Council to discuss housing grant

    The Washington City Council will hold a public hearing Wednesday for the Community Development Block Grant Application (CDBG) at its regular meeting time of 7 p.m. at the former library building. The grant is $233,000 and would go toward rehabilitating the homes of six low-income families. Each family would receive $25,000 in the form of a forgivable loan provided they stayed in their homes at least five years.

    The city selected an area of town that was believed to be in need of housing rehabilitation. That area is between Fifth and 10th streets on the north side of town and west of Third Avenue. The city also recently completed an income survey, the results of which will be included in its application to the state and presented at Wednesday?s meeting.

    In 2008, the city conducted an income survey that it later found out did not include enough households to meet state requirements and was therefore disregarded.

    The organization that administers the grant applications is ECICOG (East Central Iowa Council of Governments). Adam Ralston, the housing planner of ECICOG, spoke at the most recent council meeting and was told to return Wednesday after the council members had a chance to learn more information about the public hearing. At the Oct. 21 meeting, Ralston told the council they were in competition with other cities for the grant, and that the larger the matching funds Washington was willing to offer, the more likely they were to secure the grant.

    In previous years, the council has offered $15,000 in matching funds when applying for the grant. Ralston indicated that the council might be willing to offer a higher match this year to increase the city?s chances of winning the grant. 

    The council will discuss what action to take on an abandoned building at 604 North Seventh Avenue. The building was built in 1900 and had additions put on in 1920 and 1970 but has been vacant for a number of years. It was formerly a button factory and is now owned by Larry and Mary Raid. City administrator Dave Plyman said the city might declare the structure a dangerous building and possibly demolish it in the future because it is a safety hazard.

    The council will turn its attention to traffic control at the intersection of East Main Street and South Second Avenue, which is the former library?s corner. Plyman said there has been discussion about altering the traffic light at the intersection because it is currently on a timer even though most of the traffic is on Second Avenue. He said the council would look into ways to reduce the length of time motorists on Second Avenue have to wait.  

For the full story, see the Nov. 3 edition of The Washington Evening Journal