The City Council gave away $149,450 Wednesday in federal
Community Development Block Grants to 12 local social service
agencies.
The City Council gave away $149,450 Wednesday in federal Community Development Block Grants to 12 local social service agencies.
The agencies are among the many that help the disabled, seniors, at-risk youth, battered women and low-income residents.
Councilman Greg Sellers praised the agencies’ work.
“I shudder to think where we would be without the hard work of these people,” Sellers said.
The Redevelopment Ag-ency added $71,000 in RDA funds set aside for similar purposes were also given to agencies.
A $5,000 grant request to the Dayworker Center was delayed until the Dayworker Committee can hire an director; council indicated they would approve the request.
Receiving funds were Community Solutions for its battered women’s shelter and El Toro Youth Center, Catholic Charities for its Day Break Respite and Ombudsmen programs and Depot Commons, Live Oak Adult Day Services, the Emergency Housing Consortium for homeless shelters, Second Harvest Food Bank and Project Sentinel’s tenant-landlord dispute resolution program.
Busing Morgan Hill youth to the Aquatics Center and Galvan Park improvements, the city’s own programs, were also funded.
Council also gave the nod to buying a second water slide for the Aquatics Center to be installed by summer and approved a lease for Solara Energy, a local alternative energy company, to move into unused in the new police department.
Mushroom Mardi Gras asked the city for $10,000 to help with a festival facing significant changes. The Memorial Day weekend event has been moved from Community Park to downtown because the park is undergoing construction. Because of the downtown location, entrance to the festival and entertainment will be free.
The MMG committee is asking for more sponsors and donations so it can continue to offer $20,000 in scholarships to graduating high school seniors and help to some nonprofits who work at the festival. Council wanted to wait until Independence Day, Inc. (IDI) checks in with its request for help with the Fourth of July events. A decision is expected in mid-April.
$11,164 is left in the city fund for MMG and IDI.
Representatives from Valley Transportation Authority gave a long presentation revealing the agency’s long-term project plans.
Mayor Kennedy said he was in favor of BART reaching San Jose but not at the expense of South County projects. San Jose, instead, should contribute more to the BART project than other smaller cities.
Council also commented that the impending effects of Coyote Valley development were not mentioned.
