Grant received for youth soccer field

Submitted Photo Decatur Mayor Bob Tharp and several members of the Decatur city council traveled to Little Rock Oct. 12 to except an Arkansas Rural Community Grant check of $15,000 from Governor Asa Hutchinson. Those attending the ceremony at the state capitol building include: Linda Martin, Ladale Clayton, Bob Tharp, Glenn Priebe, Governor Asa Hutchinson, Lonnie Turner, Emily Tharp, Mike Preston, Amy Fecher, Alex Johnston and Kim Wilkins.
Submitted Photo Decatur Mayor Bob Tharp and several members of the Decatur city council traveled to Little Rock Oct. 12 to except an Arkansas Rural Community Grant check of $15,000 from Governor Asa Hutchinson. Those attending the ceremony at the state capitol building include: Linda Martin, Ladale Clayton, Bob Tharp, Glenn Priebe, Governor Asa Hutchinson, Lonnie Turner, Emily Tharp, Mike Preston, Amy Fecher, Alex Johnston and Kim Wilkins.

DECATUR -- The youth soccer field and walking trail at Decatur's Veterans Park is one step closer to becoming reality, thanks to a grant provided by the Arkansas Rural Community Grant Program.

Decatur mayor Bob Tharp and city clerk Kim Wilkins, along with several members of the Decatur City Council and the community, traveled to Little Rock Oct. 12 to receive the grant from Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.

A resolution was passed by the Decatur City Council during the July 13 meeting authorizing the mayor to apply for a $15,000 matching grant from the Arkansas Rural Community Grant program to help pay for the installation of a youth soccer field and walking trail at the park.

The city received notification that the grant had been approved in late September.

Hutchinson, along with AEDC director Mike Preston, and DRS director Alex Johnston presented $191,217.00 to 17 rural communities selected for Fiscal Year 2016 Cycle I funding through the Arkansas Rural Community Grant Program. The grant awards were distributed at an Oct. 12 awards ceremony held in the Governor's Reception Room at the Arkansas State Capitol.

The Division of Rural Services works in partnership with the Arkansas Rural Development Commission to administer the Arkansas Rural Community Grant Programs in three cycles each year. Incorporated cities and towns and unincorporated communities in rural areas of less than 3,000 in population are eligible to apply for assistance through the mayor's or county judge's office.

The Veterans Park improvement project is expected to cost $200,000 to complete. The city also applied for a $150,000 grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shields' Blue and You Foundation. At present, no word has been received on that grant.

Once all of the funding is in place on this project, the city hopes to have the soccer field complete by the summer of 2016.

General News on 11/04/2015