Convoy officials seek input on grant

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

CONVOY – A number of Van Wert County municipalities have used federal Urban Revitalization Community Development Block Grant money for utility lines, parks, beautification projects, sidewalks and other items, and Convoy officials are hoping it’s their turn to use funding from the next such grant for a worthwhile project.

“There are several different avenues that we can take this grant money for,” said Convoy Mayor Brad Guest after the meeting.

Village officials held a town meeting at the Edgewood Park Community Building to give the approximately 40 people who attended some information on what the grants entail – and how much the village could stand to receive if approved.

Guest said Tuesday’s meeting was the first of five meetings required to receive the grants and was informational only, to provide village residents with how much money could be awarded and what kind of projects can be chosen.

“It’s essentially HUD (Housing and Urban Development Department) money that comes down to the state, and then the state has this process we must go through,” he explained.

Ohio receives approximately $30 million for the Urban Revitalization grant program, with each “block” of money awarded totaling $300,000, Mayor Guest said.

“A little town like this, we can make $300,000 go pretty far,” he added, noting that Ohio City has used the grant program twice for village projects, and Wren also has participated.

Only one project is generally applied for each year in the county, the mayor said, adding that the Van Wert County Board of Commissioners generally has approximately $35,000 in “seed money” to help a community pay for preliminary work that needs to be completed as part of the grant process.

The first step, Guest said, is to indicate a community’s interest in the project and then meet the qualifications for grant award.

“There is so much competition for the normal state funds,” the Convoy mayor said. “This is a little big different because you have to qualify first with a certain percentage of your population in the low- to moderate-income area.”

A survey was done last year to see if the village met the guidelines, and Guest said the survey indicated that 61 percent of village residents met the income guidelines – enough to qualify.

Assisting the village with the application process is grant writer Ron Putoff of Fanning/Howey, who he praised for his work so far.

“Ron Putoff is doing a marvelous job for us,” Mayor Guest said, adding, “We just don’t have the manpower and hours (in-house) that such a process requires.”

The next meeting in the grant process will be Tuesday, March 15, at 7 p.m. in the Edgewood Park Community Building and will be publicized closer to the meeting date.

Unlike the initial meeting, the March meeting will begin the process of selecting a specific project for the Urban Revitalization grant program. After a narrower scope of projects is decided on, the village will then move to selecting the final project.

One possible project option, the mayor said, is a waterline project along Main Street (Ohio 49) within the village.

Guest said village officials received recommendations when doing the recent Tully Street reconstruction project to install a 12-inch water line along that street, which was done. Convoy Fire Chief Don Wilson said at the time that the larger line would improve his department’s ability to provide water to fight fires in the area.

However, when looking at the Main Street project, village officials discovered the street had only an 8-inch water line running along it. To provide waterline installation on that street as an option for CDBG Urban Revitalization funding, village officials wrote a letter of intent asking ODOT to postpone doing that project from this coming summer, to next summer instead.

“ODOT was very cooperative,” Guest said, adding that, if the waterline project is selected, it’s much better to install it first and then repave the street, rather than tear up a newly paved street to install the lines.

“That’s not something people really like to do,” the Convoy mayor said.

Guest did note, though, that there were other possible projects that could be selected, if the village so desires, adding that he hopes a large number of village residents turn out in March to help in the selection process.

The timeline for any project selected, if the village is approved for the CDBG loan, Guest said, would be to complete design and engineering work by the end of this year and then bid the project in early 2012. Work on the project itself would begin next summer.