three projects will be carried out this year and next.

The Milton Township project will install 4 inches of asphalt overlay on six streets in the Pickering neighborhood — those include portions of First, Second, Hillsdale, Ottawa and Pickering, from NE River Road. The total amount to be paved is 2,975 feet or 0.56 miles. RT Vernal’s bid, which includes some improvements for storm water flow and retention, was $171,995.

DeAscentis said RT Vernal also is poised to win a roughly $174,500 project to handle paving in the Woodworth neighborhood in Beaver Township. That project will see 2 inches of asphalt laid down on portions of five roads — Luther Avenue, Granger Way, Maplecrest Road, Warren Avenue and Maple Drive. The $174,557 bid will cover 6,102 feet, or 1.16 miles.

That bid has not been awarded yet, but DeAscentis said the company provided the lowest and best bid.

Another project, scheduled for June, has not been bid yet. It will provide sidewalk improvements for an Austintown neighborhood slated to see significant infrastructure upgrades over the next year.

The project in the North Wickliffe neighborhood will install 3,080 feet of new sidewalks along portions of nine streets, benefitting 335 households, DeAscentis said.

Those streets include Idlewood, North Beverly, North Roanoke, North Edgehill, Westminster Avenue, North Main, North Navarre, North Wickliffe Circle and Carnegie Avenue.

The Mahoning County engineer’s estimate for the project is $217,000.

DeAscentis said the county will bid for tree removal in September, because EPA rules about disturbing wild bird habitats require that tree removal must be completed between Oct. 1 and March 31. The sidewalks will be installed in spring, and the county will bid that portion of the work in January or February.

After the sidewalk goes in, the township will take over and pave 6.59 miles of roads in the same area. Austintown seems likely to accept a bid from Lindy Paving for $1.27 million to pave all or parts of Wickliffe Circle, North Nottingham Avenue, Woodhurst Drive, Cedarwood Drive, Stark Drive, Red Apple Drive, Birchcrest Avenue, Aldrich Road, Carlisle Drive, Dayton Drive, Elm Trace Street, Evelyn Road, Frostwood Drive, Green Grass Way, Johnson Court, Kerneywood Drive, Kirkhaven Drive, Sandalwood Court, Sheffield Drive, Yolanda Place, Diana Drive, Duke Circle, Notre Dame Avenue, Purdue Avenue, Radcliffe Avenue, Forestwood Drive, Barrington Court, Finland Road, Dehoff Drive, Maple Trace Court, Westgate Boulevard, Woodland Trace Street, Javit Court, Kenmar Court and Evans Avenue.

The lowest of the bids came from Shelly and Sands at $1,299,999.15, followed by Lindy Paving at $1,270,710.20. RT Vernal bid $1,289,647; the Shelly Co. bid $1,349,822; Karvo Co. bid $1,386,975; Barbicas Construction bid $1,390,411.50; Kirila Contractors bid $1,419,480; and Geauga Highway bid $1,479,018.45.

The costs of that project will be offset by about $225,000 provided by the Ohio Public Works Commission’s State Capital Improvement Program, the same program Ohio voters renewed on May 6.