County asked to consider grant

A Dunkirk resident sought input from Jay County Commissioners Monday seeking a grant to renovate a crumbling building in that city.
Chuck Huffman was seeking information from the commissioners about the middle portion of a commercial building at 102 N. Main St. The county already has title to the southern portion of the building and holds a tax certificate for the middle portion.
Huffman said he knows that the roof of that building, specifically above that middle section, is in poor shape and should be replaced before it collapses. The most recent estimate for the roof repair to that building was about $180,000.
Dunkirk, however, is seeking a $500,000 grant to be used for renovation of several downtown structures.
“The city’s applying for a façade grant that could also be used for roofs,” Huffman said.
Huffman told the commissioners that for Dunkirk to apply for the grant, the commissioners would have to guarantee a match of 10 percent of the $180,000 and would have to take title to that property which has a lien on it for delinquent property taxes.
The grant money would pay to have the roof and the façade of the building repaired but not any damage that has occurred within the structure.
“At least structurally it would be sound,” Huffman reasoned.
Huffman said the entire commercial building at that location was “one of the key buildings that needed to be addressed” as the city looked toward renovating its downtown.
The commissioners, at first glance, thought it sounded like a good opportunity to fix the ailing building.
“The $18,000 would be cheaper than tearing it down,” said commissioner Milo Miller Jr. “I don’t think that’s a bad deal.”
The commissioners, however, did express some concern that they might take ownership to the property but then the grant would fall through and they’d be stuck with it.
Huffman said he believed that as long as the commissioners agreed to take ownership if the grant was approved, that should be good enough for the application process.
Commissioner Faron Parr said that if they could get $180,000 in repairs for only a tenth of the cost that it would be worth it, especially since then the property would be realistically marketable to prospective buyers.
“I think it will sell and it will sell for more than we’ve got in it,” he said, if the repairs happened.
Miller said he could approach the Jay County Council to see if the project is one they’d be willing to release county infrastructure funds to pursue.
“I can throw a feeler out to the council,” he said. “I’d like to participate if we could.”
Huffman said he would need to know if the county is on board by the end of September, since the city is planning to apply in October for the grant.
In other business Monday, the commissioners:
•Spoke with a Jay Emergency Medical Services employee who had a complaint about the county’s pay plan. The commissioners told the employee to speak to the department’s representative on the county council.
•Approved a video-conferencing service between the Jay County Jail and county courts. The system will allow defendants to “appear” in court virtually via a video system while remaining at the jail.
Progressive Office Products employee Cameron Clark will work with courthouse information technology specialist Randy Cleaver to install the system.[[In-content Ad]]