A $60,000 Clinton County Legacy Fund grant awarded to the Clinton County Trails Coalition will go toward a project to pave a leg of the Clinton-Fayette Friendship Trail in the northeast part of the county.
The funds will cover the bulk of the estimated cost to pave a 2.1-mile stretch of trail between Reesville and the Anderson Fork bridge in Richland Township, according to Clinton County Trails Coalition President Bruce Saunders.
“The cost of paving is estimated to be $89,000. The Legacy Fund generously donated $60,000 to the project. The HealthFirst Foundation added a donation of $10,000, and the Clinton County Trails Coalition is prepared to provide funding to complete the remainder of the paving,” Saunders said.
The Clinton County Trails Coalition is one of nine recipients in the first cycle of grants awarded by the Legacy Fund Committee. The Legacy Fund consists of money the county obtained from selling county-owned Clinton Memorial Hospital.
“We are very fortunate in Clinton County to have the Legacy Fund and HealthFirst of Clinton County to fund various projects in Clinton County that continue to improve the quality of life in our community,” said Saunders.
The Clinton-Fayette Friendship Trail is the longest trail in Clinton County. It is 7.3 miles long. When the trail was built, there was only enough money to pave between Sabina and Reesville. The two ends of the trail, 2.1 miles each, were built but not paved, recalled the trails coalition president.
Two years ago, the trails coalition asked for donations from within the county, and raised enough funds to extend the paving beyond Sabina eastward to the trail head at North Borum Road this side of the Clinton-Fayette Counties line.
The mission of the Clinton County Trails Coalition is to build paved recreational trails throughout Clinton County to provide healthy recreation opportunities to the citizens of Clinton County and beyond.
