Officials in Lake City are wrapping up the final stage of a multi-year effort to make improvements to several homes on the southern half of town. Earlier this year, applications were opened to owner-occupied residences to receive up to $25,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and several homes were accepted. According to Administrator, Eric Wood, work on the final six homes is essentially finished.
So far, rehabilitation projects totaling more than $85,000 have been completed, and it was entirely funded using money from the CDBG program. Wood says they were becoming concerned the money would not be utilized due to some difficulty in finding a contractor, but they were able to line one up after reaching out to the Mid-Iowa Development Association (MIDAS) Council of Governments in Fort Dodge.
Their ability to use the $100,000 in CDBG funding expired at the end of the fiscal year, but Wood says they hope to reapply for another round of grants.
Wood adds they will likely focus on other areas of the community, primarily residences to the north of Highway 175, if the city’s application is accepted a year from now.
