It has been many years that residents have voiced concerns to the village of Antwerp about having the sidewalk extended on Erie St. going out to the Dollar General store on the south side of the village. The existing sidewalk ended just after the Antwerp Regional Medical building forcing pedestrians to either walk in residents’ yards or walk on the high traffic route of Erie St. Thankfully, there weren’t ever any reports of accidents due to this lack of vital infrastructure.
For the past year, council had several discussions about how to fund this project for the village residents. A couple options were on the table — have residents pay for their portion as residents on North Main St. did about a decade ago or find money to pay the bill for the residents. Village Administrator, Brian Davis used ODOT funds allocated to the Village of Antwerp for road and sidewalk repairs within the village of Antwerp for this project. Total came to $40,000 and work was completed by local business owner, Nick Longardner of Flat Rock Concrete.
On Saturday, December 9th, the elected village officials gathered for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the sidewalk’s official opening. Pictured above are Antwerp Village Councilpersons Bryan Smith, Ken Reinhart, Mayor Jan Reeb, Councilpersons Dean Rister (back), Steve Jordan, and Jason Franks. Councilperson Bryce Steiner is the photographer.
