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County reapplies for senior center grant

6/14/2019

By Tom Marshall
Senior Advocate writer

The Montgomery County Fiscal Court is making another attempt at obtaining grant money to fund repairs at the county’s Senior Citizens Center, which was found out of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act last year.

The county applied for a Community Development Block Grant to fund the project in 2018, but learned it was rejected earlier this year.
No specific reason was given for the denial, officials said.

The county, working in conjunction with the Gateway Area Development District, plans to resubmit an application in the next few weeks, GADD Executive Director Joshua Farrow said.

The county is asking for $207,213 as part of the application that would also require that it provide a $31,000 match, Farrow said.

As part of the application process, the Fiscal Court scheduled a public hearing this past Monday for anyone to offer comments on the application.

No one from the public addressed the county.

Farrow said he will now finalize the application and submit it to the state Dept. of Local Government. He said he hopes to hear something by the end of the year.

If approved, the county would have to go through other hurdles, including a bidding process before construction could take place, he said. Construction itself would take three or four months.
The project would require improvements to the porch area, back parking lot and bathroom, Farrow said.

He said the project could be complete by the end of 2020 if all goes well.
The city and county would have to find an alternative place for senior citizens to meet while construction is ongoing, Farrow said.

Seniors continue to meet at the center, located at 302 W. Main St., but the Jeffersonville Community Center has been offered as an alternative to those concerned about ADA issues.

The county received a complaint in May 2018 that the Mt. Sterling location was out of compliance with the ADA.

County building inspector Mike Haddix inspected the building and confirmed that it was out of compliance. There is an 89-page tool inspectors have to use to determine compliance, a GADD official said at the time.

Following the finding, county and GADD officials, along with representatives from the Dept. of Aging and Independent Living, met with an architect at the site to go over the work that would be needed.

Judge-Executive Wally Johnson said the county would be able to use a small portion of the Finneran Fund toward its match.

The Finneran Fund is a $75,000 trust established by the late Mary Ray Finneran. The county uses interest off the trust toward upkeep of the center. It cannot draw from the principal.