Rogers plans to spend $469,130 in federal money for community development

Rogers City Hall, April 11, 2016
Rogers City Hall, April 11, 2016

ROGERS -- The City Council approved a plan for allocating $469,130 toward improving living environments and expanding economic opportunities for low-income individuals and families.

The 2022 Action Plan details which projects and organizations will receive funds from the city for the state fiscal year 2022 through the Community Development Block Grant program of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The city receives money each year through the block grant program based on the most recent census.

All the block grant funds will be allocated in a way that will provide facility help for local nonprofits, public services and emergency housing rehabilitation for low-income residents, according to Donna Johnston, the city's Community Development Block Grant administrator.

About 14,425 individuals will benefit from the funds, according to the plan.

The plan assigns $355,900, or 75.9% of the total grant money, to public facilities; $57,230, or 12.2%, to administrative costs; and $56,000, or 11.9%, to public services.

The Center for Nonprofits, which houses over 60 health, education and human services agencies, will receive the largest portion of any organization -- $150,000, or 32% of the funds -- which will go toward the installation of accessible and inclusive playground turf and equipment.

Of the block grant funds, $78,600 will go to long-term women's and children's shelter Restoration Village; $75,000 to Teen Action Support Center; $50,300 to Boys & Girls Club; $15,000 to addiction recovery shelter Souls Harbor; $13,000 to vocational training center Open Avenues; $11,000 to Sunshine School and Development Center; $6,000 to Community Clinic; $5,000 to Northwest Arkansas Women's Shelter; $5,000 to Court Appointed Special Advocates of Northwest Arkansas; and $3,000 to addiction recovery program Nicole's House, according to the plan.

No new funds will be allocated for housing repairs in the plan. The program's repair projects slowed during the covid-19 pandemic, leading to an excess of funds that is still being used, Johnston said.

Applications for housing repairs dropped significantly in 2020 and 2021, which saw two and four houses repaired during those years, respectively, she said. Before the pandemic, the program was helping repair eight to 10 houses each year in the city.

Between $200,000 and $250,000 is usually designated each year for housing renovation and emergency repair projects in the city, she said.

The 2021 plan will be amended to allocate an unused $50,000 of grant money from a public service project towards home repairs for the coming year, according to the plan.

Eligible repair projects can include making a home safe and secure, reducing lead-based paint or mold hazards, updating the building to current standards, improving energy efficiency and making the home handicap-accessible, according to the city's website. Emergency repairs and other necessary work, like replacing an air conditioning unit, can be included as well.

The plan will be submitted for approval by the federal housing department after the public hearing period expires next month.

"We've had the plan ready, but we're required to have a 30-day public hearing," Johnston said, adding that the public hearing period ends at 5 p.m. Aug. 3

Rogers has used $10,877,326.26 in funding through the Community Development Block Grant program since 1994, according to the plan.

Council members unanimously voted to approve the 2022 Action Plan.


Other business

The council also approved:

• A federal grant agreement of $650,800 for taxiway and apron sealing and crack repair at the Rogers Executive Airport.

• A $2 million concrete contract with J&L Concrete and Excavation Inc.

• Disposal of unusable and worthless equipment by the city’s tech department.

• The use of $15,000 for the purchase of eight fire suppression blankets for the use of extinguishing electrical vehicle fires by the Fire Department.

• The use of $20,000 for the purchase of a carport for storage uses at the Fire Department’s training center.

• The use of $42,000 for the purchase of a new Chevy Tahoe for the Fire Department.

• A request by Matilde Garcia to rezone 0.7 acres at 415 N. Dixieland Road from the residential office zoning district to the uptown commercial mixed use zoning district.

• A request by Hannah Cicioni of HBIC to rezone 0.5 acres at 300 E. Pine St. from the residential duplex patio home zoning district to the neighborhood transition zoning district.

• A request by The Grotto at Osage Creek to rezone 8.1 acres on the west side of the intersection of South 28th Street and West Chateau Drive from the residential multifamily zoning district to the neighborhood commercial district, as well as a density concept plan of 16.1 units per acre.

Source: NWA Democrat-Gazette

 



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