Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Grants And Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Staff: federal and state grant work continuing; septic repairs, Towns grants, Proximity Park and youth entrepreneurship updates
Summary
County staff reported multiple grant and project updates at the Feb. 5 meeting, including a March 7 deadline to submit a federal appropriations proposal to a congressional office and state-approved septic repair funds expected in mid‑March.
County staff used the Feb. 5 meeting to update commissioners on a slate of grant applications and small projects.
Derek and others reported the county is preparing a federal appropriations proposal through "Charice's office" with a submission deadline to that congressional office of March 7; staff described the process as competitive and noted the county will await decisions at higher levels of the appropriations process. "We have to get it to Charice by the March 7," Derek said.
Staff also said approval has been received at the state financial office for septic-system repair funding; the county expects those funds to arrive around mid‑March. The record notes that the county’s inspections for Princeton and Richmond will be limited to private homes and will not include infrastructure work, per the approvals the county received.
Staff described the State of Kansas Towns grants program as offering a maximum $10,000 award with a 10% local match for communities with populations under 5,000; staff said they are working with Princeton on a potential new HVAC system for the community building and with Wellsville on a downtown sound system.
The county’s youth entrepreneurship event (YEC) at the end of the month has five teams enrolled so far; Network Kansas awarded a $2,000 grant to support the event. Staff said they will continue outreach at local schools to recruit additional teams.
On economic-development matters, staff reported Proximity Park is progressing with support from the city of Ottawa and other partners; staff noted a nondisclosure agreement limits what they can publicly disclose at this stage but described partner introductions and meetings as constructive.
Staff also noted Panasonic has joined the Franklin County Development Council (FCDC) as a member; staff said they are continuing to pursue other grant opportunities through the state’s contracted grant-support firm Wood O'Brien.
