Town eyes about $2 million in grant money to upgrade facilities
The town of Century will apply for a special Community Development Block Grant-Corona Virus (CDBG-CV) for four proposed projects in the town following an approval from the town council following Tuesday night's public hearing.
The CDBG-CV is $100 million in funding through the CDBG Small Cities Program available to non-entitlement communities to prevent, prepare for and respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The town of Century is eligible to apply for up to $5 million in the first of two rounds of funding with no match required. The minimum to apply for is $200,000 and there will be at least two rounds of funding. The second round will be later this year.
Communities that qualify must have a Low to Moderate Income (LMI) of at least 51 percent. The town of Century is around 74 percent LMI.
The Carver Community Center, the Century Community Center, the Campfie USA Day Care Center and the Century Area Chamber of Commerce building are the four projects recommended for improvements.
The project totals are: the Carver Community Center will be $1 million to put in a parking lot and rehabilitate the building up to code; The Century Community Center on Highway 4 will cost $562,000 to put in a parking lot and rehabilitate the building; Campfire USA will cost $250,000 to rehabilitate the buildings and the Century Chamber of Commerce building will cost $147,000 to rehab.
The total for all four projects is $2,154,900, which falls between $200,000 and $5 million.
The deadline to apply for the grant is Monday, March 15 and one public hearing was required to get public input for proposed projects.
Citizens who attended the hearing suggested other projects in the town, such as street lighting and road improvements and improvements of hurricane-damaged buildings owned by the town that have businesses, such as Century Pharmacy. Councilman Luis Gomez suggested those projects be brought back to a regular council meeting for consideration.
Robin Phillips, with Jones, Phillips and Associates, answered questions and determined that the restrictions on the funding would not allow some projects to qualify.
Several residents expressed concern that the Carver Community Center has received grant funds in the past for improvement but the funds were not used on it but went to other projects in the town. There was also concern that the building is actually owned by an association that has been dissolved, which makes the word 'community' misleading.
Interim City Manager Vernon Prather assured citizens that the funds are paid in increments for each invoice, not in a lump sum. Phillips said she has been working with CDBG grants for 23 years and the process has audits to ensure funds are limited to be spent as set forth in the application.
The Century Business Center was suggested for rehabilitation to be available for emergency shelter since the community center on Highway 4 is reserved for the residents of Century Center for Healing and Rehabilitation.
Councilman James Smith made a motion for the town to request technical assistance from the Department of Economic Opportunity to review the town's CDBG-CV pre-application project, as recommended by Phillips. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Dynette Lewis and carried unanimously.
The next council meeting will be at 7 p.m., Monday, March 15, at 6001 A Industrial Boulevard.
