At the Nov. 3 regular meeting, the Independence Township Board held a public hearing and unanimously approved the funding application for the $86,351 2005 Community Development Block Grant.
Deputy Supervisor Rita Burdick listed during the public hearing the following programs for the funding:
n Alot $4,500 to transport disabled children to a summer camp program.
n Provide $5,000 for services for abused spouses and the children.
n Contibute $4,500 to the Clarkston Area Youth Assistance summer camp program for disabled children.
n Provide $2,000 for social and recreational services for senior and disabled residents.
n Pay administrative wages for the senior center director of $19,000.
n Contribute $7,000 towards large print books and audio books for the Independence Twp. Library.
n Contribute $15,000 towards funding for the senior citizen’s van, which is an ongoing program. A new vehicle is set to be purchased this year after reserving CDBG funds for the past three years.
n Provide $22,200 towards senior center equipment including tables, chairs, two desks, a printer and two computers for the office.
n Allocate $7,151 towards emergency rehab.
Many of the amounts allocated above are similar to those listed for the 2004 CDBG fund grant. Many of the projects are ongoing, or involve agencies providing ongoing services.
No public comments were presented during the hearing, from either residents or those agencies involved with the funding. After the hearing was closed, Burdick asked for the resolution allowing the funding application to be approved.
‘The application is quite involved and we have a December 1 deadline for submission, so we’d like to get on this,? said Burdick during her presentation to the board. The resolution passed with a unanimous vote.
The Community Development Block Grant program began in the late 1970s. Allocating the funding from the grant can often be restrictive – many of the suggested projects involve low to moderate income areas of which Independence has none. Independence Twp. in the past has spent the monies on seniors, handicapped accessibility programs and playgrounds, which is no longer an eligible project.
Independence Twp. documents all disbursements from this allocation and is then reimbursed by Oakland County. The funding can be expended over two years for a particular program year, with a one-year waiver for the third year.
Every year, the Oakland County Community and Home Improvement Division releases a report listing the Oakland County municipalities and their CDBG projects. For more information, please contact the Community and Home Improvement Division.