Crab Orchard to begin application for CDBG grant

Jan. 16—Crab Orchard City Council voted in favor of continuing the application process for a Community Development Block Grant at a city hall meeting held Jan. 10.

The start of the application was the meeting itself—to invite the public and take public comment on the needs of the community.

Tennessee's CDBG program was created to develop viable communities through funding decent housing and economic opportunities for persons of low and moderate income.

To qualify for a CDBG, the projects being funded must principally benefit low and moderate income persons, eliminate slums and blight or address imminent health and safety problems.

Amanda Mainord, a community development consultant for Grassroots Planning and Consulting, discussed possible CDBG funding avenues with the city council, which consists of Mayor Emmett Sherrill, Vice Mayor Ken Alley and Alderman Mike Findley.

Mainord also informed the council of any changes that have been made to the program for 2023.

There have been a few major changes. Previously, eligible programs were those related to community livability, housing rehabilitation and water/sewer system rehabilitation.

However, this year the community livability category was separated into three distinct categories: public health and safety, community infrastructure and community revitalization.

In addition to that, water and sewer line extensions and system improvements are no longer eligible as CDBG projects, and any water or sewer rehabilitation is limited to "small systems only."

Mainord said that this was to account for American Rescue Plan funding.

"Because they've lessened those two categories right there — they think that ARP money is going to solve all the city's water and sewer problems — they've added more categories to the community livability category," Mainord said. "That's where paving comes in."

"In the past, paving has not been an eligible item," Mainord continued. "They have a new category called 'community infrastructure,' and that would be things like senior center improvements, parks, things of that nature. Paving actually falls under revitalization."

Prior to the meeting, Sherrill expressed interest in paving city roads as a future project to be completed through the CDBG.

"We'll take input from the community, as well as you all, just to see what everyone's thoughts are," Mainord said. "I think that paving is a good idea."

Mainord said to include useful information on the application, such as a list of the years that the roads have been paved, history of accidents due to rough roads and traffic counts.

She then asked the council what roads they believe should be paved.

All three agreed they are Main St., Chestnut Hill Rd., Hebbertsburg Rd. and Cox Valley Rd.

Each of these roads would need around 1 mile paved to improve the conditions of the roads, according to Sherrill. All four of these are also Crab Orchard's main roads.

Cox Valley Rd. is needed to connect Crab Orchard to nearby Hwy. 68 and Hwy. 70 E.

Chestnut Hill Rd. connects to Fairfield Glade Resort and is also an avenue to reach Interstate 40

Main St. leads to the city's elementary school, and is the road the post office and fire department are on

Hebbertsburg Rd. is a route taken to Wildlife Management, city hall and the relatively new Brady Mountain wedding chapel

A major contribution to the roads being worn down is that they are commonly used by logging, sand, gravel and stone trucks that pass through the area, usually to and from Hwy. 68. This includes some larger companies, such as Smyrna Ready Mix.

"All these log trucks, sand trucks — it all relates back to economic development," Mainord said. "We could get extra points just for that in itself, and it's very difficult to get those points."

Crab Orchard is eligible to apply for a maximum $420,000 from CDBG, which is a $400,000 grant with a $20,000 bonus with Cumberland County's status as a ThreeStar community making it eligible for a 4% match reduction.

However, Mainord told the council that she does not recommend applying for the maximum amount because fewer than 800 individuals live in Crab Orchard, so the city likely would not score well on an application for the full amount.

One hurdle that the city would face in its application is proving community need, as the CDBG program is to principally aid low- to moderate-income communities.

The city will need to prove that their population is made up of at least 51% low- to moderate-income people.

According to Mainord, within the city limits, Crab Orchard's low- to moderate-income population is 42.68%.

"We may have to look at doing some target area surveys," Mainord said. "We'd have to go back again and look at the ones we've done before."

A few of the council members pointed out that a new subdivision in development by Main St. could be key to getting the information they need, but Mainord said this is only if people are living in the subdivision by the time the application is submitted.

Mainord suggested that a cost estimate for this project would be the best way to determine the grant amount for which they should apply.

"Right now, 1 mile [of paving] is at $100,000," Findley said. "By spring, it may be $130,000."

The application is due April 14 and will be reviewed over the summer.

There may be a somewhat lengthy wait to find out if Crab Orchard is approved after that. According to Mainord, recipients of a 2020 CDBG did not receive their funds until January 2021.

The council voted unanimously to move forward with the application process.

The next step is to look at paving cost estimates to determine how much grant money the city should apply for, and to procure a consultant and engineer.