I'm Funded...Now What?

Clean Ohio Program Funding Basics

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  Getting Approved for Funding

   

  Applicants apply to their individual Natural Resource Assistance Councils (NRACs) for funding. Each NRAC has their own schedule for reviewing, rating and ranking projects. Once approved by the NRAC, the District Liaison sends the approved applications to OPWC. The OPWC District Program Representative reviews all applications for compliance and prepares the project agreement to be delivered about four to six weeks after NRAC approval.

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  Receiving Agreements

   

  All project officials are notified, via email, when the project agreement is available for download from the OPWC website. Download the project agreement, fully execute it, and email the signed signature page to the appropriate Program Rep. 

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  Establish Capital Projects Fund

   

  All recipients must establish a fund for each project awarded for both the OPWC assistance and the local matching funds to account for revenues and expenditures.

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  Notice to Proceed

   

  For acquisition, applicants are required to submit a Request to Proceed to their Program Rep no later than 30 days prior to the expected closing date.  For improvements, it is the applicant's responsibility to verify the contractor has an account in the Ohio Supplier Portal. For improvements, OPWC does not review bid documents, but we provide suggested bid documents here.

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  Change of Project Official

   

  It is common for project officials to change between the time of application and the time the project agreement is sent. This is okay, since it is a common occurrence; however, we do not reprint project agreements to make these changes. Write in the new project official's name in the project agreement and let your Program Rep know via email of the change. 

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  Schedule Extensions

   

  Unforeseen circumstances can cause delay in acquisition or site improvements, and we understand. Remember, the project schedule is part of the application process. If things change, notify the Program Rep in writing to request a schedule extension. OPWC requires acquisition to take place within one year of the project agreement date and all eligible improvements to be completed within two years from the acquisition. 

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  Disbursements

   

  We give our customers flexibility with our disbursement payments. OPWC can pay contractors directly for eligible invoices, or we can reimburse the applicant according to what works best for your community's needs. Remember your OPWC agreement is for a percentage of total project costs, up to a specific grant amount. When filling out disbursements maintain your local share percentage by only requesting OPWC disburse funds at our participation ratio. OPWC cannot disburse our full grant amount prior to the total project costs reaching the total estimated project costs listed in the project agreement. 

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  Reimbursement

   

  If you would like to pay the invoices directly, when you submit a disbursement request you will submit the invoices along with proof of payment evidence of completed bank transfer by cancelled check image front and back, or screenshot from online bank. OPWC will then reimburse, at our participation ratio, for these eligible costs. Visit here to see our local match and in-kind policy. Visit here to see our eligible costs and expenses. 

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  OPWC Paying Contractors

   

  OPWC can pay vendors directly. Page 3 of the disbursement form is where you indicate who you wish OPWC to pay and what amount. We maintain a Payment Status webpage that is updated daily with the dates of when finance enters the payment and the date of when the payment will be issued. We encourage applicants to let their vendors know about this webpage as a first place to look so they can know when they can expect payment. Payment confirmation letters are uploaded monthly to our website here. 

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  Closing Out A Project

   

  The top of the third page of the disbursement request form needs to be marked if it is the final disbursement. Once you have compiled all of your eligible invoices and project costs, mark final and your Program Rep will close out the project once they process that disbursement. If you forget to indicate it was the final disbursement, email your Program Rep letting them know there are no more project costs. If there are any remaining funds they will be returned to the District and will be added to the carry forward balance. For projects that include acquisition, you must submit the signed settlement statement, recorded deed, and recorded deed restrictions to your Program Rep before we will be able to officially close your project. Remember that the project agreement is for a participation ratio up to the assistance amount; therefore, the total award will only be paid out if the project comes in at or over budget.