Quitman City Hall had 37 concerned citizens attended a recent public hearing to discuss flooding issues in the neighborhood around Napp Street and the possibility of a grant that could assist in alleviating the issue.
Mayor Chris Reeves was proud to see how much support the community demonstrated by coming out to learn more about what is being planned to help alleviate the flooding problem. He explained what they are hoping to accomplish with the CDBG grant they are working towards.
“I will start off by saying that the project we have in mind is fixing the drainage issue on Bailey and Napp Street, but we won’t know for sure if that’s the project we’re going to take up until we have some money figures from the engineers on what it would cost,” informed Reeves. “It’s possible that the cost to do it may be more than what we can get with this grant. We just have to see. We do have some backup plans if that doesn’t work out, but it is our intention to use this grant to fix that problem.”
He then opened the floor for those in attendance to voice any comments and concerns about the project, whether positive or negative.
Along with allowing members from the community to give their own testimonials and concerns about the flooding in the area, he introduced Jennifer Buford with East Central Planning and Development and allowed her to better explain the grant and answer any questions people may have.
Buford explained to everyone how the grant process works and the deadlines for evidence that is needed.
“We have worked with the Town of Quitman for many years on various projects. It has come to our attention that you now have a drainage problem that needs to be corrected,” explained Buford. “We’ve applied for CDBG projects for water lines, sewer lines, the train depot, and various projects. They applications are due on May 29 by 4:00 p.m. The maximum grant funds that a city can apply for unmatched is $600,000. The maximum they can apply for with a match is $750,000. The minimum matching requirement they would have for that would be 10 percent of the total cost. Therefore, if the project were to cost, say a million dollars, then you can apply for $750,000, and the city would be responsible for $250,000. That’s how the process works.
The applications are based on a rating process. We get points for needs, so I appreciate hearing the comments from the two gentlemen that spoke. I would like for them to put that in writing and give it to city officials, to the mayor, to the clerk, and if you could give that to us by May 22, we’d be most appreciative. If there is someone that could not come to the public hearing and would like to make comments, they can write their comments and send them to the mayor. Realize that these comments will become part of the official application that will be submitted to MBA on the 29, but we do need that as documentation. If you had flooding and you’ve taken pictures of flooding in front of your house, we need copies of those pictures so that we can use those to put in the application. If you had to do insurance claims because of the damage as a result of flooding, we need copies of that.
Anything you have that can help the city document that you have a problem with flooding, we need you to give us a copy of it. Again, remember that it will become part of public record. If you know someone who would like to make a written comment or you didn’t choose to speak today, please have written comments submitted to the town by May 22.
The other rating criteria will be the projects are all designed to be 51 percent low mod income. What I don’t want you to think is that this program is designed for poverty level. I’m going to give you an example of what income criteria are. One person in the household can make $39,750 or less a year. A person of four could have $55,300, and this is graduated up. A person of two can be $44,250, so you can see that these are not poverty level income figures. If the city decides what project they’re going to do and what area, we’re going to have to do a random survey to determine what the low mod population is for that area. If the houses that we have to survey is 20 or fewer, then we’re going to have to ask for a 100 percent survey. We want your honesty. How many people are in your household? What’s your annual income? Is it above or below a certain figure? Then, we will tally that information and come up with a composite data to tell us what the low income and how many people will benefit from this project. If it exceeds like 30 houses, then we will do a random survey of that many houses. It’s going to be so close to the maximum that you may as well go ahead and do everybody. For instance, we had a community with 87 households. We had to survey 40 households to determine. In surveying those 40 households, it ended up being 94 percent low mod based on that survey. That’s what we want. We’re not trying to say that the town is low income, but we need to get those figures so we can get those points in order for you to get funded. The town, again, has just completed a project. They may or may not get points for timely completion. If they decide to match it, we can ask and maybe get points. Also, you get points based on the number of persons in the household divided by the total cost.
We work with a point system, but you get the most points based on need. Needs go back to the fact that you have a problem with drainage in your area. We have to document it. I can’t just say that you have a problem. We have to document it. We can document it by pictures, with letters, with complaints that the city public works department have had that they had to go out and fix drainage areas and everything. With the big flood that happened last week, if you had flooding in front of your house, then I hope you took pictures of it. If you put it on Facebook, let us know so we can figure out a way to pull it off. If it’s on your Facebook or you have video, let us know that we can have it because what we’re going to do is do a Dropbox in the application. If we have a lot of videos, then we can link that to Dropbox. As they are studying the application, they can go and look at the problems you’re having. Our main concern is really trying to get a fundable project that will benefit the City of Quitman.
The applications are due on May 29. The mayor and board have already passed a resolution to apply for the funds, so the only thing that’s left is for them to decide whether they’re going to do the $600,000 or if they’re going to have to go above that amount after talking to the engineer. Then, they will have to give us a resolution saying that you’re going to provide the funds and that you have them available and not tied to another project. It has to be identified just for this project and be available when it’s needed.”
They need as much evidence as possible to show that there is truly a need to fix the flooding in the area. Even if someone didn’t attend the meeting, they can provide a written statement and/or pictures involving the flooding in the area to City Hall so that it can be included in the application as public record. All evidence must be submitted to City Hall by May 22.
The primary area that is being focused on by engineers includes McClendon Street and going down Bailey, including Napp Street, all the way to Anderson Avenue, and then to Dogwood. Evidence from any residence in those areas would be appreciated and really help in the grant application.
Once the city makes a decision on the exact plan and location, they will need to begin doing the surveys. It is extremely important that those who are asked to complete the survey do so. It won’t take long to complete, and the only information they will need is your name, address, how many people are in your household, and if you make above or below a certain figure.
The great turnout to the public hearing will also be included in the application. This is only the beginning of the process. It is important for the community to continue to show support and complete what is necessary to try and get the grant to help fix the flooding issue in that area.
