Jun. 5—JEFFERSON — Rising interest incomes for the village will offset the cost of reassembling a playground at Giddings Park.

Village Council approved a change of expenditures to allow rising investment revenues to pay for the re-construction of a donated playground from the Jefferson Area Local Schools.

“There will be no direct money from the taxpayers,” said Jefferson Village Administrator Chris Mackensen. He said the playground has been in storage since the donation last year and the cost to put it back together was higher than expected.

Jefferson Village Treasurer Patty Fisher said investment changes have led to revenues of more than $10,000 a month.

Mackensen said a similar playground built from scratch would cost at least $320,000. The village hopes to start construction, in pieces, this fall but accelerate the process in early spring to have it ready to go for the summer of 2025, he said.

In other business:

—Mackensen said an application for an Ohio Public Works Commission grant to rebuild a second clarifier at the wastewater treatment plant has been sent to the commission.

He said the village previously received a $515,000 grant to rebuild another clarifier at the plant, with the village contributing more than $200,000 to the project.

He said the second grant and village portion would be similar if the grant is approved.

—Mackensen said four new trees were dedicated in downtown Jefferson on Memorial Day to honor former Jefferson Police Chief Ken Johnson, former Jefferson Mayor Ken Fertig, former Ashtabula County Administrator Betty Johns and former Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court Judge Gary Yost and his wife, Benita.

—The village is working with the Ohio Department of Transportation to seek approval to create a crosswalk from the Wall Street alleyway to the Ashtabula County Peace Officers Memorial Park.

—Council approved a second reading of an ordinance to prohibit adult-use cannabis operators in the village. Council members have suggested they would like to research the possibility of allowing them but with restrictions and this was the best way to start the process.