Bonham, Texas -- The City of Bonham is pursuing a grant that, if successful, could be used to significantly upgrade Bonham Visitors Center.
That announcement came in a special called meeting of Bonham City Council held Tuesday, December 28, 2021. Bonham Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Hayes presided in the absence of Bonham Mayor H. Compton.
Councilmembers Timothy La Vergne, Michael Evans and Wayne Moore were present. Councilmember Bill Chapman was absent and former Councilmember David Odom recently resigned and relocated.
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Bonham City Council unanimously voted to select GrantWorks to complete the grant application for the Community Development Block Grant CARES Act Community Resiliency Program (CRP) program funding administered by the Texas General Land Office.
GrantWorks specializes in state and federal grant programs covering infrastructure, economic development, housing and planning services.
The amount of the zero-matching grant could be anywhere from $500,000 to five times that much, depending on how many projects are selected.
According to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) website, the Community Development Block Grant CARES Act (CDBG-CV) program is designed to help Texans respond to and recover from the impacts of COVID-19. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded TDHCA a total of $141,846,258 in CDBG-CV funds.
TDHCA released a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) on October 1, 2021, for approximately $38 million for the Community Resiliency Program. The Community Resiliency Program targets projects serving low-and-moderate income areas, as well as rural and small metro communities, to address the social and economic impacts of coronavirus and to improve access to social services and healthcare.
Bonham Visitors Center has a second floor and basement that are in need of repair before that convenient downtown space could be used for a vaccination site, shelter or meeting rooms that are needed during a pandemic or other catastrophic event.
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Bonham City Council selected KSA Engineers, Inc. as the engineering/architecture service provider to complete engineering/architecture services for the CDBG-CV (CRP) funding administered by the Texas General Land Office.
Cities that already have a building and are willing to secure engineering/architecture services will grade out higher in the grant-approval process.
Bonham City Council expressed its appreciation to Bonham Economic Development Corporation for underwriting 100% of the cost of retaining the services of KSA, approximately $22,000.
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Bonham City Council took the initial step that will enable North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) to reimburse the city for improvements currently being made at the spillway on the east end of Lake Bonham. NTMWD will cover the cost of improvements due to the spillway's close proximity to Bois d'Arc Lake. City crews have been hard at work widening the channel and lowering the grade. The next step will be to bring in riprap. The project is expected to cost approximately $189,000 and city staff is hopeful that the spillway improvements will mitigate flood damage at property around Lake Bonham during extended periods of heavy rainfall.
Bonham City Council authorized Bonham City Manager Sean Pate to execute the First Amendment to the Interlocal Agreement between the City of Bonham and the North Texas Municipal Water District, which provides the mechanism for the water district to reimburse the city.