Coshocton TID completes Genesis Drive project
COSHOCTON − The local Transportation Improvement District (TID) has completed its first project and is eyeing more for economic improvement in Coshocton County.
Tiffany Swigert, executive director of the Coshocton Port Authority, said the group formed almost three years ago to promote intergovernmental and public-private cooperation of transportation resources and investments, such as road construction or repairs.
"Roads are very underfunded. That causes difficulty with maintenance, but also difficulty with new development," Swigert said. "The TID gives us the ability to leverage some state dollars we didn't have before. It's kind of our loss if we don't do that."
Its first project was helping to secure grant funding to assist with the construction of Genesis Drive, a connector from Airport Road to the new Genesis Coshocton Medical Center set to open in April. Coshocton County Engineer Fred Wachtel said crews were expected to finish the road by the end of last week.
The estimated $45 million Genesis project is set to add 200 jobs to the county. Swigert said those numbers were key economic factors in securing $500,000 of grant funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation, ODOT Office of Jobs and Commerce and the Governor's Office of Appalachia for road construction. Coming off the grant are legal fees to Bricker and Eckler law firm of Columbus and $250 to help establish a checking account for the TID at Peoples Bank.
Final cost of the of roadwork hasn't been determined, but Swigert said it's more than the grants with the total cost of the medical center project providing required matching funds. Swigert said it's possible for them to go back in the future and extend the road the other direction to connect with Ohio 83, but there are some property owners to be dealt with first.
"We understood what the level of investment was going to be, where it was going to be established and that there needed to be a new road established," Swigert said of Genesis Drive. "We went to ODOT and said, 'here's this project, it brings a lot of incredible job creation to our community. We need some assistance.'"
The next project being considered is remodeling of County Road 271 in the vicinity of Three Rivers Energy. Swigert said they had grant funding for the work at one time, but they had to relinquish it as the ethanol plant was closed and jobs retention and creation was a component of the grant requirement. It's open again.
Also talked about was extending work to the intersecting County Road 273 as it goes by the burgeoning Conesville Industrial Park. The Frontier Group of Companies is developing the land for a variety of new businesses to come in. The American Electric Power plant on the property closed in May 2020 after 62 years of operation.
Another possible future project is extending Airport Road past the Ohio National Guard Readiness Center down to County Road 193, which connects to Ohio 621. Wachtel said that's been talked about for years.
The TID board features Wachtel as chairman, Coshocton Services Director Max Crown as vice chair and Swigert as financial officer. Also on the committee are West Lafayette Mayor Stephen Bordenkircher, Warsaw Administrator Ed Robinette, Tom Barcroft of Coshocton City Council and Our Town Coshocton and Dusty Woodie of Coshocton Trucking.
Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with close to 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Coshocton TID completes Genesis Drive project
