E-REP Helps Secure $50,000 Planning Grant for Oakland City
The Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs today announced it is awarding planning grants totaling more than $438,000 to seven Indiana communities. The grants will be used to develop a specific plan to implement community and economic development projects.
The Evansville Regional Economic Partnership’s Community Development team helped secure a Comprehensive Planning grant for the City of Oakland City in the amount of $50,0000. The grant is designed to aid communities in assessing assets and identifying opportunities to address current needs in the following areas: land use, government capacity, public services, placemaking, economic development, housing, transportation, agriculture, natural resources, broadband access and historic resources.
“This funding will support communities as they make important investments to enhance their local quality of life,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch. “Planning grants can lead to big differences in rural Indiana. These seven communities can work with their local leaders to find the best plan to boost local infrastructure that will benefit the Hoosiers they serve.”
The State of Indiana distributes the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant funds to rural communities to assist units of local government with various community projects. Planning grants are one type of grant offered through OCRA’s CDBG Program.
The Planning Grant Program strives to encourage communities to plan for long-term community development with the aid of subject matter experts and community input. The applications being funded this quarter are aiming to address water infrastructure and comprehensive community planning.
Five communities received Comprehensive Planning grants for the following amounts:
- The City of Connersville is awarded $60,000;
- The Town of Galveston is awarded $48,600;
- The City of Monticello is awarded $44,100;
- The City of Oakland City is awarded $50,000; and
- Owen County is awarded $60,000.
Planning Grant applications are accepted on a quarterly basis. Based on the number of Planning Grant applications funded for the third quarter of 2021, funds will be available to open applications for the fourth quarter. For more information, visit in.gov/ocra/cdbg.