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Kankakee City Council authorizes application for OSLID grant to acquire West Riverwalk homes
Summary
The Kankakee City Council on Sept. 25 approved a resolution authorizing staff to apply for an OSLID grant by the Sept. 30 deadline to acquire homes along the West Riverwalk; a resident urged the council to address boarded-up houses and housing affordability in public comment.
Kankakee City Council on Sept. 25 approved a resolution authorizing city staff to submit an application for the OSLID grant program by the program deadline of Sept. 30 to support acquisition of homes along the West Riverwalk.
The resolution passed on a roll-call vote with nine ayes and one abstention; Alderman Baron abstained, saying he was avoiding a potential conflict of interest. The motion was made by Alderman Lewis and seconded by Alderman Johnson.
Staff said Pigash Engineering is preparing the application and that the grant would provide dollars to purchase homes along the West Riverwalk. The staff speaker said prior acquisitions used a FEMA grant and another grant that had been a 50-50 match, and that there was some uncertainty over this OSLID opportunity: “I thought it was a ninety ten, but my understanding from Pigash actually believes it would be a 100,000, 100% match on appraised value of the homes,” the staff speaker said. The council approved a resolution authorizing submission of the application so the city could meet the Sept. 30 filing deadline.
During the meeting’s public-comment period, a resident urged the council to address the number of boarded-up houses in Kankakee and sought funds to rehabilitate properties so single mothers and working families could obtain affordable homes. The resident said she had been working with staff for about a year and a half, cited high taxes and limited bank approvals for lower-cost mortgages, and noted she had about 18 people registered under Families in Focus: “Whatever we could do to rectify the situation, I think it'll be beneficial to have now taxpayers now paying taxes on those houses instead of being boarded up,” the resident said.
The council’s action was limited to authorizing the grant application; the transcript records no further budget appropriation or contract award at the meeting. The mayor or chair called the special meeting to adjourn shortly after the resolution vote.
