City committee reverses itself, votes to give money to Racine homeless shelter, literacy council

HALO in Racine

HALO and the Racine Literacy Council will receive federal money from the city this year after changes a committee's vote last week.

Racine's Community Development Committee voted Jan. 7 to reverse its own decision to exclude the homeless shelter and literacy council from Community Development Block Grant dollars.

The committee freed up a portion of the $2.1 million it received from the federal government by removing $50,000 it had set aside for the Flat Iron Mall on Douglas Avenue, $20,000 for the Foundation of Life nonprofit and $15,000 for Project New Life's Project Nehemiah.

The city divvied up the $85,000 for a variety of uses. Along with HALO and the literacy council, the city also gave an extra $435 to the Racine County Economic Development Corp. for commercial corridor staffing, an extra $15,000 for planting trees, $5,000 more dollars for a plaque to mark the Underground Railroad in Racine, and $30,000 more for crosswalk ramps in the city.

Click here for a list of projects city officials recommended for CDBG money. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the proposal next week.

The committee's changes came after it collected public input on its preliminary recommendations on how to spend the block grants. HALO and the literacy council both pushed for funding after getting shut out of the initial recommendations. HALO's exclusion was somewhat surprising because the homeless shelter had received at least $50,000 the last three years.

The shelter's actions were mildly successful. HALO had requested $76,000 in CDBG money, but will receive less than a third of its request.

The Racine Literacy Council will receive $15,000 for its English as a second language program tutoring program.

The big loser in the committee's vote was the Flat Iron Mall, which stood to gain $50,000 to renovate the aging building. The committee narrowly voted to defund the project, with Mayor John Dickert casting the deciding vote against the project.

Opponents pointed out the city's own plans questioned the Flat Iron Mall's long-term viability on Douglas Avenue. Supporters said the mall served as an incubator for small businesses and needed a facelift.

No one shows up for city committee meeting

What happens if you call a city meeting and no one shows up? You get stuck talking to RacinePost for a half hour.

Joe Heck, assistant director of development for the city, called a meeting of the 16-member Community Development Committee Wednesday night and not a single committee member attended. (See the members here.)

Heck had hoped to review guidelines for awarding CDBG stimulus money before the committee meets Thursday to make some decisions on how to spend about $534,384 in federal money.

The extra money, which came through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, can only be used for specific purposes, Heck explained.

At least 70 percent of the money needs to benefit low-income and moderate-income persons, households and areas. Up to 15 percent can be used for public services, and 10 percent can go for administration and planning.

Heck said the city has two proposals to spend the money. One calls for spending $400,000 to convert about 800 city street lights to energy-efficient LED lights and the other would set aside $80,000 to train 14- to 24-year-olds for green jobs in the community (like retrofitting homes for energy savings). The remaining money would go for grant administration, Heck said.

Other proposals from the community are expected to be submitted Thursday to the committee, Heck said. The committee will need to make a quick decision on the money. The grant application is due a week from Friday and the submitted projects need City Council approval on Tuesday.

Heck said the federal government gave cities around the country a month to submit their CDBG applications.

The CDBG committee is holding an unusual Thursday night meeting - it starts at 7 p.m. to accommodate RCEDC's annual meeting, which is also Thursday - to make some decisions on the money and several other items on the agenda.

Heck had hoped to help the meeting along by giving an information briefing to committee members on Wednesday.

Instead, it looks like the commission will be working Thursday night on the fly.