City OKs $6,000 in pursuit of DNR grants

City Council voted 4-0, Jan. 14, to approve $6,000 paid to Carlisle/Wortman Associates (CWA) for creation of an Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) grant for Depot Park.
CWA will prepare the grant, including developing the project narrative, estimating costs, and preparing all necessary graphics and preliminary plans. This will put the city in the running for grants of up to $300,000, said Mayor Eric Haven.
Deadline to apply for DNR grants is April 1, Haven said.
The city is pursuing several projects in Depot Park, including pavilions, bandshell, sidewalks designed to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, and a boardwalk through park wetlands.
“The largest would be the boardwalk – an $800,000 project,” Haven said.
Recent DNR grants have been for trail projects, which would fit Clarkston’s agenda, he said.
Carlisle/Wortman will also train local residents on how to write grant applications, Haven said.
State grants often require matching funds from the local municipality, so projects would also include fund raising, he said.
“If we receive a $50,000 grant, we would have to raise $25,000 to get another $50,000 – that could be a nice amount we could do a whole lot with,” he said.
The $6,000 comes from the budget for Depot Park and unrestricted charitable contributions already made to the city.
The documents prepared by Carlisle Wortman would belong to the city and would be useful in future grant applications, said City Manager Jonathan Smith.
“That would save a lot of work for future ones and set the stage to address a number of grants going forward,” Smith said.
– Phil Custodio

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