(Spencer)– The city of Spencer appears to be in line for possible funding through a program that provides resiliency in any future disasters. City Manager Kevin Robinson told the city council earlier this week it’s through the Economic Development Authority, or EDA…
“They come in with supplemental funding after disasters, a year or so post-disaster, and they focus on commercial and industrial diversification of jobs and resiliency of areas. They look to the future. So the purpose of that organization is if you were to have another event similar to the one you had, they want to fund projects that would help your community get back on track faster, protect jobs that are in the marketplace, and possibly relocate businesses who are in a flood prone area.”
Robinson says a coordinator that’s outside of city staff will oversee the program…
“It will not be a staff member. What we’ll do is request approval to put out a request for a proposal and have more than likely a firm will answer those that has a diversified staff to be able to put these projects together for us. The amount of that grant is $300,000. There is a 25 percent match that we’ll need to do locally, but 75 percent of that will be funded by the EDA and then they will do an analysis on the community, look at different projects, write those projects, and then submit those projects.”
Robinson thanked the Northwest Iowa Planning and Development Commission for assisting with the application process.
