City gets okay to seek housing grant funding

    A shortage of housing is nothing new to most rural Nebraska towns.
    A Rural Workforce Housing Fund program hopes to help alleviate that ongoing concern.
    Signed into law in 2018 by then Gov. Pete Ricketts as part of LB 518, the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act, the fund provides matching grants to build owner-occupied single family homes or rental housing.
    Communities in counties with less than 100,000 people are eligible to apply for grants. That restriction excludes cities and towns in Nebraska’s three largest counties–Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy.
    At a meeting Monday, the city’s Economic Development Director gained city council approval to seek a $1 million grant from the fund, which requires a 50% match.
    That means, if awarded in full, the city would have to provide $500,000 to the effort.
    Matching funds can be dollars contributed by individuals, businesses, foundations, political subdivisions like the city of Imperial or other nonprofit organizations.
    Tyler Pribbeno, the city’s Economic Development Director, asked the council to okay a letter of intent that indicates the city plans to apply for the grant funds. The request gained a 4-0 yes vote.
    Pribbeno said a big plus to this grant program is there are no income restrictions on who purchases the homes, unlike a lot of other housing grants geared to lower income families and individuals.
    “This is the type of housing Imperial needs,” Pribbeno said.
    The city’s income-based housing projects that built rental homes in the Cornerstone property were also needed, he said, but there is also a need for market-rate home purchases and rentals for higher salaried residents.
    The grant funds, if received, are to be invested in eligible projects to increase the supply and reduce the costs of housing in rural communities.
    The city’s intent, according to Monday’s discussion, will be to hire contractors to build homes and the city will then sell them. Possible incentives or subsidies could be offered to contractors to promote building and keep costs lower.
    Profits realized from the sales will go back into the fund to earmark for more housing.

    West Central Nebraska Development District will work with the city in the application process and help administer the funds if received, Pribbeno said.
    He expects to come back to the council for approval before the grant application is submitted before a March 23 deadline.
    For the city’s $500,000 match if the $1 million grant is awarded, Clerk/Administrator Jo Leyland noted the city still has $400,000 unused in America Rescue Plan Act funds awarded during COVID.
    Council members also discussed using sales tax funds and seeking donations from businesses for the matching dollars.
    Pribbeno noted an important part of the grant application will be a housing study, now underway in Imperial. The city will gain extra points in the grant application process by having an updated housing survey, he said.
    The housing surveys are now online on the city’s website: imperial-ne.com. Paper copies are available in the city office.
    In other business, the council approved two appointments from Mayor Craig Loeffler.
    Mallory Coleman will replace Mary Lou Hegwood on the cemetery board and serve until December 2024.
    Nick Colton will replace Charlesa Kline on the senior services board and serve until December 2025.
Snow removal concerns
    Snow was on the mind of Public Works Supt. Pat Davison in his report to the council Monday.
    “We haven’t had this much snow in a long time,” he said.
    With another storm predicting several inches of snow on its way this week, he asked the council for some direction on where to pile snow.
    He said they’ve run out of room south of the city shop. He asked if city crews could dump snow on an empty Cornerstone lot. If not, another option would be the former landfill site.
    Davison said as wet as it’s been, whereever it’s dumped, the area will get torn up by the trucks.
    The  council appeared to be okay with dumping snow at Cornerstone.
    Davison also reported he’s ordered the transformer required for the solar farm to be built at the city’s south edge. The $40,000 transformer is the main cost to the city for that project.    
    Reporting for the police department, Sgt. Chad Ostmeyer said officers have completed all necessary continuing education for the year.