Erlanger Council OKs applications for park playground and trail grants

The City of Erlanger City Council on June 10 adopted two resolutions authorizing applications for grants to fund improvements at Eons Park and a nearby multimodal trail.

Katie Jo Burkeshire Kirkpatrick, a regional development representative, told the council the proposals seek two separate funding sources: a Land and Water Conservation Fund request for $500,000 toward park redevelopment and a Recreational Trails Program application for a roughly $250,000 trail project. “We are here today to talk about two different funding sources for Eons Park,” Kirkpatrick said.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund application, according to the resolution the council adopted by voice vote, would cover up to 50% of a project estimated at $1,000,000; the resolution says the City of Erlanger will reserve the other 50% as a local match. The application text also says the city would comply with applicable federal civil-rights requirements, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Kirkpatrick described the LWCF-funded work as playground equipment and support elements on the upper tier of the park at the site she identified as the former movie location: “It will be equipment, play equipment, some parking, and then the road to go up to that second tier,” she said. She also noted a separate state grant award of $250,000 that would help meet the local match for the LWCF request.

The Recreational Trails Program proposal would fund multimodal improvements — intended for walking and bicycling — along either Erlanger Road or Sycamore Tree Lane, which Kirkpatrick said are used interchangeably in local references. “The [trail] is looking at multimodal there on either Erlanger Road or Sycamore Tree Lane,” she said, adding the project would add width on one side of the roadway to expand accessibility.

Kirkpatrick told the council the application deadline was imminent, and the timeline for approval is uncertain because of staffing and federal- and state-level review: “I honestly can’t tell you right now because it’s been…flexing because there’s some stuff going on…on the state level and then, just what’s going to happen on the federal level,” she said. She described the typical process as receiving a state award check followed by federal paperwork, and said the overall delivery to construction can vary; the resolution text does not set a construction timeline.

Council members approved the two grant-application resolutions by voice vote; the minutes record the motions as carried without individual roll-call tallies. The resolutions authorize staff to file applications to the Department for Local Government for assistance under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act and the Recreational Trails Program and commit the local matching funds described in each resolution.

Next steps described at the meeting include submitting the applications by the stated deadline, then awaiting state and federal approval and subsequent grant administration steps to secure and deposit awarded funds. No construction contract awards, design approvals, or project schedules were adopted at the June 10 meeting.