JACKSON, MI – The city of Jackson is setting aside more than $2 million for projects at Loomis Park, lighting near the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, a new Habitat for Humanity neighborhood and a downtown kitchen.
Most of the money comes from federal funds – Community Development Block Grant funding and Home Investment Partnership Program money. The moves were approved at Jackson City Council meetings in November and December.
All four projects have preliminary approval from the Jackson City Council, but still need final approval. There’s an opportunity for public comment on the changes at the 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14 council meeting, 161 W. Michigan Ave. The council will consider the items for approval, afterword.
Here’s a rundown of the projects – and what’s been axed to make room.
Incubator kitchen: $600,000
The city originally had $600,000 of CDBG funds allocated for a new incubator kitchen at the former Vermeulen’s building, 135 W. Cortland St. in downtown Jackson. That’s now coming out of the city’s general fund.
Projects using CDBG funds must adhere to federal standards – like the federal prevailing wage – City Manager Patrick Burtch said. The city didn't want to be stuck adhering to those standards for the whole project, prompting the change to using general fund dollars, Burtch said.
Renovations have been continuing on the old Vermeulen's building on Cortland Street in downtown Jackson as seen on Monday, Nov. 25, 2019. J. Scott Park | MLive.comJ. Scott Park | MLive.com
The kitchen is part of a city development, which includes the kitchen for new food businesses to use to get on their feet before getting their own space, a “competition kitchen” to give free to the entrepreneur that wins an annual food competition, farmer’s market space and more.
The city is seeking bids on the two kitchens right now, and they should be done by mid-summer, Burtch said.
This one-time expense lowers the city’s fund balance -- the ratio of the leftover funds to the total general fund expenses – from roughly 20 percent to 17 percent. The city’s policy is to have a fund balance of 15 to 30 percent.
Street lighting: $472,000
The change with the kitchen left extra CDBG funds to spend – a large chunk of which has been designated to street lighting.
A project has been approved to spend $472,000 in federal funds to add street lighting along Morrell Street from Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to Adrian Street and on Adrian Street from Morrell Street to the MLK Equality Trail.
Some funding had already been set aside, but the extra funding from the incubator kitchen change allows for more lighting to be installed.
A map of street lights to be added on Jackson's south side in 2020.
Loomis Park improvements: $300,000
Another chunk of used CBDG funds are going toward changes at Loomis Park on Jackson's east side.
The city will remove and rebuild the basketball courts, add court lighting and build a trail, per city documents.
Both the Loomis Park and street lighting improvements are expected to happen this construction season, Burtch said.
A map of the changes scheduled at Loomis Park in 2020.
DeLand Pointe: $720,000
About $720,000 of the city's HOME federal funds will go to DeLand Pointe – a new Greater Jackson Habitat for Humanity neighborhood planned just south of downtown Jackson.
There are 15 homes – including at least 10 townhouses – planned for a nearly-vacant block at Mechanic and Franklin streets. The city’s contribution will help build the first three homes in 2020.
DeLand Pointe also has a $20,000 grant from the Jackson Community Foundation. This is the first multi-unit neighborhood development Jackson’s Habitat for Humanity has tackled, Executive Director Wendy Clow said in a news release.
"Traditionally, we build one house on a lot somewhere, then move to the next one in another random area, depending on where available land is," Clow said. "Habitat affiliates in Michigan and across the country are beginning to build neighborhoods of several homes in order to impact more families more efficiently.”
The city had previously planned on using these HOME funds for acquiring a home, rehabbing it and selling it to an income-qualified person or family.
If the city hadn’t allocated its CDBG dollars and designated a percentage of its HOME funding toward a specific housing organization, it risked losing out on future funding, per city documents.
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January 14, 2020 at 11:15PM
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City shifts $2M to Loomis Park, incubator kitchen, new neighborhood - MLive.com
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