NOACA Letter Answers Questions, Explains Mission

January 19, 2023 by Ann Wishart

Danielle Render, director of public affairs, responded to an email requesting information about the Jan. 10 virtual presentation of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency’s climate action plan.

NOACA was asked to verify its hiring of a police officer for security at the Middlefield Village Public Library, provide the amount of public interaction at the other four venues and respond to the texted comments from the event’s participants questioning how the CAP relates to the agency’s mission.

Render’s response was as follows:
“It is customary to have security and even additional police forces at our community meetings if large crowds are expected. We work with each venue to develop protocols and as security sees fit, will expedite what is needed for a successful event. We do not speculate or respond to rumors.

“There were a total of 458 participants from the online and in-person session. The listening session is the first of many community meetings that will be hosted throughout the region over the next several months to get feedback from residents about the climate action plan. This was our opportunity to share data and findings of the CAP development since we began in early 2022. There is more to relate. The session was essentially preparing the community to participate for the remainder of the process.

“We saw many responses on both sides of this debate on climate action plan development and everything we do we know will make a difference. Even if one person changes their behavior, we have an improvement in air quality — that is a positive change.

“NOACA is Northeast Ohio’s metropolitan planning organization, where both transportation and environmental planning include the reduction of carbon emissions for a better quality of life. As a public organization serving the counties of and municipalities and townships within Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina (covering an area with 2.1 million people), NOACA is designated or recognized to perform the following functions:

• Serve as the MPO, with responsibility for comprehensive, cooperative and continuous planning for highways, public transit, and bikeways, as defined in the current transportation law;
• Perform continuous water quality, transportation-related air quality and other environmental planning functions;
• Administer the area clearinghouse function, which includes providing local government with the opportunity to review a wide variety of local or state applications for federal funds;
• Conduct transportation and environmental planning and related demographic, economic and land use research;
• Serve as an information center for transportation and environmental and related planning and;
• As directed by the board, provide transportation and environmental planning assistance to the 172 units of local, general-purpose government.

“The listening session was a great start and we look forward to hearing from all of our residents as we further develop the climate action plan.”