The DeRidder City Council on Monday night hired two firms to provide services necessary should the city receive a Community Development Block Grant in the state fiscal year that begins next July 1.
CDBG grants are an extremely competitive process and two resolutions adopted by the Council on Monday give the city a leg up in the contest.
Council members hired Meyer & Associates to provide engineering services relative to the program, agreeing to pay all engineering costs associated with the program. Those fees are set by the state
By stating it will pay those fees, the city gains a bonus point in the competition between government for a limited pool of grant dollars. DeRidder will pay Meyer & Associates $1,500 to assist in preparation of its application.
CDBG block grants are awarded for many different projects, from streets to housing rehab, code enforcement, infrastructure and public facilities and economic development. The city administration is preparing the project application.
The grants go to projects which meet one of the objectives set in the 1974 law creating them: benefits persons of low and moderate income, aids in prevention or elimination of blight or meets an urgent development need.
The second resolution passed Monday night retains Governmental Consulting Services of Shreveport for administration of the program once (if) a grant is received. Its fee will be $35,000 on funding not exceeding $600,000 or $40,000 for funding exceeding $600,000.
The fee will be paid with local funds, not out of the grant total. That action also gains the city an additional point in the process.
Council members also gave unanimous approval to an ordinance allowing the city authority to correct prohibited derelict conditions on private property.