JEROMESVILLE — Jeromesville residents can now apply for a $250 grant to replace the debilitated sidewalks on their property as part of Jeromesville’s “Step It Up” initiative.
The village is offering 20 total grants to repair lackluster sidewalks ahead of the spring season.
Funds for the mini-grants are coming from grant money given to Jeromesville from the Ashland County Community Foundation. In 2020, eight Ashland County villages were award grant money, and the respective communities were tasked to develop a program for the money to be utilized.
“We got a $5,000 grant from the Ashland County Community Foundation as part of their silver anniversary,” said Jeromesville Mayor Randy Spade. “We took that $5,000 and broke that up into $250 mini-grants to award residents to repair to replace their sidewalks.”
Mayor Spade believes the initiative will encourage community members of Jeromesville to enjoy the outdoors once the winter season subsides.
Residents of Jeromesville can fill out a Google Form online, giving the village administrator basic information about themselves and their property. They can also include pictures of the sidewalks on their estate.
“Council has also indicated that if there were additional applicants, we would choose the top twenty and then, we would hold over the rest until we could figure out whether we can re-appropriate to subsidize them, or if there if there is another funding program that we could use to continue that forward momentum for the project,” said Spade.
“It’s a pretty simple process, but there is just that one step in getting that information to us, so that way we can identify it and get it into the queue.”
Upon receiving the application, the individual will then receive a packet of information detailing how to move forward with replacing their sidewalks. There will be a committee hearing to review all applications.
It is then up to the community members as to how they replace the sidewalks.
Jeromesville Council anticipates reimbursing the resident for $250 upon proof of payment. Community members can apply for a variance if they would need the money up front.
Mayor Spade is hoping to get at least 20 applicants by the March 1, but each application will be reviewed upon submission.
As part of Jeromesville’s “Get Well” initiative, Mayor Spade is challenging the community to participate in a step challenge. Individuals can sign up to be participate in the challenge throughout 2021.
“We’re trying to do 250,000 steps as a community,” said Spade. “We want to fix the sidewalks that way people can get outside and exercise more.”
Community members have the year of 2021 to complete the step challenge, and if the total is surmounted, next year’s challenge will be increased.
