Ashland County accepts $600,000 FLAP design award for County H, aims to expand design coverage
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Summary
County staff said a federal FLAP grant will provide $600,000 for design work on County Highway H; the committee voted to accept the award and staff said they will revise the application to cover up to 15 miles and break construction into phases.
Ashland County’s Finance & Economic Development Committee voted to accept a $600,000 Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) award to cover design work for a resurfacing project on County Highway H.
Matt, a county highway staff member, told the committee the original project was scoped as a roughly $6 million job with a $4.2 million grant request, but DOT notified county staff the award would fund $600,000 for design only. "I got a second email said, oh, by the way, the grant was awarded, but only 600,000 for the design of the project," Matt said. County staff said DOT indicated the design funding would be 100% grant-funded.
Committee members discussed revising the application to expand the design scope to the full 15-mile stretch of County H rather than the nine miles in the original submission, and breaking the corridor into three phases so portions can seek additional funding or be advanced separately. Matt said the $600,000 should cover design for the full corridor and that design work would make future construction bids more competitive because the project would be shovel-ready.
A county member moved that the committee accept the $600,000 for design on County Road H; another member seconded. The motion carried. "Once the design is done, are we on the hook for the actual construction in a certain time?" one member asked; Matt replied there is no formal construction deadline tied to this award at present.
Committee members also discussed uncertainty around the federal funding timing. Matt said DOT has requested funds from the federal agency but had not received them; if federal cash arrives late, bid dates could move into summer and raise construction costs. Staff said they would monitor the federal schedule and return with recommendations if timing changes require reallocation of other highway work.
The committee approved accepting the design award and directed staff to pursue a revised application and the phased approach to maximize future construction options.
