Cloverdale hosts public hearing on grant application process

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

CLOVERDALE -- At a public hearing on Tuesday evening, 12 Cloverdale residents assembled in the Town Hall to hear Kristy Jerrell, grant administrator from Jerrell Consulting & Grant Administration Services, explain the application process for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). But a time that should have made matters clearer actually made them more confusing when Jerrell couldn't physically attend the meeting.

Jerrell apologized for her absence, but said that a family illness kept her away. Trying to keep the show on the road, Clerk-Treasurer Cheryl Galloway used her cell phone to bring Jerrell's voice to the meeting. After introducing herself, Jerrell explained that the town would be applying for the grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (IOCRA).

"These are actually federal dollars...that trickle down to the state," Jerrell explained. "The planning grant for the state of Indiana is non-competitive, so as long as they have money in the pot we'll be funded. There's still a ton of money available, so we will be funded on this project."

She also explained that a public hearing must be held before the application is submitted on or before August 31. Another public hearing must also take place before a draft of the plans are submitted to the IOCRA. Tuesday's public hearing was meant to serve as the first meeting.

"Keep in mind this is just a planning process," she said, "this is not anything to do with construction. In order to get to the construction part, you have to do the planning first. Cloverdale will be able to utilize this program; planning studies cost anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000. So we will be able to utilize a $4,000 match from the local community and get a $30,000 grant."

Jerrell said that the total cost of the "Downtown Revitalization Planning Study Project" will be $34,000, with $30,000 coming from the grant and $4,000 coming from the town's Cumulative Capital Improvements Fund.

She also explained that an application must receive a minimum score of 450 points out of 750 to receive the grant, and that Cloverdale's application currently has an estimated 502 to 522 points. The points are based on community distress factors, local match contribution, project design and whether the applicant has passed a "Slum/Blight Resolution" for the project area and is an Indiana Main Street Community.

Jerrell is set to submit the application "in the next two and a half weeks." After that, the state will take 30 days to review it before the town receives a letter announcing the grant has been awarded. The state must then send a grant agreement to the Cloverdale Town Council, which the council must sign before any planning can begin.

If all goes well, the plans will include improvements to facades, doors, windows, awning, hardware, benches and more. The main goal of these changes will be to "get everybody excited about Cloverdale," Jerrell said.

At the end of Jerrell's explaination, residents had questions, but mainly expressed concern that they couldn't hear what she had said. Jerrell also said she could barely hear the audience.

"There was a lot of information; unfortunately I was not able to hear it all," Resident Martin, seated in the back row, said. "It is hard to understand over the phone, and it's really important information to grasp."

To complicate matters further, the landscape architect for the planning project, Nola Albrecht from Shrewsberry and Associates, said her company had thought the town was required to apply for a separate grant for facade improvements, and so they had not intended to include these in the plans.

After some online research, Jerrell corrected the mistake by saying that Downtown Revitalization plans must include facade recommendations to receive the grant.

"You're going to have to work directly with property owners," Jerrell said.

That confusion cleared up, Albrecht mentioned that some preliminary suggestions were to post signs on either end of the town, build a pond, add parking to the downtown area and make Cloverdale more horse-friendly.

"The plan is going to encompass a core block area," Albrecht said. "It's within the downtown area, and that's our concentration area. We're going to get information from the committee and find out from you (the audience) what you need. We want to look at economic development...create an identity."

Resident Marcy Marksberry, of Marcy's Jewelry, asked where exactly the "core block" would be. Clerk-Treasurer Galloway answered that it would be from Columbus Street to Monon Street and Grant Street to Lafayette Street.

Jerrell is scheduled to appear at the Cloverdale Town Hall July 13 at 6:45 p.m. to answer the public's questions. Despite the neeed for an extra meeting, Jerrell said the application will still be submitted in two weeks and the process continue on-schedule.

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  • How do you make a town more horse friendly? Are we changing the town for more amish and their horses?

    -- Posted by canttakeitanymore on Wed, Jun 15, 2016, at 8:52 PM
  • With no disrespect to the reporter, I am having trouble understanding the benefit of this plan. Ms. Jerrell receives compensation for writing the grant, and then a consulting firm with receive about $30,000 for putting together a plan on how to make downtown Cloverdale look prettier? Is that correct?

    Then what? Where is the money for the improvements? The buildings are privately owned. It sounds a bit like corporate welfare.

    -- Posted by letspulltogether on Wed, Jun 15, 2016, at 9:40 PM
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