Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Clean Ohio Funds Preserve Oak Openings Region

Three projects of the Metroparks of the Toledo Area are the top ranked applications and have been recommended for funding through the Clean Ohio Fund. The Clean Ohio Fund allocates money to each Ohio County for the preservation of open space and to increase public access to natural areas. From the five proposals submitted in Lucas County, the three Metroparks projects ranked highest in the evaluation process.
Tim Schetter, director of natural resources for the Metroparks of the Toledo Area, described the land acquisition as “phenomenal habitat.” 

Traffic Counts Provide Fundamental Planning Data

TMACOG’s summer interns collect essential data used for transportation modeling and planning in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. The work for 2014 summer interns Abby Curtis and Andrew Carden includes counts that are required by ODOT, requests from TMACOG members, and ongoing collection of data on area roadways.

Andrew Carden is a senior at Bowling Green State University in the geography program. He expects to graduate in May, 2015. He is weighing his options between entering the workforce immediately after graduation or pursuing graduate school. He said that the summer internship at TMACOG is a good opportunity to see the kind of work available to people in his field. Andrew also has a captain’s license and his other summer job is with the Jet Express ferry between Port Clinton and Put-in-Bay.

Abby Curtis is a graduate student at the University of Toledo where she is pursuing her master’s in geography. She completed a bachelor of science in city planning at Ohio State University in 2013. Abby decided to pursue graduate school to learn more about GIS and mapping than was included in her undergraduate program. She noted that there are interesting career opportunities in GIS work. At UT, Abby is the president of the Gamma Theta Upsilon Geography Honors fraternity.

Welcome New Members

TMACOG welcomes two new members. Republic Services, Inc. provides trash and solid waste collection and also provides recycling and hazardous waste management services. Republic is a private company with offices in Erie, Michigan, and joins TMACOG as a non-governmental member.


The Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio also joined TMACOG as a non-governmental member. The AOA  has previously partnered with TMACOG Transportation committees on questions of public transit in the region. 

Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments | www.tmacog.org

Erie Township and 208 Plan

In Erie Township in southern Monroe County, residents and local leaders are clear that they value their mostly rural character and want to keep it that way. To maintain local control of the character of their township, residents have aligned their master plan, their zoning plan, and now their portion of the region’s Areawide Water Quality Management Plan (the 208 Plan) accordingly.