Several members of the Marshall County Crossroads Stellar Committee gathered in the County Building Tuesday morning to hear if their application was selected as one of the Stellar Initiative award winners.
Committee members have felt confident that they presented an application with varied projects that improve the quality of life in the communities in Marshall County. The committee has been meeting and working on the project since they were notified in April that they were one of six regions.
Shortly after 10 a.m. the phone rang and it was the call everyone was waiting for…but it wasn’t the results they were expecting. There were mouths open in shock and heads bowed in devastation as Jodi Golden, Executive Director of OCRA announced that Marshall County was not selected as a Stellar designee.
Golden told those committee members gathered that the round was highly competitive and the each of the five regions did an outstanding job. She said, “The state team had a difficult time making a decision but unfortunately Marshall County was not chosen in this round.” Golden went on to say, “We certainly want to see your plan move forward and have the momentum continue.”
Michael Sinnet, Project Manager with OCRA told the committee, “You have built a lot of great momentum on a fantastic plan. OCRA can be a resource for the county to move forward on the projects in the Stellar plan.”
A feedback meeting will be held in early 2019 and OCRA will talk through some points that the state evaluators noted on the application. Sennet said, “The work, commitment and passion has definitely shown from your committee.”
OCRA’s regional director said Marshall County’s teamwork really stood out. She also encouraged the committee to consider submitting some of the projects for the next regular funding round through OCRA which is in March of next year.
While committee members were disappointed in the announcement Tuesday morning, they voiced their determination in moving forward on some of the projects.
Committee Chairman Kevin Overmyer said the committee will convene after the first of the year and look at moving forward.
