City Gets $2.6 Million in Grants, May Rebuild 7 Streets, Hire 3 Cops

Big Dollars From Community Development Block Grant, COPS Hiring Recovery

August 9, 2009
By: Dave Rogers

The federal Department of Housing and Development (HUD) has approved a Community Development Block Grant of $1,448,807 million and HOME Investment Partnership grant of $275,967 for the City of Bay City.

The total allocation of CDBG funds is $1,724,774, said City Manager Robert V. Belleman in his bi-weekly memo to officials.

In addition, the Bay City Police Department has received $601,869 from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing (COPS).

And, $347,402 has been received in Community Development Block Grant Recovery (CDBG-R)funds.

The city will hire three full-time police officers for three years under the COPS grant program.

The city is considering using the CBDG-R funds in rebuilding the following streets:

First from Sherman to Sheridan;

Nineteenth from Sherman to Sheridan;

Nineteenth from Hampton to Johnson;

Murphy from Joseph to Sterling Court;

Campau from Wenona to Erie;

Seventh from Madison to Monroe; and

Ninth from Jackson to Van Buren.

The grants were announced in a letter received last week from Louis M. Berra, acting field office director of HUD in the Flint office, said Mr. Belleman.

In approving the city's 2009 Consolidated Plan, Mr. Berra commended the city, noting its work with all levels of government and the private sector including for-profit and non-profit organizations.

The HUD official noted the partnerships address the problems of affordable housing, homelessness, and economic opportunities for all, particularly very low income and low income persons.

The COPS hiring program is a competitive grant designed to create and preserve jobs and increase community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.