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City committees approve $75,000 contribution to Elyria Community Partnership
Summary
The joint Community Development and Finance committees voted to authorize a $75,000 city contribution to the Elyria Community Partnership for 2025 after hearing an annual impact report from the organization's director.
The Joint Community Development and Finance committees voted on Feb. 10 to authorize a $75,000 funding contribution to the Elyria Community Partnership for 2025.
Monet Roberts, director of the Elyria Community Partnership, told the committees the organization helped expand downtown programming and business supports last year and is seeking continued city funding to sustain that work. “This work would not be possible without your support,” Roberts said, listing public art, landscaping and new downtown bike racks as visible results.
The Elyria Community Partnership provided an impact report and event calendar to the committees. Roberts said last year’s events generated about $102,000 in estimated local economic impact (calculated at roughly $20 per attendee), and that public-art and related income streams contributed roughly $49,000. She also outlined a new small-business grant of up to $2,000 funded by KeyBank, a Grow Ely nine-month business-development program with a pitch competition, an inventory project to track downtown storefront availability, and the placement of an AmeriCorps VISTA, Simone Christian, to help with downtown cleanup projects.
Council members on Community Development and Finance asked about a separate Foster Avenue housing project referenced in Roberts’s report; Roberts and Mike Griffin, who spoke later about the Foster project, said the parties are in the process of finalizing Brownfields and closing documents. Law Director Dery confirmed a $250,000 reimbursement grant from the partnership is tied to site preparation and demolition and must be used toward work completed by Dec. 31, 2025.
Community Development moved and seconded the ordinance authorizing the $75,000 contribution (motion moved by Councilwoman Mitchell, seconded by Mr. Oswald). The committees then asked Finance for a separate motion; Finance moved, seconded and recorded the same outcome. Committee chairmen announced the motions carried after members responded “Aye.”
Roberts told the committees the partnership aims to scale toward sustainability and asked the city to continue annual funding and periodic reporting. She also noted the partnership’s email list had grown to about 827 contacts and summarized a $15 million private investment tied to the Pivotal Housing Development in the Foster Avenue area.
The ordinance will proceed to council for final passage with the committee approvals recorded on Feb. 10.
