COMMISSIONERS PROCEEDINGS
MAY 13, 2020
Agenda: 9:30 AM GRANT FOR STEVENS COUNTY BUSINESSES (CDBG)
The Board of County Commissioners held a special session through Zoom with Commissioners, Tron Stegman, Pat Hall and Joe D Thompson signed in via Zoom. Also present via Zoom were Paul Kitzke, County Attorney; Amy Rich, Deputy County Clerk; Carrie Baeza, Jan Leonard and Alisha Owens.
This session was public by way of www.zoom.com conferencing to comply with state regulations.
Tron called the meeting to order.
Hugoton City Clerk, Carrie Baeza informed the commissioners if the city manages the grant process, it will be exclusive to only people within the city limits. She suggested the county oversee the grant so all businesses in Stevens County and the cities of Hugoton and Moscow are covered. She offered to assist in any way she could.
Joe D. explained that representatives from Great Plains Development were on the Zoom conference to discuss the process of the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant). Faye Trent spoke on behalf of Great Plains Development and explained details of the grant. This is a state funded grant for businesses in the amount of 9 million dollars, clarifying this is a grant, not a loan. Counties / Cities can qualify for up to $300,000 and each business completes the application process through their local government. Counties apply through the state, and part of the county’s application process is passing a resolution in a public hearing which is required to be published in the newspaper. Grant funds will be distributed on a first come first serve basis. Tron asked about the resolution and Faye said that will come during the application process and suggested to the commissioners canvassing the businesses in Stevens County first, to see how many would qualify and are interested. She said that may be the deciding factor in whether to pursue applying for the grant and it would likely take a couple of weeks for most counties / cities to complete the application process. Faye relayed she would be on a question and answer conference call the following morning to get further clarification on details. She said the basis for qualifying is 51% of a business’s employee household income needs to be within the LMI threshold (low to moderate income). This means all incomes within an employee’s household need to be included. Pat had previously made the motion to allow the county to be the flow-through. Motion was tabled when Faye joined in. Pat asked, “Are we going to have to be responsible for determining eligibility?” Faye replied, “yes, the commissioners will be responsible in relaying to applicants if they are approved but the Employee Certification Form will determine eligibility status for the businesses. Faye explained someone could be hired to handle the administration portion of the application process. Pat asked if Great Plains Development could do that for them and she said, yes, but she will need to take it through her chain of command and she would let the commissioners know after their next meeting, adding they could also possibly help with writing the grant. Pat said it looks like a lot more strings than the commissioners anticipated. Faye said there always is with these kinds of matters. Pat asked if this LMI is based on state level or county. Faye said, county, then she gave the following examples … for Stevens County: a one- person household that brings home less than $38,900 annually meets the LMI level; a four-person household bringing in less than $55,500 annually meets the LMI level. Commissioners decided they would like to obtain more information before making any firm decisions on applying for the grant. Faye advised it is okay to state they are applying but no need for a resolution yet. Tron said they do probably need to start with canvassing businesses for interest and eligibility. Paul asked Faye to send Amy Jo a list of the requirements. Faye said she will email her the Employee Certification Form. Paul reiterated the businesses need to understand this is not just the employee’s earnings but must include the spouses’ earnings as well.
Carrie said she will be listening to a conference call through the Department of Commerce League of Kansas Municipalities the following afternoon, and if she gets any new information, she will pass it along to Amy Jo. Faye said she will be tuning in to that call as well.
By motion, the Board adjourned.
Attest: Amy Rich, Deputy County Clerk
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Tron Stegman, Chairman