BOARDMAN — For the second time in as many days, local dignitaries gathered to dedicate a new feature on the township’s landscape.

A day after the Clarence R. Smith Jr. Family Mahoning County First Responder Wellness Center opened with much fanfare near the township’s government center, community leaders gathered to cut the ribbon at the Forest Lawn Stormwater Park along Market Street.

“This project shows that local government can and should look long-term with its planning,” said Boardman Township Trustee Larry Moliterno. “Because, we planned a long time ago to form the ABC Water District, which led to funding, which led to additional grants, which led to a partnership with the schools, which led to to this wonderful project, which is going to lead to even more projects down the road to work on the flooding issues that Boardman has struggled with for decades.”

Market Street Elementary School closed in 2019 and the Boardman Local School District donated the property to the project with the understanding that part of it would be used to help mitigate flooding problems, while the front of the property will be the site of an educational facility yet to be built.

At the back of the property is the retention pond for water from the Cranberry Run Watershed to collect, significantly reducing flood threats to about 1,400 homes and businesses along Market Street, Southern Boulevard and surrounding neighborhoods.

The Forest Lawn project extended the storm sewer pipe and created an underground basin. The park expands available stormwater storage from the previous limit of 93,500 cubic feet to 556,500 cubic feet and mitigates flooding for downstream residents.

The park also includes trees — the roots of which will absorb some of the water and beautify the area — and pollinator gardens to do the same, and a one-third-mile hike and bike trail.

Trustees said the functional part of the park has been operating since the spring and worked exactly as it should when heavy rain fell in April.

The project thus far has been completed with $4 million from federal, state and county sources. In February 2023, Boardman received a FEMA grant for $2.1 million for the park. Another $750,000 came from the state for the educational pavilion and walking path.

Project point man and Boardman Township Administrator Jason Loree said the Mahoning County commissioners were the first to contribute, with a $1 million gift through the county’s pool of American Rescue Plan funds.

“There were a lot of moving parts in this project and believe me, when the trustees approached the commissioners for the funding, they had a great plan in mind and this is a feat of architectural ingenuity,” said Commissioner Anthony Traficanti. “We know very well when it rained in Boardman how ugly it got. This was a big concern of the trustees, and they came to us and just laid out why they needed the funds.”

Loree, who is Boardman’s representative to the ABC Stormwater District Board, led the ceremony, flanked by trustees, commissioners, school representatives and high school students from the district.

“We could not have completed a project like this without the kind of community we have here in Boardman, all the cooperation, all the people that were behind helping raise money and awareness, this was just monumental,” Loree said.

He thanked the commissioners, H2Ohio, FEMA, engineering firm Verdantas and the school district, fellow ABC members Austintown and Canfield townships, and several others.

Joined by his 7-year-old daughter, Emmie, a Boardman second grader, he also noted the special personal significance the day held for him.

“This is a very special day for me and a special day for my little girl here, because we are going to take a lap,” he said.

Loree announced two weeks ago that he will be taking some leave time to cope with polycystic kidney disease, and said he is having more bad days than good ones lately.

When his turn came to speak, Moliterno thanked everyone involved, but made a point of highlighting Loree’s role.

“I don’t think enough can be said, because we have an administrator who took it on straight and has spent so much time understanding this issue and has become a true expert,” Moliterno said. “And I can say, no matter how much we tried to work together, we would not be standing here if it wasn’t for Jason Loree, so I do want to thank him.”

Loree also yielded the floor to Boardman Board of Education member John Landers.

“While serving a need in our community to address flooding issues in the nearby area, it will also be a place of learning for our students and teachers that I know they are so excited about,” he said. “And not just Boardman students but many students and classes across the county.”

As soon as the ceremonies concluded with a ribbon cutting, officials walked the track around the retention pond, while students flocked to the water to take some samples for their studies.

Science teacher Scott Lenhart said those juniors and seniors in attendance on Wednesday were seventh- and eighth-graders when the idea of the park was conceived.

In 2021, they attended a stormwater conference with Loree and other local officials, where they showed off some of the science projects they were working on using local water samples and highlighting the potential benefit to their studies from the park and the pavilion.

Mark DeLisio of Verdantas said the pavilion will be at the front of the property, along Market Street. He said ABC already has $750,000 in grant funding for the pavilion and Verdantas will work with them to seek another $500,000 for the project.

If they cannot obtain the additional funds, the pavilion will still be built with the money that is available now.