The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority Board of Directors on Thursday approved a mission statement, a new committee structure, and a series of grants that will pay for a driver’s training class in Spencer Township, summer employment in Toledo city pools, and new wetlands.

The board approved two grants totaling $700,000 to Toledo and Oregon to create wetlands aimed at helping to clean water spilling out of the Maumee River.

The money comes from $7,350,000 from the State Department of Natural Resources through the Healthy Lake Erie program.

The Toledo project, pegged at $300,000, would use dredged materials from the Lake Erie and Maumee River shipping channel to create new wetlands in Cullen Park. A project by the city of Oregon would use $400,000 to create wetlands between the Port Authority’s Facility No. 3 and Bay Shore Road.

Finishing up a revision of its mission statement, the board approved without discussion a new, pithier statement:

“The mission of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority is to develop expertise and assets that drive and grow the region’s transportation and logistics infrastructure and its economic prosperity for all.”

The new mission statement isn’t short enough to fit on a Tweet, but it is one-third the length of the old statement. That old statement didn’t specifically mention transportation. With its airport and seaport, transportation is a big part of what the board does, said board member Opie Rollison, one of those calling for a more specific mission description.

Mr. Rollison said the port authority is involved not only in running the two ports, as well as the train and bus station at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza but parking garages, land development, bond financing, energy-efficiency initiatives, and economic development.

“We had to have a limited number of committees for 13 people,” Mr. Rollison said. “I think a lot of the board members are feeling stressed. It’s very difficult to get to five, six committee meetings a month.”

The board adopted a new set of four committees: transportation and operations; planning and development; finance, and government relations, community relations and human resources.

Previously, the board’s committees were finance, facilities and development, seaport and surface transportation, airport, and human resources and community relations.

Board Chairman James Tuschman invited members to tell him which committees they are interested in joining. He said he had not decided who he would assign as chairmen and members.

A $35,000 grant to Toledo will pay for summer employees at city swimming pools. The money comes from a $350,000 fund set up by the port board to pay for economic development projects run by “eligible, neighborhood organizations in Lucas County.”

The issue drew one no vote. Board member Bill Carroll said he does not believe it’s an appropriate use of the port’s levy receipts, which are supposed to be spent on economic development.

The board also approved $35,000 to pay for a driver education and life skills program to be offered in Spencer Township. Mr. Carroll initially said he would vote against it as an inappropriate use of levy revenue, but changed his mind after other members argued that the money would help make it possible for people to drive to jobs and have the skills to be successful in jobs.

This driving program will assist up to 50 youths, ages 15½ to 18, and 13 young adults, ages 19 to 24. The program was set to be rejected in the board’s March meeting, but was reconsidered at the urging of board member Bernard ”Pete” Culp.

Also approved from the same fund was $15,300 to help renovate a building at 923 Elm St. to repurpose wood pallets into usable products. The project, to be called the Plank Factory, will create one job for a manager and three for unskilled, unemployed individuals in the neighborhood.

Contact Tom Troy: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058 or on Twitter @TomFTroy.

First Published April 29, 2016, 4:01 a.m.