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Cherry Valley council adopts CDBG application resolutions to pursue up to $500,000 for road repairs
Summary
The council authorized the city to apply for an Arkansas Community Development Block Grant (up to $500,000) to improve annexed county roads, approved a contract to retain East Arkansas Planning and Development District as grant administrator if funded, and adopted a HUD-required excessive-force policy as a condition of the application.
Cherry Valley’s City Council on Sept. 9 approved resolutions to pursue federal-block-grant funding to repair roads annexed into the city and to authorize an administrator to manage the application and, if awarded, project administration. The measures include a resolution authorizing the mayor and clerk to sign an administrative contract with East Arkansas Planning and Development District and a resolution allowing the mayor to submit the Arkansas Community and Economic Development Program application.
The application the council discussed is for the Arkansas Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, with a maximum award of $500,000 and no required local match. Miss Miranda of the Eastern Arkansas Planning and Development District told the council the application is competitive, requires an engineer and architect to prepare plans, and could be used for ditching, creating a road base and grading to crown the roads.
Why it matters: council members said the city’s annexed county roads lack a solid foundation and often require four-wheel-drive vehicles when weather turns bad. The city hopes the grant could fund a foundation of gravel or white rock, ditching work and engineering costs; Miss Miranda said the application deadline is Oct. 17 and awards are typically announced months later.
Council also formally adopted language required by HUD and the state: a policy prohibiting excessive force by law-enforcement agencies against individuals engaged in nonviolent civil-rights demonstrations. The clerk read that the policy is a condition of Arkansas CEDP/CDBG funding and the council voted to adopt it.
Council members emphasized that the grant is competitive and that applying is the only way to be considered. Mayor Dennis Stevens said the city must plan for the engineer and architect costs that would be covered as part of the grant award and that officials will decide how to balance grant-funded work with FEMA-identified repairs for specific county-road culverts and bridges.
What happens next: staff will complete the CDBG application and negotiate an administrative-services contract with EAPD if funding is awarded. The council recorded its resolutions in the minutes and directed staff to continue engineering work and to watch FEMA cost estimates for a separate culvert/bridge on County Road 235 that may require a local match if FEMA funding is used.
