City Plans for Residential Repairs

Program Rehabilitates Houses of Low-Income Owners

— Officials plan to spend more than a half-million dollars a year for the next five years to renovate homes of low-income residents.

By the Numbers

Budget for Springdale Community Development Block Grant Program

Program 2012 2013

Administration $35,000 $50,000

Public Services $40,000 $70,000

Housing Services $403,606 $570,349

Total $478,606 $690,349

Source: City Of Springdale

The city receives the money from the federal Community Development Block Grant Program. A new five-year plan was submitted by the city’s community development division covering 2013 through 2017.

The aim of Springdale program is to repair as many houses as possible.

Mary Rankins, a widow on a fixed income, said the program made her house livable again.

“They replaced the heating and air-conditioning, put in new ducts, added insulation, put on siding, put in a new floor and new windows,” Rankins said.

Other renovations can include electrical work, new roofs and security, said Don Hancock, program coordinator.

The renovation is designed to reduce energy costs, Hancock said. That would allow homeowners to live in a better house at a smaller cost, he said.

Eligibility for the program is based on income, Hancock said, but 75 percent of those in the program are elderly.

In 2011, the last year with totals available, 501 people participated in the program, Hancock said.

Springdale receives the annual grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as an entitlement community. An entitlement community receives grants every year without having to apply each time. The amount of the annual grant is set by HUD.

The five-year plan includes money spent for administration, public services and housing services with the lion’s share going to housing rehabilitation.

The 2013 grant is estimated to be $690,349. The budget includes 7 percent of the entitlement grant to go to administration, 10 percent to public services and 83 percent to housing services.

Administration costs of $50,000 includes the salary for Hancock, and secretarial costs. Public services costs are projected at $70,000. Some support of organizations that provide services to the needy are required by HUD, according to Patsy Christie, city director of Planning and Community Development.

The public service payments include $20,000 to the city’s taxi program, $25,000 to Bread of Life and $25,000 to Seven Hills Homeless Shelter.

Low-income elderly city residents can get coupons that pay for taxi or bus service rides in the taxi program. Bread of Life is a food pantry. This is the first year for money to go to Seven Hills, a homeless shelter in Fayetteville. There is no homeless shelter in Springdale, Christie said.

Aid for the homeless was a priority in 2013 for HUD, Christie said. The original budget included $70,000 for Seven Hills, Hancock said, but the figure was reduced by the City Council.

“We try to keep the amount of the donations at no more than 10 percent of the grant,” said Jeff Watson, alderman.

Hancock uses volunteer workers to stretch money, Christie said.

Church summer camps from Conway to Texas spent time in Springdale working on houses, Hancock said. Members of four churches in Springdale also regularly labor as volunteers, he said.

The volunteers paint, install siding and repair or build decks, stairs or ramps, Hancock said. Springdale businesses donate paint used by the volunteers, he said.

“We try to get the most we can from each dollar,” Hancock said.

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