Townships, villages hurry to opt in or opt out of 'urban county' funding proposal ahead of today's deadline

Multiple Lorain County townships held emergency meetings Tuesday ahead of today's deadline to opt out of, or to opt into, a county proposal to apply for a new U.S. Housing and Urban Development designation supporters said would bring millions more dollars in federal funding to the county. Proponents including county commissioners, county officials and some local elected officials said changing Lorain County's designation to "urban county" was strictly for funding purposes. It would not take power out of the hands of townships, villages or cities to decide what kinds of projects they wanted to apply to receive state or federal funding for, and could bring up to $3 million to $4 million more to the county. Some opponents took issue with what they said was the "urban county" designation, with many taking to Facebook to say they want their townships to remain rural while others said they want to remain in charge of their own destiny, that they don't trust county commissioners to be transparent or have their best interests in mind and that the deadline to opt in or opt out arrived too fast without enough information. Commissioners need buy-in from communities with an aggregate population of 200,000 for a successful proposal, they said. With as many communities as have now opted out, they said would still apply for the designation but were less likely to get it and any money that comes with it. In a Facebook post, Grafton Township trustees wrote that they opted out "after careful consideration." "Grafton Township has long been a proud rural community, and we believe this decision is in the best interest of our residents and the preservation of our township's rural character and values," they wrote. Brownhelm Township trustees voted on Monday to opt out due to the late notice of the deadline, trustee Dan DePalma said Tuesday, citing the tight deadline given them to make a decision. "I guess the bottom line is it just felt like we didn't have enough time," DePalma said. "You know, we had a deadline and by the time we got all the information, (that deadline) was very close. We just wanted to take more time to try and figure out our best path forward. ... We received a letter from the commissioners this morning (Tuesday) and basically, it didn't chastise us, but it was trying to fill in some blanks. It actually would have been helpful if we'd had those blanks filled in prior to this morning." LaGrange Village Council voted at an emergency meeting Tuesday night to opt out. Mayor Gary Kincannon said the county commissioners had previously indicated they would attend township meetings to explain the proposal but never did. "The lack of communication is something that we don't want to see either," he said. "The people south of U.S. 20 have to stick together in our resolve to be important in this county and be recognized." Rochester Township trustee Gary Landis said that his township also voted to opt out of the county's proposal on Monday, with Landis saying that the board didn't know about the deadline until Friday. Eaton Township opted out, trustee Sabrina Burrington said. She said many residents attended a special meeting Monday to express concerns about the program, with most stating they wanted to keep the township as rural as possible. Brighton Township trustees also posted a statement on Facebook saying the township had opted out after a special meeting Monday. Columbia Township, LaGrange Township and Pittsfield Township followed suit on Monday. Penfield Township opted out Friday. Elyria Township trustees voted to opt out Tuesday night. Wellington formally opted out in a May 28 letter to Lorain County officials. Mayor Hans Schneider told county officials in an email a day earlier that the village would not participate in the program. He said he wanted to believe the program would provide an open and honest opportunity for the county, but that he did not believe it would. Schneider also said he heard inaccurate information was being given to another community leader to pressure participation and that he had "zero faith" in the county government to honestly administer the program or distribute funding fairly. Commissioner Jeff Riddell responded May 28, describing Schneider's letter as "disappointing" and offering to discuss it and any alleged misconceptions about the program with the mayor. Schneider replied May 29 that his concerns were rooted in distrust rather than anger. He said decisions by county leadership reflected personal agendas, disregard for residents and poor business decisions. Schneider further said he did not trust county leadership to make open, honest and fair decisions about which projects would receive funding and said he had "zero confidence" in the county's leadership. Grafton also has opted out, notifying Commissioner David Moore of the decision in a May 29 letter, Village Administrator Andrew Lipian said. The letter, signed by Mayor Charles Duke, said the decision followed a review of the proposal by village administration, its law department and development consultants. Village officials wrote that participating in the proposed Urban County program could affect Grafton's ability to independently pursue state-administered CDBG opportunities already underway or under consideration. The village has pending grant applications that could be denied if it participates in the county's program, officials said. Village officials said opting out for fiscal years 2027 through 2029 would allow the village to continue seeking CDBG funding independently through the state. Not all officials were against the proposal. Amherst Township trustee Neil Lynch said Tuesday his board had been "bombarded" by opponents, including many who — wrongly, he said — tied the issue to local zoning decisions and the proposed development of a "mega site" development in neighboring New Russia Township. "I see nothing wrong," Lynch said, calling it "unfortunate" if the county lacks the backing necessary to get the "urban county" designation. Lynch, who said he first learned about the proposal in late 2025, took issue with other trustees saying county commissioners hadn't been transparent about the proposal. "I'm gonna call BS on that," he said. "I go to every Lorain County Township Association meeting. This has been discussed by the county multiple times. ... So to say that they didn't receive information is disingenuous. To say that someone hasn't been transparent is ridiculous."Lynch said if the county doesn't get the new HUD designation, it means less money for Meals-on-Wheels programs, less for housing rehabilitation for low- to moderate-income residents in all of Lorain County and less funding for improvements to water and sewer lines in Amherst Township, among the many projects HUD funds. The township previously used CDBG funding to upgrade its facilities to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Lynch said. "Why would you turn this money away? It makes no sense to me. I'm very disappointed in the way this has all come about by a very-involved group that have a very specific agenda that has nothing to do with this," Lynch said. Sheffield Township trustees were meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday, followed by New Russia Township trustees at 6:30 p.m. Carlisle Township trustees, Wellington Township trustees and South Amherst Village Council were all scheduled to meet about the matter at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Chronicle-Telegram requested additional information from commissioners and county officials regarding the program, including documentation of when and how they informed elected officials across the county about the program and its deadline. The HUD designation does not have the power to change city, village or township zoning regulations. HUD's website explains what an "urban county" designation means this way: "Counties in a metropolitan area that qualify to directly receive Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding because they meet a population threshold. In general, the population threshold is 200,000, and it must exclude the population in the county's metropolitan cities." "Metropolitan cities" in the case of Lorain County means Elyria and Lorain, both of which have their own CDBG funding programs. They use it to fight eviction and homelessness, for youth sports programs, housing rehabilitation, Meals-on-Wheels and other food programs, infrastructure repair and other programs to benefit low- to moderate-income residents. HUD monitors and audits the programs, officials said. Contact Connor Ball at (440) 329-7243 or cball@chroniclet.com. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com. Contact Gabrielle Monk at (440) 225-3486 or gmonk@chroniclet.com. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.