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Mount Clemens grant writer outlines federal recreation grant to improve Karnes Community Center fields
Summary
Contracted grant writer Linda Davis Kirksey told the Mount Clemens City Commission the city will apply for a federal, state pass-through community center grant to fund field drainage/retention work, infrastructure improvements and under-$1 million in equipment for the Karnes Community Center; the application is due at the end of the month and awards were described as expected in October.
Linda Davis Kirksey, introduced to the commission as the citys contracted grant writer with the downtown development authority, said the city will apply for a federal community-center recreation grant passed through the state of Michigan.
Kirksey told commissioners the funding comes from COVID-related allocations and is intended for community centers and eligible nonprofit projects. She said the application would focus on infrastructure improvements at the Karnes Community Center, including work on the field, drainage/retention-area regrading and equipment to support youth athletic programming.
"This is going to be for the Karnes Center to do some infrastructure improvements," Kirksey said. She added that the centers free programming for children and families meets the grants demographic and service-area criteria and that equipment costs eligible under the grant are roughly under $1,000,000.
Commissioners and staff asked how the city would demonstrate "skin in the game." Kirksey said prior grants and operations expenses (personnel and programming) can be documented as leveraged match and that it is common to show about 20–25 percent of local contribution. City staff said they prepared a spreadsheet listing local investments at Karnes, including parking and HVAC work, to support the application.
Staff and Kirksey said the application deadline is at the end of the month and that awards are expected in October. "We're working very hard. We've been meeting probably for the last three weeks," Kirksey said, and she offered to take questions from commissioners about the application.
The commission did not take formal action on the grant application during the meeting; Kirkseys presentation was made for the record and to allow commissioners to ask clarifying questions before submission.
Karnes Community Center details disclosed during the presentation included a planned play field, attention to a retention/drainage basin on site, and use of prior city investments to demonstrate local commitment. The City Manager later reported the Karnes HVAC replacement project will be completed by year-end and a play-structure project remains scheduled for 2024.
