Mill Creek MetroParks board of commissioners approved multiple bids for improvement projects in or near the park at a special meeting Wednesday.

Dot Construction Co. of Canfield was selected to complete the restoration of Sycamore Bridge for $210,052. The park also received a Federal Highway Administration grant for the project of about $160,000.

The improvement project will clean and re-point the stone bridge and protect against erosion.

The board also hired RT Vernal Paving and Excavating of North Lima to complete improvements along the bikeway for $138,277.

The project includes two miles of paving between Western Reserve Road and state Route 446 in Canfield Township.

Full article at vindy.com

Changes are coming to Mill Creek Park.

Fishers are now allowed to fish at Lake Cohasset without a permit from the park.

They still have to follow the rules for fishing under Ohio’s law.

This is part of the park’s expansion and inclusion vision of adding more at the park.

Park officials hope to make the park more natural and remove signs from certain areas. What they’re hoping is that people respect this new rule and clean up after themselves.

“I think anytime that you can broaden recreational opportunities for people here in the Valley, it’s a positive, and I think in this instance, there were zero potential negative outcomes with regards to the rule change. That’s a win-win for everyone,” said Mill Creek MetroParks Executive Director Aaron Young.

There are some exceptions to this new rule: Fishers still cannot fish in the Lily Pond and some smaller ponds in the park.

Those will still be marked by signs.

Full article at wkbn.com

The Busters Brigade partnered with local law enforcement to reconnect lost dogs with their owners.

“We do a little bit of everything,” said Trish Collins, a member of the groups board. “It’s just a matter of helping dogs and cats get into the best situation they can.”

Collins said the group became concerned when they learned that a number of police stations locally don’t have a chip scanner, forcing many to take dogs and cats that are lost directly to the pound.

They created a program to solve this problem, by donating scanners to interested law enforcement.

“We just started reaching out and see what the need and interest was,” Collins said. “We were very surprised by the results.”

She explained that the first interested group was the Campbell Police Department.

After that the group has also donated to Poland, Boardman, Struthers and event Mill Creek Park.

The group also reached out to Canfield and Austintown police departments, who already possessed scanners.

“It’s just really important to us to connect lost pets back with their owners as quickly as possible,” Collins said.

The Busters Brigade is fairly new to the area, having started in October 2018.

The group is a 501c3 organization and has been involved in a wide range of community service.

This service includes teaming up with the YSU pre-veterinary group, donating dog food to Second Harvest Food Bank, and providing financial and material assistance to community members struggling to provide for their pets.

“We understand that to a lot of people animals are important members of the family and we just want to make sure animals get to and stay in loving homes,” Collins said.

For more information on the organization or to donate, go to www.bustersbrigade.org.

Full article at vindy.com

Mill Creek Metro Parks hosted it’s annual Trekkers Summer Camp for students ages 10-12.

According to Naturalist Lynn Zocolo this year’s theme was Harry Potter’s Herbology and Potions.

“They had a blast,” Zocolo said. “At the end of the week they were all friends.”

During the week children gathered at Fellows Riverside Gardens starting at 9 a.m.

Zocolo said that they had plant and magic based activities planned every day.

“The students were broken into three houses, the oaks, the sassafras and the maples,” Zocolo said. “They competed all week to win the house cup.”

Children spent the week walking through the “enchanted forest,” learning about healing and dangerous plants and event planting their own herb garden.

At the end of the week, Zocolo said that the group spent the final day playing competitive games and celebrating with a feast.

“We spent the whole week learning, so today we are going to take a break from that and focus on having fun,” she said.

The group also celebrated with a trip to the Log Cabin for lunch and a boat ride on Lake Glaicer.

Full article at vindy.com

WFMJ.com News weather sports for Youngstown-Warren Ohio

We’ve reported on it before – the effort to create roughly 100 miles of bike trail connecting Lake Erie to the Ohio River.

It’s a project nearly three decades in the making. So how close is the trail to being complete?

An updated map of the plan that stretches through Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties shows great progress, but there are still some holes.

The northern point, at Lake Erie in Ashtabula County, is the final leg for the Ashtabula Metro Parks. The leg is about 4.25 miles and is slated to be done this fall. The county park has already completed more than 27 miles.

In Trumbull County, The Metro Parks have completed more than 24 miles. Their final leg is about 4 miles and is also already in the works. The goal is to have the portion completed in 2022 but, officials haven’t started the process of acquiring land. Which is exactly where Mahoning County is tied up in the process.

The Mill Creek Metro Parks have completed several miles, yet are in the process of filing potentially 13 lawsuits to get the land they need for their final 6.5 miles.

The hold up is a group of residents who don’t want the trail in their backyards.

“A person on the bike trail can literally stop their bicycle and physically, from me to that women right there, look into my house. That is appalling to me,” said one landowner during a meeting in Green Township.

21 News asked Mill Creek’s Executive Director why the park felt strong enough to take legal action.

“You can find in all areas that have bikeways and trails and connectors that it’s millions of dollars in economic activity from the recreation side and I don’t see this trail as being any different,” said Executive Director Aaron Young.

The plan is to begin construction on Mahoning County’s final leg next year, but that could be delayed depending on the legal process.

Meanwhile, in Columbiana County is the largest gap in the project. The Columbiana County Park District has completed 12 miles of trail reaching Lisbon. But, from there it drops off.

There’s roughly 25 more miles needed to get to the Ohio River and no real plan in place to get there.

“The number one obstacle is still finding the exact route and getting that route approved, as far as either buying properties or having easements or whatever,” said Tom Butch with the park.

So, will the final stretches of this project get done?

Those tasked with the job say, yes. A project nearly thirty years in the making, they say it may take another ten and it may cost more than anticipated but, this trail is making it’s way from Lake Erie to the Ohio River.