Increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of local government is one of the four priorities of Advance Northeast Ohio and the State of Ohio is an invaluable ally in that effort.
Today, the state announced six grants to governments in Northeast Ohio to encourage greater government collaboration and efficiency. Communities that won the grants include:
Ashland County will receive an $80,000 grant to conduct a study to estimate the implementation and maintenance costs of providing a collaborative high-speed Internet service for Ashland County, its municipalities, villages, and townships. The Internet service will increase opportunities for economic development, provide more efficient emergency management, and better access to public services such as county Web sites and Geographic Information Systems.
The Village of Carrollton (Carroll County) will receive a $75,000 grant to conduct a feasibility study that will assess the potential for cooperation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services. The study will research, identify, evaluate, and make recommendations for end-user needs, GIS software, GPS units, personnel requirements, project costs, and project implementation plans.
The City of Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) will receive a $38,751 grant to study regional collaboration on energy efficiency through Smart Metering. Smart Metering uses utility meters that allow users to see and record consumption and cost in real-time.
