BP-L communities could see grant funding for revitalization program

  • By Dave Mast
  • April 21, 2010
  • 504
                        
If things go according to plan, the communities of Big Prairie and Lakeville will be seeing a number of activities designed to spruce up the towns in the near future. A resolution was accepted by the Holmes County Board of Commissioners to adopt a revised Community Assessment Strategy for Holmes County, which would allow the county to explore grant funding for the revitalization of the Big Prairie-Lakeville area. However, before moving forward with trying to obtain funding, the Holmes County Planning Commission had to do some number crunching throughout the two communities. With a population of 321, Big Prairie-Lakeville was classified in the revised statistics as having 87.23 percent of its families classified as low to moderate income families, which was well within the range the state needs to consider the area for the grant. The statistics were determined by a door-to-door survey conducted the week of April 5. If the county can secure the grant funding, it would go toward the beautification of a number of different projects around that area. “We kept the needs fairly generic,” said Arnie Oliver, director of the Holmes County Planning Commission. “We included things like sidewalks, street repairs, park improvements, beautification and signage. We gave them a wish list, and we can develop exactly what we want once we are able to get some community input.” When Oliver began the population classification grid of families in the Big Prairie and Lakeville communities, he said they needed to be at least at the 60 percent low to moderate income mark in order to qualify. What he found when finished stunned him. “Having 87 percent at the low to moderate income level was a surprise,” said Oliver. “I thought we would make the 60 percent to qualify, but I didn’t expect it to be that high.” The grant being sought is a $300,000 competitive grant, meaning that even though the county can submit a proposal, there is nothing guaranteed. “This is a new grant for us to apply for, so we don’t know what to expect,” said Commissioner Rob Ault. “We hope to have a good chance at obtaining the funding, because that area could use that very much.” According to Oliver, Holmes County had adopted the statistics being used 10 years ago. In order to apply for the Community Assessment Strategy funds, the county had to update the figures pertaining to the Big Prairie-Lakeville area.


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