LIMA — While the agenda for Monday’s Lima City Council meeting was relatively light, with only five communications to receive and 13 ordinances to consider, the majority of the meeting was spent holding a second of three public hearings to review projects and proposed allocations of Community Development Block Grant funds for the 2016-17 grant year.
During her initial presentation, Lima Community Development Director Amy Sackman Odum reported that out of the 23 funding proposals received, 21 were allocated funds, most of them at levels below their original request because of a lack of available funds.
“In the HOME category, $1.13 million in funds were requested, versus an available $1.069 million,” she said. “In CDBG, about $1.3 million were requested, versus $1.1 million available.”
These projects covered such areas as down payment assistance for new homeowners, demolition of blighted housing, parks improvements and health and wellness funding. One project that did not receive funding, however, was Mizpah Community Center, which had requested $90,000 originally but had later reduced that request to $17,000. The second request was received two days past deadline, however, which was among the reasons why it was deemed ineligible.
“I take full responsibility for having the wrong deadline date,” Mizpah Executive Director Vickie Shurelds told the council. “But I do not think the people in the community should suffer for it.”
Several council members, including 6th Ward Councilman Derry Glenn, 3rd Ward Councilman Jesse Lowe II and 1st Ward Councilman Todd Gordon, spoke highly of the center and the work that has been done there so far with no funding or salaried staff.
“I’ve seen people from all walks of life going there,” Glenn said. “We even have other agencies in this town sending people there, and it’s not even getting funding.”
Sackman Odum said, however, that there were other concerns with the application, such as creating an income eligibility parameter and outlining how many people would be served.
“We have to go by the [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s] guidelines, not our own,” she said.
Because of time constraints, the public hearing was placed in recess, with a special meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m.Monday to conclude it. A final public hearing will take place July 11.
