The commissioners of the City of Marianna still have more research to do before signing the contract for the $350,000 awarded from the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG).
The commissioners already have voted to accept the grant but they will still vote whether to sign the contract during their meeting this month.
There are certain conditions tied into the grant on how to use the funds and if the city does not comply with this, it would have to return any unused funds.
It is stipulated that all of the funds must be used and that the workers must finish any project in seven months or on before September 30, 2012.
Before signing the contract with the CDBG, the commission wants to talk with contractors to see if the timeframe is doable.
The funds would go toward Phase II of the city’s Downtown Revitalization Project.
Originally, the commissioners asked for $700,000 from the CDBG.
The city had already a budget of about $150,000 in community redevelopment funds to be used in the project.
With the grant, the city will have about $500,000 to work with it.
The city has some flexibility in using the CDBG funds before its own funds such as using the funds toward any of the to-do items listed in the project.
Major item in the project is moving power lines, telephone poles and cable lines on the south side so they won’t be an eyesore.
Whether or not to put the poles and wires underground or simply move them back is still under debate.
The city staff also plans to talk with Florida Public Utilities to see if the deadline will be a problem.
The revitalization project has a number of other items that can be taken care of with the grant.
The north side of the city has telephone lines that could be moved, or landscaping and street lighting to be done.