OCRA Official Speaks To Mentone Council About Programs
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Jackie Gorski-
MENTONE – Allie Kresse, northeast community liaison from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, informed the Mentone Town Council Wednesday of some of the programs the agency offers.
This week, Kosciusko County was awarded the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program (HELP). The county has included Mentone as part of the program, so the town should be seeing more information in regards to the program as it will be starting at the beginning of 2022, Kresse said.
Many of OCRA’s programs are based on what’s considered a lower- to moderate-income-based score. Mentone has a score of 50.8%, based on Department of Housing and Urban Development survey data. That is very close to eligibility, Kresse said. If an income survey was done, Kresse said, she would bet the town would come in above the 51% required percentage for OCRA’s programs.
Many people are familiar with OCRA’s Stellar program. That program is being replaced next year by HELP, she said. OCRA is going to be following a lot of the guidelines that Stellar had. One of the differences is how money matching is done.
With this program, there was a lump sum that was given to the county to disperse to communities. The communities are using monies from the American Rescue Plan Act dollars to match any projects that are eligible for the Community Development Block Grant Program, which is a program that receives federal funding from HUD for water infrastructure programs, including stormwater, drinking water and public facilities, she said.
The Council will be working a lot with the Kosciusko County Commissioners and the new community coordinator that will be hired for the program, she said.
Other programs Kresse talked about were the Historic Renovation Grant Program and the Preserving Main Street Grant.
The Historic Renovation Grant program is a facade grant for buildings 50 years or older and qualify for the National Historic Register.
The nearest town to apply for the Preserving Main Street Grant is Kendallville.
In other business, the Council:
• Discussed a complaint it received from Cornerstone Church.
Council President Jill Gross said the church said the property to the north of it has a sump pump that has excess water being pumped into the alley. Gross said the church complained the water runs across the alley. Councilman Tim Croy said the water goes all the way to the corner and freezes. Gross asked what the Council could do.
Utilities Superintendent Josh Shepherd asked if anyone has contacted the property owners. Clerk-Treasurer Nikki Norris said the complaint stated no one has contacted the owners.
Shepherd suggested the utilities department can talk to the property owners before anything is done.
• Was presented a contract from Rich Heemstra of APEX for garbage rates at $13 per month per household starting in January. Heemstra said if the Council wanted to look over the contract and/or tweak it before signing it, they could.
Town attorney Andrew Grossnickle also presented an ordinance to coincide with the garbage rate raise. He said if the Council wanted to waive the formal reading of the ordinance and approve it Wednesday, they could. The Council waived the formal reading of the ordinance and approved the ordinance.
• Learned speed signs for the town were ordered. They were ordered a week after November’s Council meeting and was expected to take six weeks to deliver.
• Shepherd said the stormwater project is underway. The section of storm sewer to be fixed is 315 feet of pipe in an alley between Franklin and Walnut streets, south of Monroe and north of Jefferson streets. Shepherd said the project is one-fourth to three-eighths of the way finished.
• Accepted the resignation of police officer Sam Bohnke, effective Friday. He will start with the Warsaw Police Department on Monday.
