Council Takes Action on Various 2017 Funding Grants

Municipal Offices in Lamar

The Lamar City Council held their final meeting of the year on Tuesday, December 27^th.  The major portion of the meeting highlighted several grant and grant applications to fund projects for the approaching year.

An agreement to continue services with Southeast Wellness for 2017 was approved. This maintains the city’s Employee Assistance Program which offers assistance to those who are having either personal or substance abuse difficulties.

As presented by Angie Cue, Community Development Director, the council approved a memorandum of understanding for participation in the Colorado Department of Local Affairs Main Street Program which Lamar entered into in 2010. The program offers various means by which a member city in following the Main Street Approach for economic development and historic preservation guidelines.

Mr. D’s Sports and Fitness was awarded the contract for producing tee shirts for 2017 for various recreational programs. Mr. D’s was the low bidder for the contract.

A grant application for continued funding for the construction project for the city’s downtown Pocket Park or the Shore Arts Center Park was approved. The application is for $20,000 to be used to purchase pavers which will comprise the groundwork for the park.  That portion of the project is estimated at $75,000.

Another application for grant funding for $100,000 was approved by the council. These funds will be applied to the fees for services from the Buxton Group which is providing the city with a marketing strategy for future retail development programs.  Specifically, Buxton will identify retailers who seek markets with household purchasing habits such as those in Lamar.  From that point, Buxton provides custom marketing packages targeted to those retailers in an attempt to have them consider Lamar as a future business site. The overall project costs $160,000 and the grant is for the balance of the fees charged for Buxton’s services.

A grant for $5,000 was approved to upgrade the city’s website. It has been described as static, dated and in need of an interactive upgrade.  One feature would be a ‘report a problem’ function through which citizens can report a non-emergency problem such as potholes, graffiti or street light outages, as an example.

If approved a grant application to fund continued spaying and neutering all dogs prior to being transferred or adopted was given the green light by the council. This will cover the costs of a deposit fee for the dog’s new owner.  The grant also provides assistance with veterinary and emergency care when the situation arises.  The local vets agreed to charge a discounted rate to the Lamar Animal Shelter for the medical procedure.  $8,400 will cover the costs for spaying and neutering, $1,500 for veterinary care and $1,500 for emergency care.  The total amount requested through the grant is $11,400.

By Russ Baldwin