Carroll County supervisors pledge $40,000 to support Manning neighborhood revitalization grant

The Carroll County Board of Supervisors voted May 12 to pledge $40,000 from local option sales tax revenues to support the City of Manning’s application for state neighborhood revitalization implementation funds.

The pledge, approved after a presentation by Manning representatives, is intended to strengthen the city’s local match column for a state grant round that will distribute about $3,000,000 across applicants and for which Manning may request up to $1.75 million. Manning’s project was scaled to roughly $2.5 million; county staff and city representatives said the local match requirement is $758,000 and that $511,000 has been pledged so far, including $300,000 from Manning’s city council and a corporate pledge of $50,000 from UBI spread over four years.

Why it matters: The county’s support increases Manning’s visible local commitment to the Park Avenue neighborhood revitalization plan, which centers on park improvements and related public amenities and includes owner- and renter-occupied housing rehabilitation for low- and moderate-income households. County supervisors said showing intergovernmental cooperation strengthens applications in competitive state grant rounds.

Project and funding details: Presenters described the project as focused on the city park and surrounding neighborhood. The scope includes shelter-house bathrooms, connectivity improvements, removal of an old restroom structure, and housing rehabilitation for about six units modeled on past owner-occupied rehab programs but expanded to include eligible renter households. The city reported completing an ADA-accessible park improvement of roughly $500,000 in the prior year and said the full plan had been pared to about $2.5 million by removing elements the city can perform with in-house crews.

Timing and conditions: Manning requested pledges rather than immediate cash, and presenters said some donors are offering multi-year pledges (for example, UBI’s $50,000 pledged as $12,500 per year for four years). County staff and supervisors discussed whether to commit funds now or schedule payments across budget years; the board approved a motion described in the meeting as a $40,000 pledge to be funded from local option sales tax (the motion specified fiscal details as part of the motion). Supervisors noted the county would only disburse the money if the state grant is awarded and emphasized that future boards cannot be bound to commitments beyond the county’s budgeting process.

Board comments and process notes: Supervisors expressed support for the project and cautiousness about concentrating county funding in one town, noting the county has previously supported several projects in Manning. Several supervisors said they prefer any county payments to be scheduled within the county’s budget cycle rather than obligating future boards. County staff confirmed the grant application deadline is May 31 and said the county would likely know award results by early July because state grants typically follow the fiscal year cycle.

Next steps: County staff will record the pledge in the county’s commitments column for the grant application. Manning representatives will continue soliciting private and other public pledges; the county pledge will remain contingent on the state award.

Ending: County officials thanked Manning representatives for the presentation and encouraged coordination on timing and documentation so the county can reflect the pledge properly in its budget process.