Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs announced 11 Hoosier communities were awarded $623,320 in Planning Grants through the Community Development Block Grant program. These communities will use the funds to develop plans to implement community and economic development projects.
“Planning grants are a great resource for rural communities,” Crouch said. “Through these grants, communities can better prepare for their upcoming needs and plan developments and investments that will better the lives of their residents and the community overall.”
The Planning Grant program strives to encourage communities to plan for long-term community development with the aid of subject matter experts and community input. The applications being funded this quarter are aiming to address broadband, water infrastructure and comprehensive community planning.
“This funding will help communities to create a strategic plan to boost their economies, whether through access to clean and functioning water infrastructure, broadband or other general needs,” said OCRA Executive Director Denny Spinner. “I look forward to seeing the plans formed by each recipient and the many benefits these 11 Hoosier communities will see as a result.”
Broadband Readiness Plans are designed to aid rural communities in evaluating current conditions, needs and opportunities related to broadband access, deployment and adoption. By completing this plan, communities will be able to make decisions on how to address their broadband needs through the development of a long-term vision so that they may work with broadband providers to make their vision become a reality.
A Broadband Readiness Plan grant was awarded to the Town of Ladoga for $40,000.
Water Infrastructure grants allow communities to complete a holistic study of potential issues and opportunities across their drinking, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. By completing this planning, communities will be able to make decisions regarding their most urgent water needs while understanding how each system works in context with other utility systems.
Water Infrastructure grants were awarded to four communities:
Comprehensive Planning grants are designed to aid communities in assessing assets and identifying opportunities to address current needs in the following areas; land use, government capacity, public services, placemaking, economic development, housing, transportation, agriculture, natural resources, broadband access and historic resources.
Comprehensive Planning grants were awarded to six communities:
The State of Indiana distributes the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant funds to rural communities to assist units of local government with various community projects. Planning grants are one type of grants offered through OCRA’s CDBG Program.
Planning Grant applications are accepted on a quarterly basis. For more information, visit in.gov/ocra/cdbg.
