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Board conditionally approves four owner-occupied rehab contracts; city to record liens under OCRA rules
Summary
The board approved construction contracts for four owner-occupied rehab projects funded by CDBG with signatures in place from contractors and homeowners; approval was subject to legal review and potential revisions to lien language required by the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA).
The Board of Public Works and Safety on Oct. 6 approved four construction contracts for the first group of owner-occupied rehabilitation (OOR) projects funded with Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars, subject to legal review of required lien language.
Whitney (city staff) told the board the total bids for the four homes equal $43,425 and the program has approximately $263,435 remaining to spend. The city’s stated goal when applying for the grant was to assist up to 20 homeowners; the program imposes a $25,000 per-home cap. The construction contracts and homeowner signatures are already collected; the mayor’s signature was the remaining signature sought from the board.
Because these are income-qualified grants administered through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA), the city will record a lien/restrictive covenant on each property to prevent the homeowner from selling or transferring the residence in a way that violates the grant’s occupancy requirement during the one-year recapture period. City staff asked the board to approve the contracts subject to legal review and any necessary revisions to the lien and recapture language. The board approved the contracts by voice vote with that condition.
City staff raised two lien-language items for revision: a provision that would make the city responsible for repaying recaptured funds (staff asked that OCRA be the entity responsible for recapture, not the city) and a clause that would require the city to pay attorney fees in enforcement—staff asked that the city not be held responsible for those attorney fees. Staff said they will work with legal counsel to revise the lien language before final recording.
Board members noted the city will record the liens and restrictive covenants after contract execution and will require the homeowners to occupy the properties for the grant compliance period. The board approved the contracts contingent on legal review of lien language and stated the contracts will be signed and recorded once legal counsel completes the review.
