Gov. Bob Taft announced Wednesday that the city of Nelsonville will receive a $20,000 grant to hire a consultant to help prepare the city's comprehensive plan.
The comprehensive plan outlines short-term and long-term strategies to respond to changing economic and development patterns and will analyze the city's ability to grow.
We felt like we had a pretty good shot of getting this
said Nelsonville City Manager Fred Holmes.
Governor's Office of Appalachia Director T. J. Justice said the grant proposal was submitted by the city about a month ago.
The grant money will come from the Governor's Office of Appalachia, a division of the Ohio Department of Development, he said.
Holmes said the hired consultant is engineering firm Edwards and Kelcey based in Cincinnati. The firm will be paid about $61,000 for its services. The grant will cover part of the costs and the city will cover the remaining $41,000.
The plan will also outline the city's strategy for staying afloat financially after the Nelsonville bypass is built. The bypass will allow motorists to go around the city when traveling on U.S. Route 33, said Council Vice President Greg Smith. He said the council is worried about an economic decline because many of the city's large businesses are located on U.S. Route 33.
We are trying to plan development so that drop off is not for a long time and we can recover Smith said.
Justice said the Governor's Office of Appalachia sets aside funds for areas interested in economic development.
We thought it would be a good investment of public money to assist Nelsonville in accomplishing its goal for economic development
Justice said.
Holmes said this is the first time Nelsonville will create a comprehensive plan.
I think this is incredibly important
he said.
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