Village awarded grant for project

CDBG funding totaling $265,000 will help pay for Phase 1 upgrades to streetscape on section of High Street

The long wait is almost over for some Fairport Harbor government officials who had been hoping to start a streetscape improvement project in the village’s downtown district.

Words of gratitude were expressed by several of those leaders at the July 21 Village Council meeting, after learning that Fairport Harbor has been awarded a $265,000 Community Development Block Grant to begin Phase 1 of its downtown streetscape project.

“It’s very exciting,” said village Administrator Amy Cossick. She announced at the council meeting that Lake County commissioners recently approved the grant for the village’s proposed enhancements to High Street between Third and Fourth streets.

“Even though this is just step one, I believe that it will really have a big impact on our economic development efforts” — Village Administrator Amy Cossick

Lake County gets an annual allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to administer the Community Development Block Grant funds. The Lake County Planning and Community Development Office accepts applications for CDBG funding every spring from interested communities for housing programs, economic development projects, public improvements and public services.

Lake County commissioners then approve a final list of CDBG recipients each year, specifying what projects or activities will be funded with their grants.

“When we receive this funding in the fall, we’ll be meeting with (the county Planning and Community Development Department director) on all the particulars,” Cossick said. “We’ll be able to bid out the job and then start the project in the spring of 2021.”

Phase 1 of the project will consist of the following improvements along High Street, from Third to Fourth Street:

• New sidewalks.

• New and additional streetlights.

• New entrance signs to the downtown district.

• New Americans with Disabilities accessible curb ramps at crosswalks and improved ADA accessibility to downtown businesses.

These new and enhanced features were recommended as the initial phase of a more comprehensive plan developed in 2017 to update the streetscape of Fairport Harbor’s downtown district. That plan was crafted through a cooperative effort involving Fairport Harbor Village Council and the consulting firm Envision Group LLC of Cleveland.

“However, after the plan was created, it somehow never reached the next level,” said Cossick, who began working as Fairport Harbor Village administrator in June 2018.

Cossick later decided to submit a CDBG application to fund the first phase of the project only.

The probable cost of Phase 1 work is $320,000, Cossick said. In addition to the $265,000 grant, the village will provide a local match of $55,000, coming from its streetlight and capital funds.

“Even though this is just step one, I believe that it will really have a big impact on our economic development efforts,” she said.

Village Councilman Verne Horton, who previously served as the community’s administrator, thanked Cossick for pursuing the grant and county commissioners for awarding the funding to Fairport Harbor.

Horton said he was grateful to see the village was poised to achieve a goal that had been so elusive.

“The streetscape project has been a pipe dream for most of council for years, Horton said. “I can’t believe they’ve finally approved it.”

Village Mayor Timothy Manross expressed similar sentiments.

“(The downtown streetscape project) has been a dashed dream of many of us for many, many years,” he said. “I think it’s probably been a couple of administrators who have tried.”

Manross said he attempted to prepare Cossick for the bad news that he thought would come in the form of a rejected grant application. But the mayor’s spirits were lifted when he learned that the village secured the grant.

I was very pleasantly surprised and thankful,” he said.