By REID TUCKER
Grant writer Melinda Henderson had “good tidings of great joy” for the DeFuniak Springs City Council.
She announced at the regularly scheduled Sept. 28 meeting that the nearly half-million-dollar grant proposal submitted to the Florida Department of State’s Division of Historical Resources to cover the installation of an elevator at the Chautauqua Hall of Brotherhood would “most likely be funded.” Henderson and fellow pro-bono grant writer Robert McKnight traveled to Tallahassee on Thursday, Sept. 24, to defend the $497,113 grant request before the Historic Preservation Commission, receiving a score of 87 – the third-highest score out of 50 eligible grants. The Commission required no changes be made to the verbiage of the grant and returned a recommendation for full funding, which Henderson said will probably occur soon, assuming the state legislature can appropriate $2 million for the Department of State’s Historical Resources grant programs.
Henderson thanked State Rep. Brad Drake, DeFuniak Springs Mayor Bob Campbell, City Council member Ron Kelley and Janie Griffith, City Manager Sara Bowers and city staff members for making the trip to the capital to speak on behalf of the grant and for helping to gather the necessary information. She also commended the efforts of the Chautauqua Hall of Brotherhood Foundation, which supplied a goodly portion of the matching funds required by the grant.
However, Henderson’s highest praise was reserved for McKnight, who is currently in negotiations with the city regarding a compensation plan for his grant-writing and reviewing services after securing several grants for historical projects for the city. Henderson urged the City Council to do “everything in its power” to hire McKnight as a staff grant writer.
“Without his expertise, no doubt we would not have scored nearly as high,” Henderson said.
“With the city’s minimal tax base and meager budget, the wave of our future – if we are indeed to have one – will be in the ability to compete successfully with [other municipal entities] who are just as worthy for the grant funds that are available.”
In related news, Kelley made a motion to have $100,000 set aside a “matching funds” line item in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2016 budget. He contended that such an amount would make it easier to demonstrate that the city could meet the local match requirements of most grants, and could help bump up the city’s score when it applies for them. Kelley said the city would not be legally bound to use the money if the Council voted not to go forward with a grant.
The motion passed with a unanimous vote from all five board members present.
Next, the City Council approved five ordinances and five resolutions related to water and sewer usage rates, connection charges, tap fees, deposits and service connection fees. The Council members returned unanimous votes to support the amended ordinances, which by and large enable the city to set water and sewer rates and fees by resolution instead of by amended ordinance.
However, Kelley cast the lone nay vote on the resolutions that actually set the new water and sewer rate schedules, which show increased of 24.42 percent for water and 6.21 percent for sewer services. Customers using 4,000 gallons per month will see an increase from $64.60 to $72.32 in their bills for combined water and sewer services.
Grant writer Melinda Henderson had “good tidings of great joy” for the DeFuniak Springs City Council.
She announced at the regularly scheduled Sept. 28 meeting that the nearly half-million-dollar grant proposal submitted to the Florida Department of State’s Division of Historical Resources to cover the installation of an elevator at the Chautauqua Hall of Brotherhood would “most likely be funded.” Henderson and fellow pro-bono grant writer Robert McKnight traveled to Tallahassee on Thursday, Sept. 24, to defend the $497,113 grant request before the Historic Preservation Commission, receiving a score of 87 – the third-highest score out of 50 eligible grants. The Commission required no changes be made to the verbiage of the grant and returned a recommendation for full funding, which Henderson said will probably occur soon, assuming the state legislature can appropriate $2 million for the Department of State’s Historical Resources grant programs.
Henderson thanked State Rep. Brad Drake, DeFuniak Springs Mayor Bob Campbell, City Council member Ron Kelley and Janie Griffith, City Manager Sara Bowers and city staff members for making the trip to the capital to speak on behalf of the grant and for helping to gather the necessary information. She also commended the efforts of the Chautauqua Hall of Brotherhood Foundation, which supplied a goodly portion of the matching funds required by the grant.
However, Henderson’s highest praise was reserved for McKnight, who is currently in negotiations with the city regarding a compensation plan for his grant-writing and reviewing services after securing several grants for historical projects for the city. Henderson urged the City Council to do “everything in its power” to hire McKnight as a staff grant writer.
“Without his expertise, no doubt we would not have scored nearly as high,” Henderson said.
“With the city’s minimal tax base and meager budget, the wave of our future – if we are indeed to have one – will be in the ability to compete successfully with [other municipal entities] who are just as worthy for the grant funds that are available.”
In related news, Kelley made a motion to have $100,000 set aside a “matching funds” line item in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2016 budget. He contended that such an amount would make it easier to demonstrate that the city could meet the local match requirements of most grants, and could help bump up the city’s score when it applies for them. Kelley said the city would not be legally bound to use the money if the Council voted not to go forward with a grant.
The motion passed with a unanimous vote from all five board members present.
Next, the City Council approved five ordinances and five resolutions related to water and sewer usage rates, connection charges, tap fees, deposits and service connection fees. The Council members returned unanimous votes to support the amended ordinances, which by and large enable the city to set water and sewer rates and fees by resolution instead of by amended ordinance.
However, Kelley cast the lone nay vote on the resolutions that actually set the new water and sewer rate schedules, which show increased of 24.42 percent for water and 6.21 percent for sewer services. Customers using 4,000 gallons per month will see an increase from $64.60 to $72.32 in their bills for combined water and sewer services.