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Columbiana wins Auditor of State award as council highlights $2.13 million in infrastructure grants
Summary
Don Baker of the Ohio Auditor’s office presented Columbiana with the Auditor of State Award; City Manager Lance outlined roughly $2.13 million in grants and said council would consider emergency ordinances and contracts to begin sewer, road-widening and entrance projects.
Don Baker, regional liaison for Ohio Auditor Keith Faber, presented the Auditor of State Award to the Columbiana City Council on June 2, recognizing the city for completing a financial audit that met the office’s clean-audit criteria. "This award represents the hard work of all the staff and employees who make every effort each day to attain accounting excellence," Baker said during the presentation.
City leaders singled out Kevin Smith, identified in the meeting as the city’s director of finance, for detailed tracking and public reporting of the city’s utility rates and other fiscal work. "I've labored over the finances very hard," Smith said, and council members thanked him and other staff for fiscal stewardship.
City Manager Lance used his report to outline several grant-funded infrastructure projects tied to items on the evening’s agenda. He told the council the city is working on a $100,000 sewer replacement for Joshua Dixon / Southwest Salem Street / Middle Street; a $200,000 emergency funding package for furnishing and materials on State Route 14 with an identified $130,000 from ODOT Jobs and Commerce; and a $1.7 million grant for a State Route 14 road-widening project. Lance summarized the total as about $2,130,000 in grant funds related to projects the council was being asked to authorize that evening.
Lance also reported a separate $120,300 Community Development Block Grant award, through the Columbiana County Port Authority, to resurface South Middle Street and said a recent city auction generated about $62,000 in revenue. He said inspection services contracts and bid awards would be considered as emergency items to keep projects aligned with engineering schedules.
Council members said the award and the slate of projects reflect strong staff work and community partnerships; no formal vote is required for the award presentation itself. The council proceeded to consider and vote on emergency ordinances and first readings related to the projects listed by the manager.
