Ogdensburg wins $23,000 grant for sidewalks

Ogdensburg — One year ago, Borough Councilman Michael Blahut sponsored an essay and poster contest on Safe Routes to School. Blahut and the Ogdensburg School Student Council gave away a $50 Savings Bond to two winners of the essay and poster contest and Blahut vowed to use the ideas gathered through the contest to apply for a grant from the state’s Department of Transportation. The biggest concerns brought forward were for safety to children walking along Route 517 leading to the elementary school. Blahut submitted a grant proposal in April 2008 and just last month, heard that Ogdensburg will get a $23,000 grant for the engineering plans of new sidewalks and to repair existing sidewalks leading to the school and along Main Street. “This is a major step to the revitalization efforts of restoring the Borough of Ogdensburg to being an attractive town center,” Blahut said. After this work is completed, the second phase will be to apply for another grant to cover the design and implementation of new sidewalks. Blahut says he feels positive about that grant, too, because he believes that New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and the state Departmetn of Transportation are committed to supporting the efforts of having students walk to their schools in communities such as Ogdensburg.