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Community Development Block Grant Info

Community Development Block Grant Info

Last night we tried something new and live-tweeted the public hearing on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for 2013. The hearing was arranged by the newly amalgamated Community, Housing and Human Services megadepartment in the city bureaucracy, and its aim was to address changes to both the amount of available funds and the application process.

This was our first live-tweet attempt, so we overlooked some of the etiquette (a #CDBG2013 hashtag, for instance), but we hope we nevertheless managed to convey some of the more interesting facts and figures as they came to light.

We realize that public hearings aren’t as exciting as, say, an Apple product launch, but we thought live-tweeting would be a good way for everyone to take part and stay informed. It’s easy to lose steam about neighborhood events when it seems like all anyone does is attend meetings.

Some of the more relevant highlights:

  • Total tentative CDBG funding for 2013 is $2,844,749. Of that, the total allocation for neighborhoods is $652,800.
  • The top recipient of that neighborhood allocation is Hillyard with $113,139 (not East Central, as we tweeted last night; the slide had no order to it). Emerson-Garfield is fourth on the list with $57,250.
  • Public service activities get a pot of $426,712. Community centers have to share $250,000 for operations. Nonprofits have a pot of $176,712 for operations. For the first time, neighborhoods also have access to a supplemental grant pool of $100,000.
  • There have been 42 applications received so far for public services money. These applicants include organizations like the Corbin Senior Center, Second Harvest, COPS. A total of $773,027 has been requested.
  • Many Spokane neighborhoods have used community development funds — or a combination of CD funds and others — for projects that improved their neighborhoods’ safety and beauty (some examples are shown above). Except for some street tree replanting, Emerson-Garfield was all but absent from that list.

The PowerPoint presentation with all these figures and more is available for download here.

If you represent an organization that is based or operates in Emerson-Garfield and have questions about the application process, please get in touch with us using our contact form.

To contact a city representative, please address your queries to the following people. They can all be reached on (509) 625-6325:

Traffic Calming on Mansfield & Montgomery

Traffic Calming on Mansfield & Montgomery

Earlier this year our neighborhood submitted a request for traffic-calming measures to the city. The request was for curb bump-outs along the 1100 to 1400 blocks of W Mansfield Ave. They were intended to slow speeders and discourage drivers from using it as a cut-through between N. Monroe and NW Blvd.

City engineers recently investigated the request (we think that’s when the electronic speed limit signs appeared) and they discovered that the problem included W Montgomery Ave as well. If anything, Montgomery had a bigger problem than Mansfield. A traffic light at the intersection of Montgomery and Monroe means that people hotfoot it for a block or two when the light is green. Trinity Catholic School is along that road, too, which makes inattentive speeders doubly dangerous.

Instead of curb bump-outs, the engineers proposed something more effective: traffic circles (aka “roundabouts”). They will address Montgomery Ave immediately and Mansfield will follow later, although it might require another application process next year to ensure that the project remains a top priority. Their preliminary plan for a total of six roundabouts — with trees and flowers, no less  — is depicted below.

Mansfield & Montgomery traffic calming proposal. Click for a larger view.

Over the next few weeks, the City of Spokane will be sending out letters to residents and businesses in the Montgomery area. If you’re in support of the project — and why wouldn’t you be when it means less transient traffic, fewer accidents, and fewer speeders? — you should promptly sign this letter and return it to the city. A group of volunteer residents will also doorbell with signature sheets to ensure that everyone understands the positive impact the project will have. We’ll need signatures from 50% +1 of properties for approval.

It’s important to note that this is not being funded by tax dollars. It comes from Photo Red funds. Photo Red funds come from people who are fined for running red lights. This money is pooled and then allocated to implement these types of traffic-calming projects. In other words, red-light runners are paying for you to be safer and your property values to go up.

More info will be posted as it becomes available. If you’re interested in helping to gather the required signatures, please get in touch. It will only take an afternoon at the most.

New Sidewalks Along Madison

New Sidewalks Along Madison

Lest it seem that our neighborhood requests routinely fall on deaf ears or get nixed due to lack of available funding, allow us to draw your attention to Madison Street, where construction crews are currently putting in new sidewalks.

The channel has been dug for the new sidewalk.

We’re hoping that these sidewalks will ultimately run all the way down Madison to Emerson Park. This tends to be the principal route that families and older children take toward Emerson Park, and it will be better for both them and drivers if they no longer have to be on the road.


View Larger Map

Unfortunately, the construction crews had to cut down very old and distinctive black locust trees in at least one block to make way for the sidewalk. We hope these will be replaced with new street trees — with more added to the parking strip along the way where they’re lacking.

We’ll keep you updated with photos of the new sidewalk as installation progresses.

What’s next for Madison? A bike lane, maybe?