Jenna, chair of the Ashland County Land Information Committee, told members the office will apply for three land-information grants for 2026: a $1,000 training grant, the full $20,000 strategic-initiative grant to support re-monumentation work, and an estimated $77,000 base budget grant. "It is still 1000 dollars. I'm applying for the entire amount," Jenna said of the training grant.

The committee plans to use the $20,000 strategic-initiative grant to fund survey work that establishes section corners and records precise coordinates, work Jenna said has historically produced about 50 to 75 recovered corners per year. She described the base budget calculation as tied to recording fees: the office’s receipts minus a $100,000 baseline determines the annual base budget amount, which this year is roughly $77,000.

Committee members asked about how the grant dollars would be allocated. Jenna summarized tasks supported by these funds: maintaining the county web map, entering tie-sheet data, GIS mapping requests, NextGen 911 address submissions, and paying back-indexing clerk funds. She also noted that some software maintenance (TriMin and Esri GIS maintenance) is paid from existing land-records funds derived from recording fees rather than the grant awards themselves.

Why it matters: the strategic-initiative grant funds field surveying that updates corner coordinates used by surveyors, mapping products, and property records; the training and base grants fund staff development and ongoing data maintenance that underpin county GIS products and 9-1-1 addressing.