The Williston City Commission approved a series of requests by the Public Works Department to apply for North Dakota Department of Transportation grants during its meeting Tuesday evening.

Workforce Development coordinator Shawn Wenko presented four projects to the commission for approval to apply for DOT funding for. Wenko had volunteered at the previous meeting to form a committee and look into what kind of beautification projects were possible to try to get funding for in the coming year.

Wenko told the commission that the committee had come up with four projects to present to the DOT. He added that two of the projects were Transportation Enhancement grants and the other two were for Safe Routes to School grants.

"The nice thing about these kinds of grants is that typically have an 80/20 match or they are 100 percent paid for through the DOT," said Wenko.

The first grant he outlined to the commission was a transportation enhancement grant proposal towards the design and construction of a Welcome to Williston sign. Wenko explained to the commission that they had determined there were six main entry points to the city from various highways. After consideration of each of the different locations, he said they had found a place to put a new sign. "The location we chose is south on Highway 85 near the water treatment plant, by the Missouri River bridge," said Wenko.

He showed the commissioners a design for a sign approximately 16 feet high and would consist of three metal pieces with oil, agriculture and people as different images on the pieces.

"In the future, we could always change them or make more, for things such as fall sports, to change for different times of the year," said Wenko.

He also explained the reason they chose the Highway 85 location was because the specific spot they chose is city-owned. At the other locations, there are right-of-way issues that would need to be dealt with and it would take a lot longer to complete the project.

Wenko added that the project would cost about $48,000, with the city to provide about $18,200 of the cost.

After further discussion, the commission voted to give permission to apply for grant money unanimously by a five votes to none margin.

The second transportation enhancement grant project was for a stretch of bike path on the north part of 26th Street West, running from Sixth and 16th Avenue West. He said this would pretty much complete a series of proposed bike paths that have been in the works since 1998.

"It would be a 10-foot wide path, same as the rest of the paths," said Wenko.

The estimated cost of the project was $250,000, with about $50,000 to come from the city.

The commission voted to give permission to try to get funds for this project unanimously as well.

The first of the two Safe Routes to School projects was to build more sidewalks near Trinity Christian School. Wenko said the project would add about 550 feet of sidewalk to a stretch between Ninth and 12th Avenue West and to add about 410 additional feet of sidewalk leading up to the school.

Wenko added that the $17,000 project would be 100 percent covered by grant funds.

The commission voted unanimously to approve applying for the funds.

The final project would go towards crossing guards and a public awareness campaign for things such as safety en route to school. The cost of the project would be $25,000.

The commission unanimously approved this final project as well.