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City seeking grant to enhance flood support |
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Tuesday, 30 September 2008 |
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By Mike Gervais
Register Staff
9-27-2008 Another round of Community Development Block Grants are in order for the City of Bishop, and that means residents have the opportunity to share their ideas with city leaders on how they should put the grant money to good use.
Bishop Public Works Director Dave Grah hosted the first of a series of public hearings regarding this year’s round of CDBG grant funding on Monday, but no one came forward with project ideas.
“These funds can cover a wide range of projects,” Grah said at Monday’s City Council Meeting, “Once projects are suggested, there will be another hearing to start gathering input from the community.”
For the past three years, 2005, 2006 and 2007, the Public Works Department has been utilizing the CDBG money to fund its Graphic Information System, a mapping system designed to hold all kinds of information for and about the city, from the locations of sewer and electrical systems to vacant properties to county-owned rights-of-way.
This year’s grant, Grah said, will provide more information for that GIS system, and prepare the city for possible floods.
The city is planning to apply for up to $70,000 from the CDBG Planning and Technical Assistance category to conduct mapping work “to enhance our flood support,” Grah said.
That work will include researching elevations coming out of Bishop Creek Canyon and into the Owens Valley that would give city officials an idea of what course flood waters may take in the event of a flash flood, or one of the dams in the canyon failing.
The city will conduct a public hearing to gather input on that proposed project at the next city council meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at Bishop City Hall.
The CDBG program has been widely supported by the Bishop City Council and Public Works staff, as it has provided necessary funds to get work rolling on the GIS project, which will ultimately be the road map for future projects in the community.
“I would just encourage you to continue applying for these grants,” said Mammoth Lakes Housing Executive Director Pam Hennarty, the only citizen to provide public input at Monday’s meeting.
She noted that Mammoth Lakes has used the funds to work on housing projects there, and that she would be willing to collaborate with Grah and City Administrator Rick Pucci on possible projects Bishop could apply the funds toward in the future.
The Community Development Block Grant is a multi-faceted program that provides money, up to $800,000 in some cases, to communities for a number of reasons.
Bishop has been able to acquire $1.2 million is past years for a number of projects, including helping to fund the Inyo-Mono Advocates for Community Action’s construction of a new senior citizen assisted living facility.
The major categories for the CDBG are General and Economic Development Planning and Technical Assistance, which Grah is applying under for the GISâsystem; Housing-Acquisition; Housing Construction; Housing Rehabilitation; Community Facilities/Public Services; Public Works; and Economic Development.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 14 October 2008 )
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