Published: September 29, 2009 02:53 pm      

Town of Clayton receives $50,000

Awarded for community development projects

CLAYTON — Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman announced Monday that 21 Hoosier communities will receive more than $5.2 million for community development projects.

Clayton, the only town in Hendricks County to receive any money, was awarded $50,000 for their downtown revitalization master plan.

The funds are given from the federal Community Development Block Grant program and are meant to aid in economic recovery after several natural disasters caused damage in areas across the state last year.

“This damage can have a devastating impact on our small cities and towns,” Skillman said. “A priority after any disaster is to leverage any resources and then move forward to ultimately stimulate economic growth.”

Skillman said the money was applied for through a competitive grant application process.

“This money will be used for downtown revitalizations, fire trucks, and fire stations. These funds that are coming for economic recovery are not specifically to address recovery themselves, but to make (the towns) whole and move forward to economic efforts, to planning, improvements, or for some communities, actual construction if they were ready for that (when disaster struck),” she said.

David Terrell, executive director of the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, said the towns were asked what they would have done with money that was used for disaster recovery.

“Part of this is the concept that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has passed down. As part of economic recovery activity, they asked the question, what would you have been doing had you not had to spend money on flooding and disaster? These are dollars that will help communities that will have to shift dollars for all that recovery,” he said. “The focus is on economic recovery.”

Tina Henderson is the grant administrator for the town of Clayton. She said the money will fund their downtown revitalization plan.

“The plan will include a study for a new facadé for building fronts, it includes lighting and a profile of existing conditions, a plan and public participation, building inventory, analysis for facade improvements, historic preservations, and will incorporate general downtown design standards,” she said. “It will also be coordinated with the INDOT State Road 39 improvement. That project will focus on lighting that will be placed with those sidewalks, and the cost.”

To be approved for the grant, Henderson said the town had to qualify as a low- to moderate-income community, they had to hold a public hearing, and had to receive permission from each building owner to study their buildings.

Henderson said though the town initially qualified because of the flooding that took place in 2008, she focused the grant application on the economic problems facing the town.

“I didn’t focus so much on the flood disaster as the vacant buildings and lack of business. I focused more on the economy facing Clayton with the turn of the century buildings, versus the flooding,” she said. “Over the past 12 to 24 months the town experienced three business closings, and approximately six buildings are vacant within the downtown area.”

The buildings in the study include Clayton Cafe and buildings located along Iowa and Kentucky streets.

“We knew this was a stiff competition project and all of us are just happy we received this funding. It is a tremendous benefit to the town of Clayton,” she said.

The town will now initiate contracts with DLZ, a consulting firm based out of Indianapolis.

charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com