North Royalton wins $230,978 NOACA TLCI grant to help fund State Road sidewalks

Tom Jordan, Community Development Director, told the Building & Building Codes Committee on May 19 that North Royalton was awarded a $230,978 grant through the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative to assist with sidewalks on State Road from the Turnpike to Valley Parkway.

The award requires a city match of $57,744.03. Jordan said the city’s plan is to complete design work by the end of 2026 and, under the state’s schedule, anticipate construction in 2028. He described the grant as an important piece of a broader effort to connect sidewalks, bike paths and other nonvehicular links to schools, Metroparks and the town center.

Why it matters: Mayor Paul Marnecheck emphasized that some upcoming grant solicitations have strict timelines and public meeting requirements. The mayor referenced Ordinance 26-99 and warned council that public meetings must be advertised at least seven days in advance and that council cannot pass a resolution on an application until at least seven days after a public meeting—requirements that could affect whether the city applies for additional Community Development grants due in mid-July.

Committee discussion also highlighted related infrastructure work. Jordan said the city received an award notice for Rt. 82 reconstruction and that NOACA is performing a Phase II safety study for that corridor. He added that the city was awarded four direct-current fast chargers for Memorial Park and is awaiting initial design from NOACA’s engineer. AT&T was approved to install fiber-optic lines by the Planning Commission on May 7.

Council members asked how the new projects would interact with economic development efforts. Jordan said Crystal Clean’s industrial application was tabled to the June 3 Planning Commission meeting and that other industrial and residential projects (Stevens Painton, Pavlin’s Landscaping, Albion) are progressing. He said Team NEO and ODOT remain engaged on the York Alpha widening and that Team NEO is more likely to link funding when a new qualifying project is presented.

The committee also discussed sidewalk continuity: Jordan said there is an approximately 20-foot gap where the developer-built sidewalk stops short of Villa Grande and that he will ask the developer or the city to fill the gap. Councilman Gary Petrusky cautioned that the city cannot use public money for improvements on private property and noted homeowner-assessed sidewalk repairs occur in some subdivisions; Jordan said the city will use grants to install sidewalks in public rights-of-way.

What’s next: Jordan said the city will attend a NOACA awardee workshop next week and continue design work. The timeline shared with the committee places design completion by the end of 2026 and potential construction in 2028.