(Atlantic) The Atlantic City Council voted across the board to participate in a rural housing assessment grant program with matching funds.
Alexis Fleener, Community Development leader, is working with other communities going through this program in its second year. She says Iowa State University will conduct the assessment. She says the program provides funding for housing assessment data collection. The funding would allow the City to assess the current development environment and enact changes resulting in creating policies and procedures.
“It’s not going to tell us exactly what we need, but it’s going to put the building blocks in place to work toward our housing goals,” said Fleener. “
Atlantic City Administrator John Lund says the City has been discussing housing needs for quite some time. He says this need must be at the forefront of the City’s focus and groups working on economic development. Lund says there’s a lot of momentum in the community on this topic, and Bob Camblin has formed an informal discussion group that has been meeting to discuss this topic. Lund has nine people committed to working on a housing committee. On Wednesday, the Council officially approved the appointment of Bob Camblin to Chair this housing committee.
The City has a $5,000 match commitment required for the $10,000.00 grant under the Local Option Sales Tax Progress Fund.
The grant application deadline is April 16, the allocation deadline is on May 21, and the funding period is from June 1 to June 30.
