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Steubenville council debates grant strategy as Aspire and OMEGA prepare to seek funding
Summary
Council members sparred over whether grant applications should originate from department heads or individual council members, while staff and outside partners Aspire and OMEGA prepare to pursue federal and regional grants; Council President McManamon said Aspire has brought strong returns for the city.
Steubenville City Council spent a major portion of its Jan. 6 meeting debating how the city should coordinate outside grant-seeking through Aspire and the regional group OMEGA. Councilman Royal Mayo urged council to set shared priorities and matching-fund limits before outside contractors apply for grants, saying individual requests risk creating a roster of competing "pet projects."
"We should come together as a group and determine what we want before we start asking these outside agencies," Mayo said, arguing that unmatched grant awards could obligate the city to provide costly local matches. Several council members and staff responded that Aspire and OMEGA typically pursue citywide capital and infrastructure projects rather than private interests. Ms. Hoover said she expects to recommend projects such as walkway and trail connections that would benefit multiple neighborhoods.
Councilman McManamon pushed back against the suggestion that Aspire answers to him, saying council members should call Aspire directly to participate. He described collaboration between Aspire and OMEGA and defended the city's investment in Aspire's services: "We pay Aspire $30,000 a year ... she's been on board now for three years ... your ROI is pretty good," he said, attributing an outsized share of grant revenue to the partnership.
Members also clarified procedural limits on council participation in some calls: legal counsel noted that only a small number of council members can attend certain vendor calls without running afoul of open-meeting constraints, and Mr. McManamon encouraged any councilor who wants to be involved to contact the clerk for scheduling and participation details.
What happens next: council scheduled a follow-up meeting to hear Aspire and OMEGA representatives and said department heads will be asked to bring capital-improvement lists so members can identify shared priorities and realistic matching commitments.
