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Anonymous Donor Gives $170,000 To Replace Footbridge in Wheeling

WHEELING — The city of Wheeling is receiving an early holiday gift — an anonymous donation of $170,000 — to replace a deteriorated footbridge in the Woodsdale-Pleasanton area.

Speaking at Wheeling City Council’s regular meeting Tuesday night, City Manager Robert Herron said an anonymous donor agreed earlier to give $150,000 for the project, but offered an additional $20,000 gift on Tuesday. He said the total cost of the footbridge replacement is $175,000.

“We’re very grateful to the donor,” Herron said. Mayor Glenn Elliott agreed, saying, “We’re excited about that.”

The footbridge across Wheeling Creek connects the Wheeling Jesuit University campus to the Woodsdale neighborhood. The old bridge was closed a year ago after being deemed unsafe.

Herron said a fabricated bridge is to be delivered to the site Nov. 29. Installation will begin immediately, depending on weather conditions, with completion anticipated by the end of December, he said.

The gift designated for the footbridge is being made through the auspices of the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley.

Sharing more good news, Nathan Weekley, a member of Boy Scout Troop 6 in Wheeling, appeared before council to announce that for his Eagle Scout project, he is placing a pavilion shelter in a small neighborhood park along Poplar Avenue, near South Park and North Park streets, in Woodsdale.

“It’s a very nice project, and you should be commended,” the mayor told Weekley.

Weekley said he hopes to start work in February. Material for the project is being donated, but he said help will be needed to prepare and finish a concrete pad for the pavilion.

In other matters, council voted 6-1 to approve an allocation of $67,000 to the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department for 2018-19.

Casting votes for the measure were Elliott and council members Ken Imer, Wendy Scatterday, Chad Thalman, Ty Thorngate and Brian Wilson.

Councilman Dave Palmer voted against the motion.

When questioned by Palmer, Herron said the appropriation is for the health department’s general operations. The city manager said the department receives the bulk of its funding from the state, with the city and county each providing $67,000 annually.

In other action, two traffic rules related to Woodsdale Elementary School’s dismissal process were adopted unanimously. Council established a no-parking zone on Poplar Avenue, from Bethany Pike to an unnamed alley, and set unrestricted parking on Maple Avenue.

Scatterday, who represents that area, issued a statement thanking neighbors, parents, the Wheeling Police Department and school officials “for collaborating on a multi-faceted solution” to protect students and other pedestrians during the daily pickup process.

She said, “The outcome today is the result of several Ward 4 constituencies coming together to improve the safety of the community for our children.”

Council also gave unanimous approval for spending $468,923 with Sutphen Corp. of Dublin, Ohio, for the purchase of a pumper fire truck; $98,356 to Walsh-Stephenson Equipment of Prospect, Pennsylvania, for a loader-backhoe for the Water Pollution Control Division; $67,272.80 with Bearcom of Dallas, Texas, for equipment to outfit new police vehicles; $27,495 with Idemia Identity and Security of Anaheim, California, for a live scan fingerprint unit; $25,971.25 to Robinson Pipe Cleaning of Pittsburgh for cleaning an interceptor sewer line and $15,500 to Harkness Corp. of Triadelphia for repairing a Sanitation Department garage that was damaged when a garbage truck backed into the building.

Also adopted unanimously were traffic rules to create no-parking zones from Highland Avenue to Drop Street and on Custer and Berson avenues and to establish handicapped parking spaces at 18 Vermont St., 495 National Road, 3510 Eoff St., 1213 McColloch St. and 2315 Jacob St.

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