What's in store for 2024 in Perry Township? Park upgrades, Perry Drive widening, road levy
Editor’s note: The Canton Repository asked leaders in each of Stark County’s 17 townships, 11 villages and six cities to share some highlights about what's in store for 2024 in their communities.
The responses include the return of some family-friendly events, a variety of new businesses and some much-needed improvements to longstanding structures. We will be presenting these community highlights to you throughout the upcoming months.
PERRY TWP. − Some long-awaited park improvements, popular community events, a road levy request and a major road reconstruction project are coming this year in Perry Township.
Here's what is in store for 2024 in the township of more than 28,000 residents:
Walking track, restrooms coming to township parks
A paved walking track at Meredith Park is expected to be installed by early summer. The half-mile track comes after last year's drainage and grading improvements at the park’s soccer fields at 841 Genoa Ave. SW. Grants from the Stark Community Foundation and the state capital budget will cover the more than $120,000 track.
A prefabricated restroom will be installed this spring at Regis Perry Memorial Park on Harsh Street SW to replace the more than 30-year-old restroom building that was demolished last fall.
A second prefabricated restroom is planned for Summerdale Park at 1212 Summerdale Ave. NW, but Trustee Matt Miller said issues concerning flood plains and obtaining permits have delayed the project.
To cover the roughly $105,000 cost for each restroom project, trustees are using a portion of the township’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation, federal money given to state and local governments nationwide to help them rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic impact.
Road levy request on the March election ballot
Voters will see a road levy request on the March 19 election ballot. Issue 18 seeks to replace an existing 1-mill levy and increase it by 6.8 mills for paving, snow removal and drainage projects.
If approved, the five-year, 7.8-mill levy would generate $5.78 million annually and cost the owner of a $100,000 home $273 a year, according to the Stark County Auditor’s Office.
The road department currently operates on $1.2 million generated by the 1-mill levy, which expires at the end of this year, and a 2-mill levy, which expires in 2025. The levies combined currently cost the owner of a $100,000 home nearly $46 a year.
Township officials have pledged to allow the 2-mill levy to expire in 2025 and not to seek a new road levy for at least 10 years if Issue 18 is approved, according to levy campaign materials.
The road department estimates that it could pave 100 miles of the township’s 150 miles of roadway within five years with the new levy funds. Without the federal funds, paving would be limited to five to seven miles a year, township officials said. The township used American Rescue Plan Act funds to pave 25 miles of road in 2023, and a mix of federal and local funds to resurface nearly 24 miles of road in 2022.
The township also plans to use the additional levy funds to hire two road maintenance employees and upgrade township plowing equipment to reduce snowplowing time by roughly 20%. Currently, it requires roughly 11 hours for township crews to plow and salt the streets.
Officials also have said that increased levy funds would be used to undertake more drainage projects because the township could provide more matching funds for larger projects that receive county, state or federal funding.
A meeting to discuss the road levy request will be held at 6 p.m. March 4 at Perry Fire Station 3 at 3100 Bailey St. NW. (The location of the meeting was updated at 3 p.m. Feb. 26 due to the township's decision to move the meeting to accommodate a larger audience.)
An open house will be held from noon to 2 p.m. March 9 at the Perry Township Road Department at 1500 Jackson Ave. SW.
Movie night, Oktoberfest and Lights Up Perry to return
The township will host a free Movie & Ice Cream event this summer at Hartwick Park at 3737 13th St. SW. The event is tentatively scheduled for the second weekend in June.
The 10th annual Perry Township Oktoberfest will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Sept. 21 at Hartwick Park. The Perry Rotary Community Parade will kick off the festivities that will include hay wagon rides, games, a petting zoo, a dunk tank, food vendors, inflatables and live entertainment.
Starting Dec. 1, the annual Light Up Perry Holiday Lighting Contest will return with residents and businesses showcasing their wreaths, reindeer and holiday lights on their homes and shops to win.
More details about each event will be posted on perrytwp.com closer to the event dates. The events are sponsored by Keith Nutter, area manager of Aqua.
Perry Drive SW to be reconstructed, widened
The Stark County Engineer’s Office plans to reconstruct and widen Perry Drive SW between Tuscarawas Street W and Southway Street SW starting in either May or June.
The estimated $4.5 million project will add a center lane on Perry Drive between 15th Street SW and Tuscarawas Street. New waterlines, sidewalks, lighting, curbs and gutters, storm sewers and a traffic signal at the intersection of Perry Drive and 13th Street SW also will be included in the project.
Traffic will be restricted to one direction for much of the project, which is expected to be completed by fall 2025.
Another Perry Township project coming: $2.3M Aqua Ohio project along Lincoln Way E to replace mile-long stretch of water pipes
Federal highway funding through the Stark County Area Transportation Study, a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission and funding from the county will cover the cost of the project. Canton will reimburse the county $500,000 for the waterline installation.
Reach Canton Repository writer Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Perry Township to upgrade its parks, widen Perry Drive, seek levy
