03/08/1976 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

individual receivng those funds. Mr. Thomas answered that the actual list of activities in which staff could participate was very broad. Included were wel- .~' fare, recreation, education, employment - which pretty well covered the range of activities an individual would be expected to be involved in as the center's major staff person. Councilman Williams asked that the city attorney be requested to review a transcript of this discussion and, if there is a difference of opinion, that he be directed to so advise the Council with all possible haste. Mr. Thomas noted a March 15 dead- line for filing the application and said that if the city attorney did find this funding an ineligible activity, the Council should be prepared for contingency action. He thought the chances of its being an ineligible activity were ex- tremely slim. Councilwoman Beal pointed out that this community center would be the only one in that general area and that people to date had been meeting wherever they could find space, an extremely difficult situation. She also pointed out this would be ~ very limited activity and one which the neighborhood felt was badly needed, someone who could get activities started. Councilman Murray said the West University area was regarded by the Commission as being an area with extraordinary problems not uniform with the rest of the com- munity, the most transient and mobile of the entire city, where it was difficult to establish any stability or sense of community. He thought it important also to understand that the emphasis on one-year funding only originated with the neighborhood group itself, not with the Commission, and that it would apply to this center only and for one year only. WUN, he said, wished that staffing in order to establish a very strong and volunteer effort looking to future years. ~ He knew of no reason why there should be any question of legality. But if there ~ was, he suggested that approval of the application be contingent upon automatic reversion of the $6,000 to housing rehabilitation, since that was where the funds originally came from. Resolution No. 2482 - Authorizing application for funding 1976-77 Community Development Block Grant Program (Entitlement-$674,OOO; Inequities-$336,OOO) was read by number and title. Mr. Keller moved second by Mr. Haws to adopt the resolution with the condition that if use of community development funds for staffing the WUN community center is found to be illegal in the eyes of the city attorney, the $6,000 allocated for that purpose will revert to the housing rehabilitation fund. Mr. Gradley moved second by Mr. Williams that the motion be amended and that the $6,000 allocated for staffing the WUN community center be transferred back to the housing rehabilitation program. In making the amendment, Mr. Bradley said he concurred with Councilman Murray's comment on the need to establish a good solid basis for future volunteer efforts. He said he would like to see that basis established by using volunteers rather than community development funds. If at the end of the first year it was found to be effective, the funds will then have been used more effectively in the hous- ing rehabilitation program. Mrs. Beal questioned whether it was understood that ~_ this neighborhood was the only one in the city without a community center - and ~ this was the most highly populated area in the city. Other areas had community/ ~ school programs, parks facilities, etc., but not this one, she said. She thought it should also be understood that this neighborhood was occupied by very young, transient students and very old people who wish to keep the area from deteriorating 3/8/76 - 8 .t~o