Sat Jul 04 2009
By HEATHER BAUGHMAN
HICKSVILLE -- New roads to make the industrial park here more accessible to three state highways were discussed Wednesday afternoon during Hicksville's business and industry meeting held at Community Memorial Hospital.
Looking toward the future and the ability to attract new businesses to the community, Defiance County Economic Development assistant director Isaac Lee talked with the committee about developing a master plan for the village that would include new roads and infrastructure.
It is the hope of Lee and the committee to make Industrial Drive, located on the northern end of town, more accessible to truck traffic on state highways. Currently, traffic headed to the industrial park's three businesses has limited access to Industrial Drive and has to deal with some difficult turns to access the road.
Part of the village's master plan, which will be completed with the assistance of DGL Consulting Engineers, Maumee, would be to extend Industrial Drive to Ohio 49, which is easily accessed by Ohio's 2 and 18 in the village.
Easier access to Community Memorial Hospital was also discussed during the meeting, with suggestions of potentially extending Columbus Street to Industrial Drive, and extend a nearby connector road to Meuse Argonne Road for additional access.
All road extensions at this time are in the planning stages. Once committee members have the opportunity to express their thoughts about where the roads should lead, Lee will meet with property owners who would potentially be affected by the projects.
Lee also explained that, once the village has a master plan, it would be easier for Hicksville officials to apply for grants and state funding to help with future road development.
"We're really looking at the future," Lee said.
Hospital president and CEO Melvin Fahs also said that a master plan "goes a long way to lure new prospective (businesses)."
As the process continues, Lee said he will "first have to have the landowners on board," which he will start to do in the immediate future. Then, "in the next few weeks, I'll develop a timeline" for creating the master plan.
Also, it was reported that the Hicksville Chamber of Commerce is looking to create a website and members will have a meeting with a website developer next week.
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