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Committee accepts $600,000 FLAP design award for County Road H
Summary
Ashland County’s finance committee voted to accept a $600,000 Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) award restricted to design work for County Road H, directing staff to pursue design that would make the project shovel-ready and allow application for future construction funding.
Ashland County’s Finance and Economic Development Committee voted to accept a $600,000 Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) award limited to design work for County Road H.
Matt, who led the FLAP application discussion, said the county originally applied for a larger construction award but was later notified the award would be for design only: “we were awarded the grant, but only 600,000 for the design of the project.” County staff told the committee DOT officials confirmed the design work would be 100% grant-funded, and that the $600,000 could be revised to cover the design for the entire 15-mile corridor rather than the initial 9-mile segment.
Committee members said accepting the design award would allow the county to complete plans to a “shovel-ready” state and improve competitiveness for future construction grants. Matt recommended breaking the work into three phases so the county could seek additional funding for construction in stages.
A motion to accept the $600,000 design award for County Road H was made and seconded and the committee approved the motion.
The committee also heard that the federal funding timing is uncertain: DOT reported it has not yet received funds from Eastern Federal Lands and bid dates could move. Staff said the project’s let date was previously set for 2025 and might slip, which could increase construction costs due to seasonal price differences; members asked staff to monitor federal disbursements and revisit scheduling in late spring.
Next steps include revising the FLAP application (if needed) to apply the design dollars across the larger corridor, completing design documents, and using the completed design to pursue construction grants or other funding options.
