The city of Fulton is in preparation stages of applying for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) through the Missouri Department of Economic Development that would demolish vacant homes within city limits. Funding stems from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Planning and Protective Services Director Les Hudson said he isn't aware yet how many Fulton homes are considered vacant, but he tasked each council member with researching those numbers at a previous council meeting. As the city acquires addresses, employees will take photos of the property as a part of the grant application process.
Utility bills must prove that homes have been empty for at least one year, according to Community Development Officer and Grant Professional Gayla Dunn. She added that there can be an exception to this - if a home has been used for storage, electricity use is permissible. Homeowners will retain land plots.
Ridding the city of vacant homes will decrease potentially dangerous situations, Hudson said. The homeless are highly susceptible, he added.
"The big effect is the danger of people going in and staying in," Hudson said. "You don't know if these old homes are stable enough to hold somebody in them."
Dunn said dilapidated homes pose a threat to children who find the structures as a place for play.
"We want to clean up the houses in the area before they become a danger to children..." Dunn said.
The department of economic development's CDBG Grant Program only distributes grants to Missouri incorporated municipalities of less than 50,000 in order to "improve local facilities, address critical health and safety concerns and develop a greater capacity for growth," according to the department website. Dunn said CDBG grants are designated for rural areas so they won't have to compete with Kansas City and St. Louis. CDBG grants address various structure needs, but the one the city is applying for is strictly residential.
Once a home meets the grant requirements, an engineer must complete an environmental inspection, checking for hazardous materials like asbestos. It's not yet determined if the city or the homeowner will absorb the engineer costs, but Hudson said working with the city is a "good deal." According to Hudson, the inspection could cost hundreds of dollars rather than thousands if a homeowner opts to collaborate with the city.
Homeowners must be willing to put forward funding in some capacity for the project, Dunn said, but because the grant application is in the beginning stages, that amount has yet to be determined. The city of Fulton can apply for a maximum of $125,000, and Dunn said she would like it to be sent by the end of 2015. She added this grant is participation driven.
"If you own a structure that needs to come down, this is an opportunity for people in the community to get financial assistance in taking those down," Dunn said.
Fulton meets two of the grant's eligibility stipulations - proving areas of slum and blight and low to moderate income (LMI) rate requirements while showing the grant will benefit the entire city, not a single section. The median household income for Fulton is $37,625, according to Dunn. The Missouri Department of Economic Development reported the state's median household income in 2013 was $47,380. Fulton's LMI rate is 41.18 percent, which is based on the city's average income, Dunn said. Those numbers meet the grant needs, Dunn said.