Article by Michelle Vrieze
In November the CEDA staff authored over Small Cities Development Program (SCDP) Preliminary Proposals that could potentially bring $1.5 million in rehabilitation dollars to the Cities of Harmony, Spring Valley and West Concord. The City of Harmony requested $497,200 of funds to rehab 20 housing units and the City of West Concord requested $547,000 to rehab 22 housing units which will benefit the low to moderate income households within designated target areas. $539,750 was requested by the City of Spring Valley to rehab 14 rental units and 15 commercial buildings in their downtown business district. These funds would have a large impact on the revitalization of these communities.
In December CEDA received notification from DEED that the Spring Valley application can continue through the process and that a full application should be submitted in February, 2013.
The SCDP program received 83 preliminary proposals of which 33 were selected to continue the application process. DEED projects to award 25 projects with an estimated total of $14 million in grant funds. These funds are very competitive as they continue to be reduced each year.