City to use funds for 2021 street projects
By Bert Lehman
The city of Clintonville was awarded a $1 million grant, the most it could receive, for 2021 street projects.
According to a press release, the city is one of 42 municipalities and counties to be awarded funds from the 2020 Community Development Block Grant for Public Facilities program that is run by the Wisconsin Department of Administration.
Funds from the competitive grant are intended for “improving infrastructure, supporting revitalization efforts, improving accessibility and green energy concepts, and to support capital projects that are part of broader community development strategies.”
The 2021 street projects the grant will be used for include the complete reconstruction of the street and sidewalks, stormwater, water, and wastewater infrastructure on West 13th and West 14th streets from North 12th Street to their ends, and Paulina and Shaw streets from Auto Street to their ends.
City Administrator Sharon Eveland said the total cost of the street projects is estimated to be around $2.8 million.
“If we didn’t get that $1 million grant, there wouldn’t be a road project next year,” Eveland told the Clintonville Tribune-Gazette. “We can’t afford that without a significant negative impact on our taxpayers.”
Grants covering nearly half the costs
The $1 million grant, along with a $369,000 grant the city had previously been awarded from Rural Development, will fund almost half of the cost of the project.
“I think that is huge for a community like Clintonville, and it is really a testament to the work that we as a staff are doing to try to make things happen without impacting any more than we have to for the community and the taxpayers,” Eveland said.
The city previously received grant funds via the CDBG program, but when that grant was applied for, the city contracted with a third party to complete the paperwork. Eveland said for the $1 million grant it was just awarded, the city did all the application work, and she spent roughly 40 hours filling out required paperwork. City staff will handle the work to administer the grant. According to the city’s press release, this will save the city approximately $35,000.
Over the past three years, Eveland said the city has received $3.75 million in grant funding, which has been a focus of hers since she was hired by the city.
“It was one of the things that I noticed when I came here that the city has not historically aggressively gone after grants,” Eveland said. “It’s a huge focus of mine. I actually really enjoy the grant work, but something that a community like Clintonville really needs to push hard (to obtain).”