County Appr List of Grant Priorities

The Kingman County commissioners approved moving forward with a proposal of grant application priorities that Christy Crews presented to the commissioners at their May 19 meeting.

Christy Crews is the founder of Hometown Grants, a grant-writing firm the county contracted with to assist the county and county municipalities in obtaining grant funding for projects.

Crews reviewed multiple projects that her firm recommended be the focus at this time. One grant project has already been submitted while the others are ones that Hometown Grants will work with the entities in question to pursue.

In a couple of instances, Crews said, the plan will be to submit a letter of intent to apply for a grant. The county commissioners, in their motion, approved submitting those letters of intent.

The commission’s motion also called for County Commissioner Jack Thimsech to be the designated point of contract with Crews for updates on the grant application process.

The grant application that has already been submitted is for Cunningham streets. That grant application seeks money to go toward resurfacing 170th Street from U.S. Highway 54 to Fourth Street, curb and guttering on Leiter Avenue from 170th Street to South Ohio Street and curb and guttering on Fourth Street from 170th Avenue to Henderson Street.

That grant is through the Kansas Department of Transportation cost share program and would require out-of-pocket costs of $280,000. The project is estimated to cost $1.28 million.

Another grant on the priority list is for the city of Norwich, to cover an estimated $900,000 for water system assessment and design, to include improvements and replacements of fire hydrants, water line valves, water meters and water lines.

The intent is to apply for multiple grants which do not require a match, because Norwich doesn’t have money budgeted to cover a match.

Also on the list is a grant for Kingman County fire departments for self-contained breathing apparatuses. That grant would be a FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant for $507,000, with a $25.350 match required.

Another grant would be for the city of Zenda for a water and septic project, to included a generator for the well pump and water building, water meters, fencing for the lagoons and insulation for the water building. The project cost is estimated at $445,000 with out-of-pocket costs between $20,000 and $50,000 for a a design concept.

Also a priority grant is for a new Quint fire truck for the city of Kingman. That would be a USDA Community Facilities Grant to cover the $1.2 million cost for the truck, with the city required to provide a 25 percent match.

The horse barn at the fairgrounds is another project on the list, with the current three small barns removed and replaced with one larger barn. Hometown Grants would apply for a $500,000 grant through USDA Rural Business Development.

A letter of intent to apply will be submitted for a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant program, which would seek $480,000 to pay for emergency sirens in multiple locations in the county. That would require the county to give a match of $120,000.

Also, a letter of intent will be submitted for grants to go toward electrical, elevator and heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades at the Kingman County Courthouse. The letter would be for money from the Kansas Historical Society Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program. The project is estimated to cost between $900,000 and $2.3 million, with out-of-pocket costs at no more than 60 percent of the project

Crews said that Hometown Grants would make presentations for city projects to the appropriate governing bodies for their approval.