By Paula Scott

The State of Ohio has announced that more than $13.8 million in grants will be awarded to complete critical infrastructure and neighborhood improvement projects–including a $750K CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) neighborhood revitalization grant to the Village of Ada.

At the Tuesday, September 19 council meeting, the Ada mayor, council members and administrator discussed the result. Administrator Jamie Hall said that the response and help received in the application development process was “tremendous” including public meetings, surveys and other feedback between October 2022 and May 2023.

Replacement of fire hydrants, battery backup for traffic lights, rebuilding two blocks of W. Montford, storm sewer work on S. Gilbert and some sidewalk repair will be made possible by the grant. Hall explained that there will be environmental studies, as required with federal funding, and that bids would probably be received in spring 2024.

Hall noted that a critical infrastructure CDBG grant application for $500K for water meter replacement was not successful. He mentioned that water meters need to be replaced village-wide with some dating back to the 1970s and even 1950s. This is estimated to be a $1.2M undertaking.