FLINT, MI -- City officials are pushing forward a proposal to spend $45.3 million on an aggressive demolition program designed to knock down roughly 2,400 abandoned homes and businesses in Flint and surrounding areas.
The City Council voted to send the plan, which calls for spending $16 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to help pay for the program, to its special affairs committee during a meeting on Wednesday, April 6, setting up a potential final vote on the spending in just five days.
Mayor Sheldon Neeley has already signed off on the plan, and officials said city approval of its portion of the funding is crucial for the program to take root.
Under the proposal, Flint’s ARPA contribution would be supplemented by $8 million from Genesee County, $4.5 million from the county Treasurer’s Office and Genesee County Land Bank, $8 million from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and up to $8.8 million from the state of Michigan and other sources.
The Land Bank requested the program and said if it is successful in leveraging the city’s ARPA funding, it hopes to demolish 2,410 blighted structures -- 94 percent of which would be in the city of Flint and 6 percent in the rest of the county.
“This is an issue of environmental justice for people to (be able to) live in neighborhoods that are safe and sanitary,” Land Bank Executive Director Michael Freeman told the council Wednesday.
RELATED: ‘The whole sky was black’: Neighbors worry fires will continue unless blight resolved
The Land Bank owns 14,950 parcels of land in the county, 13,375 of which are in the city, the majority of which are lots without structures.
The agency ends up as the owner of the properties through the tax foreclosure process.
In addition to the demolitions, the program would pay for up to five years of property maintenance after structures are torn down.
Flint has roughly 2,000 unfunded demolition targets and an additional 1,100 properties with structures that are in poor condition and may also be in need of demolition
The Land Bank said it would prioritize demolitions when dilapidated homes and businesses are next door to occupied properties, houses in areas where more people live and homes are occupied, houses that have been burned, those near open schools and near local parks or major streets.
The proposal’s timeline calls for the first demolitions to start this summer and aims to tear down 500 to 800 additional structures per year for up to four years as funds are available.
All of the city’s $16 million in ARPA funds are projected to be spent by December 2026.
Council approved moving the resolution to its special affairs committee unanimously on Wednesday with several members, including council President Eric Mays, saying the program can only be worthwhile if it’s followed by redevelopment of properties and construction of new homes.
“I think this is a phenomenal opportunity to use ARPA dollars for the future,” said 7th Ward Councilwoman Allie Herkenroder, who’s pushed for the city to attempt to leverage other funds with the $94.7 million in ARPA dollars it was awarded by the federal government.
6th Ward Councilwoman Tonya Burns also said the program is needed.
“We have blight. We have a problem ...,” Burns said. “I wish we could use (the ARPA funds) for something else ... but we have to fix it.”
Some council members said they want to consider amendments to the program before it’s sent to council for final approval.
Read more:
After delays, Alec Baldwin-narrated Flint documentary to premiere April 29
Flint water crisis lawsuit against Wells Fargo, other bond underwriters thrown out by judge
"Demo" - Google News
April 07, 2022 at 07:27PM
https://ift.tt/sJD5je7
Massive demo plan would take down 2,200-plus blighted homes and businesses in Flint - MLive.com
"Demo" - Google News
https://ift.tt/VjTCIub
https://ift.tt/MzmhpOB
No comments:
Post a Comment