Buckeye Lake pledged funding and road signs for I-70

BUCKEYE LAKE — ODOT has notified the Buckeye Lake Chamber of Commerce that signs advertising Buckeye Lake area businesses have arrived at the local ODOT facility and are awaiting installation on Interstate 70.

Chamber secretary Tim Figgins said the signs have been built, but ODOT is still waiting on some parts.

"These signs will be installed as these parts become available," he said.

The chamber has been working with ODOT to get the signs made and installed since late July. Figgins said the time that it took to organize and work out the project is "about on time."

"We had to identify which businesses would be put on the signs and work out where on I-70 the signs would be installed. To have finished that within 60 days is impressive," he said, adding the ODOT contact was helpful in expediting the process.

Although the signs are coming late this season, Figgins is confident they will make a difference for the businesses in the Buckeye Lake region.

"People in Buckeye Lake have learned to live with varying degrees of good. These signs will help a little this season, and that's what we'll be grateful for," he said.

The signs will hopefully brand the lake region, he said, with businesses becoming "ingrained in the minds of commuters" as they drive to work in Columbus or head east.

"Even one customer that comes to town to buy a boat, or that visits the winery, will help those businesses," Figgins said.

The announcement comes a week after U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown's office released a statement Sept. 28 announcing the approval of a federal grant of $150,000, meant to be used to maintain an economic recovery coordinator position. The grant will be awarded by the Economic Development Association. The Ohio Development Services Agency has sent a letter of intent to the association confirming it will match the federal grant, agency spokeswoman Stephanie Gostomski confirmed.

“The grant will be used to ‘retain the services of a recovery coordinator to orchestrate a suite of programs and services aimed at assisting the residents and businesses of the Buckeye Lake area that stand to be severely impacted by the low water levels of the lake,’ according to the application,” she said.

The full $300,000 will be put to use in the affected area. As of now, no one has been named to the position, but Perry County Community Impact Coordinator Tom Johnson said a candidate will be named soon.

“Right now, we’re still looking at the necessary qualifications the coordinator position will need, but once we do, we’ll move quickly,” Johnson said.

The coordinator’s position will receive a salary of about $60,000 a year, he said. The coordinator will be working closely with the Buckeye Lake Chamber of Commerce as well as the economic development coordinators of Perry, Fairfield and Licking counties.