WEST CHESTER TWP. — Township leaders are applying for a Clean Ohio Conservation Grant that would preserve 400 to 500 acres of a large flood plain that stretches for 5.5 miles along the Mill Creek and Miami-Erie Canal.

        The area, called the Port Union-Gilmore Ponds Conservation Corridor, would serve as an ecological milestone in the restoration of the stream, said Bill Zerkle, township parks and recreation director.

        It also allows for historical preservation, education, hiking, bird-watching and nature walks in the area, and would restore the creek, manage flood plains and prevent flooding to the east in the Union Centre Boulevard area.

        The Mill Creek runs through the western portion of West Chester and empties into the Ohio River.

        “The fact that we have a stream in our back yard lends a very special responsibility,” Mr. Zerkle told township trustees at last week's meeting.

        “We have a responsibility to protect and preserve it for future generations,” he said. “We are the epitome of a community on the brink of open sprawl and the challenge is to preserve some of the open space before it is lost.”

        The grant proposal shows Butler County is requesting $887,320 in Clean Ohio funds with a proposed 25 percent match of $227,608. The total estimate for the project is $1.1 million.

        The township will hear in July or August whether the grant has been awarded. Mr. Zerkle said he is confident it will be approved because the grant's priorities match the Mill Creek project.

        If it goes through, the township would have to pay the money in 2003. It isn't certain what will happen if the grant is denied.

        “This whole thing is contingent on them approving our grant application and our coming up with the money,” Administrator Dave Gully told trustees.

        The conservation corridor, which would stretch from Port Union-Rialto Road in West Chester Township to Gilmore Ponds, a wetland near the Butler County Regional Airport in Hamilton, would serve as another link in West Chester's “emerald bracelet” of parks. The township eventually plans to link all its parks and the future community recreation center with a bike path that would hook to one slated to run from the Little Miami River to the Great Miami River (Miami to Miami), Mr. Zerkle said.

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