Mayors, village administrators and their representatives attended an informational meeting hosted jointly by Ohio Department of Transportation Southern Ohio District 9, Ohio Rural Community Assistance Program (RCAP) and OVRDC here at our office on Tuesday, December 17, 2019. The agenda included important information on resources and responsibilities to help newly elected officials get up and running with available grant programs to put to work in their communities next year.
Meeting organizer OVRDC Transportation Planning Coordinator Stephanie Gilbert said, “It’s our goal to make sure every community we serve know what resources are out there and how to access them. We want our partners to know they can always call us for help when they have needs or challenges.”
There were a lot of great questions and answers from ODOT District 9 Deputy Director Mike Dombrowsky, OVRDC Executive Director John Hemmings and Economic Development Coordinator Jessica Keeton. Ohio Rural Community Assistance Program (RCAP) MIS Coordinator Kurtis Strickland handed out a Top Ten list to help community leaders understand priorities and responsibilities his department can help with.
Topics included information on available local, state and federal grant programs. Mayors and administrators also found out how to access expertise to evaluate infrastructure, safety & feasibility studies, economic development support, repair & replacement for water, sewer, bridges and roads through Ohio Public Works Commission grants and more. Our GIS team of Research & Planning Specialists Heath Fields and Jacob Taylor talked about how their department can assist with asset collection and mapping, demographic analysis, transportation planning data collection and tourism mapping.
OVRDC is proud to partner with these agencies to hold educational meetings like this one. We will share plans to host more informational meetings for 2020 soon. Thank you to everyone who attended.
Marsha Mathews, Beaver
Mathew Smith, Wilkesville
Dallas Kratzer, Ripley
Charlie Hudson, Wellston
Steve Hammond, McCarthur
James Estepp, Rarden
John O’Hara, Rarden
Tom Woltz, Jackson
D. Matthew Conley, Bainbridge
Todd Hollback, South Webster
Jake Hollback, South Webster
Mark Dickess, Ironton
Sam Cramblit, Ironton
Ken Shelton, Winchester
Todd Wilkin, Greenfield
Stephen Shelly, Mowrystown
Randy Evans, Jackson
