DECATUR — City council members met for the last time in 2010 on Dec. 29 to hold a public hearing for the application of a grant for building an addition to the Decatur fire station.
The hearing was brief, lasting only seven minutes, but well attended, with seven community members present.
The hearing was just one step in the process of applying for a $75,000 grant from the Rural Services Block Grant Program of the Arkansas Department of Rural Services. If Decatur is awarded the grant, it will cover 90 percent of the costs of buying a new rescue truck and building an addition to the fire station, including one truck bay, office space and a bathroom.
The city will have to pay for 10 percent of the costs, or about $7,500, but the expense could be exchanged for in-kind services, such as construction labor provided by firemen, Mayor Bill Montgomery said. The city could also add the $7,500 to their bank loan for the existing fire station, he said.
Cassie Elliot is serving as the grant administrator and will be writing the grant and delivering it to Little Rock, Montgomery said. She will be paid 10 percent only if Decatur is awarded the grant, and the money will come out of the grant funds.
Decatur meets the grants stipulations for income range and population, Montgomery said. Grants are available to incorporated towns andrural communities with a population of less than 3,000. Additionally, the community population must be at least 51 percent low to moderate income, states the Arkansas Department of Rural Services Web site, www.state. ar.us/ drs/.
“It sounds like a great opportunity to me,” said councilman David Sutton.
The council will have to pass a resolution concerning the grant at their Jan. 10 meeting. Elliot plans to hand deliver the grant to Little Rock by the deadline on Jan. 14, Montgomery said.
The city has applied for several other grants - for a sidewalk, wastewater treatment plant generator and breathalyzer machine - but has not yet heard the results, Montgomery said.
News, Pages 6 on 01/05/2011