Maplewood City Manager Gets Go Ahead for Block Grant Fund Application

Council approved a request made by City Manager Marty Corcoran to apply for $64,000 in funding from a Community Development Block Grant at last Tuesday night's regularly scheduled meeting.

A public hearing was held at the meeting to provide residents the opportunity to give input on how to allocate the funds, should they be approved, though no one spoke.

Of the $64,000, council members would like $39,000 to go towards a home improvement program, $20,000 for sidewalk improvement and $5,000 for backstops in Kellogg Park, Corcoran said.

A city memo states it is uncertain if the federal government will continue to fund the block grant program, but Corcoran isn't worried.

"That's the way it's been for the past five years or so," Corcoran said after the meeting. ""It's part of the budget process. Block grant programs or other similar programs are up in the air until the budget is approved."

If approved by the St. Louis Office of Community Development, the funds would become available to the city on May 1, 2013, according to a city memo.