RCRC hosts hearing for grant

• Ken Davis

Ken Davis

Talk about it

The Roosevelt-Custer Regional Council held a public hearing to gather input about the distribution of approximately $302,500 in grant funding.

The Community Development Block Grant will be available for Region 8, which covers Stark, Adams, Billings, Dunn, Golden Valley, Slope, Hettinger and Bowman counties.

Prior to the hearing, the council decided all of the funding would be allocated to public facilities and planning.

However, Ken Davis, community development c coordinator for RCRC said he would like to see some of the funding go toward other projects.

“I’m gathering comments, and I’m going to bring it back because one of the big issues has been housing in this area,” Davis said.

A housing developer has expressed a need for the funding to help with housing projects, he added.

The funding can’t be used for constructing new housing, only rehabilitating housing. It can also be used to purchase land to sell to a developer, Davis said.

Melanie Bauer-Dukart, from United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development, said she would like some funding go toward improving housing in New England.

Davis said it has been several years since the grant has been used for a project there.

Bauer-Dukart wants a fairgrounds building in Mott to be considered. The building may be converted to be used for emergency personnel training.

A community’s population must be 51 percent low-income to qualify for funding for public facilities, Davis said.

However, the funding can be used toward making public facilities accessible for handicapped people regardless of the population’s income, he added.

In order for a housing unit to qualify for funding, 51 percent of the tenants must be considered to have low incomes.

To be eligible for the program, all projects must be sponsored by a city or county, Davis said.

“We’re serving the needs of eight counties — we’d like to give each county a little a piece of the pie,” Davis said. “If I do a housing project, then I might be looking at doing one or two communities.”

Terri Thiel, executive director of the Dickinson Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, would like to see some of the funds allocated toward the Joachim Regional Museum.

“The entry door to the Joachim Museum … it really should be handicap accessible,” Thiel said.

She is unsure how much it would cost.

The pre-application deadline for funding is Feb. 18. Projects will be reviewed and scored on March 17, Davis said.

For more information on the Community Development Block Grant, call the Roosevelt-Custer Regional Council at 701-483-1243.

Tags: roosevelt-custer regional council, news, grant, money, low-income