Kennedy holds public hearing on housing rehabilitation project

By Margie Holmgren, Editor
Kennedy City Council held a public hearing, Monday, April 14, regarding a Small Cities Development Grant.
John Wynne and Diane Hayes from Northwest Community Action, Badger, were in attendance to go over the program and get the city’s approval on the plan.
Kennedy, along with Donaldson, Humboldt and Halma, jointly agreed to apply for grant funding for housing rehabilitation.
“Part of the application process is holding a public hearing and there are some resolution agreements that need signing,” Wynne informed the board.
Kennedy will be acting as the lead applicant and will handle the paperwork for all the cities.
“We are submitting a request to do 10 houses total among the communities and the funds will be provided in the form of a loan for seven years and then they are forgiven,” Wynne explained.
The most any homeowner can receive is $25,000. These are two-part loans with 10% being an installment loan over 10 years, which is paid by the homeowner, and 90% is a deferred loan. The deferred portion is set up for a seven-year period. If you stay in your home the full seven years, the loan is forgiven. If you leave after one year the loan is reduced by 1/7th and you must repay the rest. Each year you stay in your home one seventh is forgiven. Each homeowner who qualified will be given paperwork to sign and fill out explaining the details of the loan.
Councilor Jon Turn asked “Is this a state-funded project?”
Funding is provided from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Housing and Urban Development division.
Applicants must qualify but Wynne stated the income limits are “pretty high” for Kittson County. He estimated $58,000 for a one-income household.
Projects like windows, siding and energy efficiency will be considered. NWCA employees will do inspections and write specifications and get bids for each home that is awarded a loan.
Two loans will be awarded for each of the four communities with two floating loans behind awarded to the town with the greatest need.
The council approved the local government resolution which allows the city of Kennedy to act as a legal sponsor for the program. The council also approved the citizen participation plan to implement the program.
More information on the program will be coming and will be available at the Kennedy city office.
The public hearing ended, and the city council meeting began.
Otter Tail Power Company employees Carl Hunt, Jake Ellefson and Don Schuler were in attendance. They were on hand to discuss the franchise ordinance the city has with Otter Tail to furnish electricity to the community.
The council approved the ordinance agreement later in the meeting.
Stephen Frisco, Minnesota Department of Transportation, was also in attendance and gave an update on the work they will be doing on Hwy. 75 going through Kennedy. They are still discussing what to do with the intersection with County Road 7 on the north end of town.
Councilor Henry Escareno asked about the parking for the houses on the east side of the road, “will they not have parking in front of those houses?”
“What will happen to the pavement in front of the houses,” asked Turn.
Frisco stated they would do new sidewalks and the residents would have more grass in the front lawn.
He also stated they have the same issue on the south end where the road is wider than what they will redo during the project.
At this point, no decisions have been made and Frisco was just updating the council and looking for comments.
In other business, the council:
• Heard from City Clerk/Treasurer Melissa Woinarowicz, the City of Kennedy was one of 235 out of 676 facilities to receive a commendation from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
• Discussed summer mowing, with the council approving the hiring of Greg Mitziga for the summer at a rate of $25 per hour for mowing and $27 for additional maintenance work. Councilor Jody Bowman voted against this motion.
• Approved sending Woinarowicz to the League of MN Cities Annual Conference June 25-27. The conference fee is $275 which will be paid by the city.
• The council approved the purchase of a new drag for the baseball field.
• Discussed the dog ordinance violation as some dogs have been running loose. The sheriff’s office will be contacted about a dog that the council has deemed dangerous.
The council adjourned and will meet at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14.