Committee reallocates $2,000 in unused 2023 grant funds to Chaseburg, approves two 90-day extensions

The Vernon County Economic Development Committee on Sept. 5 redirected $2,000 in unused 2023 Community Development grant funds to the Village of Chaseburg and approved 90-day extension requests for two other 2023 grant projects.

Amy Oliver, Community Development Director, said Chaseburg originally applied for $10,000 for a walking-trail project and had been awarded $7,345; the committee approved adding the $2,000 in unused funds to bring Chaseburg's total award to $9,345. David Strudthoff moved to reallocate the funds and Karen Dahl seconded; the motion carried unanimously.

Oliver also summarized extension requests from the Town of Union and the Village of De Soto and recommended granting another 90 days for both projects. Karen Dahl moved to grant the extensions, Nathaniel Slack seconded and the committee unanimously approved the additional time.

Oliver told the committee she is closing out eight state and federal grants by the end of the year (five FEMA-funded). She also noted Vernon County did not receive a USDA Rural Business Development grant for its branding project and that Van Odren's Office contacted FEMA about generator grants; WEM has recommended the county's generator applications for review and award. Amanda Elliott, the grants assistant, gave notice with an Aug. 22 last day; Oliver said she will wait a couple months before posting the position and plans to pursue upcoming grants from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and WEM for a Pre-Disaster Flood Resilience Grant.

The committee placed approval of the Housing Task Force as a subcommittee and review of proposed members on the October agenda for further action.