By Martha Jacob –
The mayor of the Village of Sardinia, Greg Cassidy and members of the Sardinia Council have been working hard to get the word out to all Sardinia residents about the importance and necessity of passing a street levey, Nov. 7 for the village.
The village has not had a street levy since 2011 and the streets are in need of major repairs.
“Over the last 10 years, economics of state, county and local governments have changed drastically,” Mayor Cassidy said. “The funding that was once available has been cut by millions.
“We are in the early stages of getting a $500,000 revitalization grant through the state which comes up available each year. However, this is a matching grant and our village would have to come up with $100,000 to receive the $500,000 grant.”
Cassidy said the Village of Sardinia is hoping a 4.8 mill levy will pass next week which would raise just a little less than $50,000 per year in property taxes.
“We are hopeful that we will receive this revitalization grant which would cover street resurfacing, curbing, storm drains and sidewalks.
“We are working closely with Kelly Cole, director of Brown County Economic Development to get this grant. We would qualify for the grant for many years to come, once we get it.
Cassidy continued, “We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to this growing problem. Construction costs continue to go up every year and as out streets continue to deteriorate, the necessary repairs become greater in scope. Our failing storm drains affect our waste water treatment costs, which in turn, affects our sewer bills.”
If anyone has questions for Mr. Cassidy, please call (937) 446-3807.