Non-profit gets $300K grant
New Foundations Development Inc. will use the money to make repairs or improvements to the homes of seven local low-income families.
DBell@CalhounTimes.com
New Foundations Development Inc., a local nonprofit created by the Calhoun Housing Authority, announced Monday that the organization has received a $300,000 grant from the Department of Community Affairs’ Community Home Investment Program.
Program Manager Carol Hatch said the money will be used to help seven low income families with home improvements this fall. She said examples of repairs include things such as handicap accessibility, fixing potential code violations or safety hazards, and improvements that could make the home more efficient.
“There are a lot of people who have windows that are old and air is getting in, or maybe their heating and air conditioning unit is 30 years old. If we can replace the windows and the air conditioning unit, that is going to lower their power bill too,” said Hatch.
The local homeowners who will benefit from this grant have already been selected from the organization’s waiting list. Hatch said there are about 30 homes on the list.
“It’s not a big list, but the money comes in so sporadically that we have to help as we can,” she said.
GRANT,
$14,873,860 to be spent during the next fiscal year. The main factor contributing to a cost increase is a 9.5% bump in employee health insurance cost. Worley said the current industry trend is about a 12.5% increase in that area, so the city did come in lower than average.
Overall, the health insurance increase will cost the city an extra $180,000. The total expenditure in the FY2021 budget, however, is only $100,000 higher than the current year.
In other business, the council:
Heard from Mayor Jimmy Palmer that city offices will be closed Friday, July 3, for the Independence Day holiday.
Approved a beer package license for Alif 1133 Stores Inc. at 1133 S. Wall St. The applicant, Qadratullah Hassan, will also serve as the store manager.
Approved the official 2020 City of Calhoun Zoning Map.
Approved a resolution with amendments to the city’s general government fee schedule and utility rate resolution. Changes include an increase of the residential landfill extra container fee, continuance of the automatic 3% rate increase for water and sewer rates per one thousand gallons, and adding special rates established with certain organizations. The move was required to match the 2021 budget requirements.
Approved a resolution to make minor changes in the distribution schedule for the hotel-motel tax funds starting in FY-2021.
Approved a utility division charge off request for unpaid debts for FY-2019.
Approved a manager change request for Ruby Tuesday. The new manager is Kristen Lowrance.
Approved a road dedication request from Dakota Rasbury for roads within Benstone subdivision. The roads will be named Benstone Drive, Boral Street, Topaz Street and Caverns Drive.
Approved a motion to designate the movement of $600,000 from general fund pooled cash to restricted cash in the renewal and replacement account for the construction of a new police station.