The Leflore County Board of Supervisors has voted to send a letter of support for a grant application that, if approved, would bring in $184,000 for home repair projects in the county.
The grant is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Housing Preservation program.
“This funding comes from federal levels and goes to individual homeowners as grant funds for emergency home repair,” Michelle Stadelman, architectural designer for Delta Design Build Workshop in Greenwood, told the board Tuesday.
Delta Design Build has partnered with Home Again Inc., the housing nonprofit associated with Hope Credit Union, as “gap fillers,” Stadelman said.
Delta Design Build is currently working on 22 houses, and all but one are in Leflore County. Approval of the grant would allow them to work on at least 20 more, according to Stadelman, though availability is on a first-come, first-served basis.
To apply for grant funds, residents would need to live in owner-occupied homes and be below 80% of the average income in their area. Funds would then be provided in partnership with Delta Design and its associated division, R19 Architecture, for enough repairs to bring the home up to code.
The board also received advice from its attorney, Joyce Chiles, about providing $107,600 in American Rescue Plan Act money to supplement funds for a sewage project in Schlater that also is being financed with another federal grant plus one from the state. The low bid was $342,800.
“I don’t have anything in writing ... but based on my research, the matching fund for the lagoon in Schlater is an eligible use of American Rescue Plan Act funds,” Chiles said.
The board is still awaiting further consultation but should have more information in the next two weeks, according to Chiles.
The board also approved funding for the purchase and installation of new heating and air conditioning systems at the Greenwood Community Center.
District 2 Supervisor Reginald Moore supplied money from his district’s portion of the American Rescue Plan Act funds for this purchase as well as funding for a bicycle trip to Biloxi organized by the Greenwood Mentoring Program.
The board ended the meeting by giving permission to the Leflore County Sheriff’s Department to sign a contract with the state of Mississippi for law enforcement services.
- Contact Katherine Parker at 581-7239 or kparker@gwcommonwealth.com.
