Funds sought for Great Northern area
By Jeff Gallatin
North Olmsted
Published July 1, 2009

City officials are looking to some new funding to help deal with old problems on Great Northern Boulevard.

At a special June 23 meeting, City Council unanimously approved  seeking $500,000 in potential federal funds which Cuyahoga County will have available for projects. Council held a Finance Committee session prior to the special full council meeting to discuss the measure and passed the legislation on suspension in order to allow Planning Director Kim Wenger to meet the deadline for filing the application for the potential funding, which is tomorrow.

“We’ll be hustling but we’ll get all of it in on time,” said Wenger.

She said the quick deadline came about because the federal funding is in addition to the normal round of federal funds which Cuyahoga County officials traditionally make available to area cities earlier in the year.

“We normally see results of the first round of applications in the spring,” she said. “When they notified us that there would be additional potential funds available, they said there would be a quick turnaround.”

Wenger said officials indicated the grant funds are limited.

“They will only be giving out one or two of these grants,” she said. “They are looking at working on problems which have been existing for some time and are for projects which can be moved on relatively quickly.”

City officials said the Great Northern work will fit the criteria.

“There certainly is a need to upgrade that area,” said Mayor Thomas O’Grady. “This project would benefit the city, the people who drive through the area as well as help businesses. We’re optimistic because Kim Wenger has done an outstanding job of getting us funds through grants the last couple of years.”

City officials have received several parks and development related grants from Cuyahoga County.

O’Grady and Wenger said the application is drawing support from the business community as well. In particular, both cited officials for Westfield Great Northern Mall as taking an interest in the proposal.

“We always appreciate the support they give the community as a whole and the city,” said O’Grady. “They also are backing what we are trying to do with this. It is something which would benefit the mall and the business community.”

Kurt Reddick, general manager of Westfield Great Northern Mall, said the project would be helpful to his facilities and the surrounding area.

“We’re supportive of the city and the efforts it is making to upgrade the areas around Great Northern Boulevard,” said Reddick. “We appreciate their efforts to make this a better community for all of us.”

Wenger said Westfield corporate officials also are aware of the efforts to upgrade the area.

“We’ve spoken about it and they have indicated they will consider what they can do to try and help us with the project,” she said.

Wenger said she has discussed getting possible financial assistance from Westfield to help meet additional funding for the overall project. She said the corporate officials indicated they would discuss it and consider what could be done.

She said because of the potential scope of the project, the city will have to find several hundred thousand dollars in additional funding. Officials mulled different options about how to find additional funds.

In addition to Wenger noting that she discussed seeking possible funds from Westfield, officials also discussed again using funds from the annual streets projects funding done each year or getting money from the permanent improvements account for the city.

Council officials said the city should move ahead in order to meet the funding deadline.

“It’s certainly a worthwhile project,” said Paul Barker, chairman of the Building, Zoning and Development Committee. “It’s an area which could use improvement and benefit a lot of  people if it’s upgraded.”

Wenger said it would tie in with community goals to upgrade the Great Northern Transportation plan being developed. She said the city should receive word by late August or early September about whether it has received funding.