Village of Frankfort applying for 2012 Competitive CDBG Program
By: Jennifer Lee
Updated: July 5, 2012
One area village is asking for the community's input on issues or projects they're interested in before they apply for the 2012 Competitive Community Development Block Grant Program also known as CDBG funding.
CDBG funding is a federal program that provides grants to low-middle income communities.
The Village of Frankfort will be submitting an application for the competitive grant in the next several weeks.
But, before they do, the Village Board wants to hear from the residents. In 2009, the Village of Frankfort received over $500,000 in grants to start their smart meter program.
This year, the Village Board hopes to get accepted for the 2012 Competitive Community Development Block Grant Funding.
The grant will help fund housing rehabilitation, home buyer assistance, economic development and public infrastructure improvements.
Mayor Frank Moracco hopes to use the grants for housing improvements and expand on their Smart Meter Program. The Smart Meter Program allowed the Village to install meters in residents' homes.
It bills residents directly from the Village office instead of having someone come out and read the meters ever so often.
"It also gives us an opportunity to see if there is high reads and if there are problems at someone's residence it will red flag if there is an overabundance of use on water," said Mayor Moracco.
The Village hopes to make the program more interactive, all the while trying to help residents reduce energy and utility costs.
"We can advance our system through the laptop and putting in a pin number by increasing the heat or central air from the laptop," explained Mayor Moracco.
Aside from the Smart Meter Program, the Mayor says they hope to use the grants for homeowners on a fixed income who can't afford to fix certain problems.
"We're talking about low middle income residents. And when we talk about house improvements we talk about things about roofs, furnaces installation," said Jeremy Silverman, the Village's grant writer.
But before Mayor Moracco submits the application, he says if you have any suggestions, you need to submit your written comments to the village hall addressed to the mayor.
