The Municipal Service & Properties Committee temporarily held Ordinance 12182025 on a department request and referred it to the Finance Committee after council members sought more briefings on where street changes would occur and how the city will fund its share.

Kelly Mersman, director of city planning, said the ordinance provides implementation authority for a congestion mitigation and air quality (CMAQ) grant administered by NOACA and tied to the Cleveland Moves plan. "That grant includes two key components. One is quick build ... bicycle and pedestrian connections that follow our Cleveland Moves rapid implementation plan, as well as a pilot project for electric vehicles in the waste division," Mersman said.

Mersman told the committee the recommended federal award includes a $3,450,000 portion for pedestrian and bicycle improvements and a $2,000,000 portion for an electric refuse‑vehicle pilot. She said the required local match totals about $1,300,000 (roughly $865,532 for the bicycle/pedestrian projects and $500,000 for the refuse pilot), which staff expect to cover with future road‑and‑bridge bond sales. Taken together, staff said the award and local match bring the project cost to about $6.8 million. The city had previously applied for a much larger package (approximately $11.9 million) and trimmed elements such as an e‑bike rebate program when the CMAQ evaluation committee did not fund them.

Several committee members said they had not yet been briefed on projects listed for their wards. Councilman Richard Starr and Councilman Brian Casey both urged staff to provide design briefings before the council grants final authority or the administration begins visible street changes. Mersman replied the projects were drawn from the Cleveland Moves plan adopted in April and that detailed design and additional community engagement would follow, noting the CMAQ funds would be available in state fiscal year 2030 (beginning July 2029) unless the city requests and secures earlier disbursement.

Asked where the locations came from, Mersman said they were selected as "key connectors" or gap‑fillers from the citywide plan and that some segments address school routes or missing sidewalks. Council members observed many of the listed segments were on the West Side; Mersman and staff said projects reflect citywide priorities but are concentrated where gaps and safety issues are most acute.

Rather than vote on the ordinance, the chair temporarily held the measure and directed staff to brief the affected ward members before the Finance Committee takes it up. Staff also noted a separate element of the CMAQ award — the electric refuse vehicle pilot — could be advanced separately if council preferred to move that piece sooner than the roadway work.