Mount Carmel to apply for Illinois energy transition grant; county chair to provide letter of support

Mayor (unnamed) said Mount Carmel will apply for the State of Illinois Energy Transition Community Grant and that Wabash County Chair Rob Dean has agreed to provide a letter of support.

The grant application matter matters because the program can deliver at least $50,000 per award and could bring state funding to Mount Carmel and Wabash County. "At the last county board meeting, they announced that they were going after the energy transition community grant administered through the state of Illinois. They are eligible by default being the county. The city has an opportunity to go after that grant, but we actually have to have a letter of support from the county chair. We're speaking with county chair Rob Dean. He has agreed to write the letter of support for us to apply for that," the mayor said.

City officials said the grant's minimum award is $50,000. "What's nice about this grant is that it's not a split, but if we were to apply, the minimum is $50,000 also," the mayor said, adding that the county's willingness to support the city's application "doesn't hurt them for us applying." The mayor said he looks forward to Mount Carmel and Wabash County "both getting some funding out of this energy transition." No formal motion or vote on the application was recorded at the meeting.

Discussion: Council members heard the announcement during reports and communications; no formal council action was recorded during the meeting. The city will proceed with preparing an application that, according to the mayor's remarks, will include a supporting letter from the county chair. The grant award and any resulting project plans were not described further at the meeting.

Next steps: City staff will prepare the application and obtain the county chair's letter of support; the timeline for submission and any specific project uses for the funds were not specified during the meeting.