City to apply for downtown grant

The City of Clarendon will apply for a Downtown Revitalization grant following action taken by the city council January 14.

If awarded, the Texas Department of Agriculture grant would provide up to $350,000 for downtown improvements. The city’s match would be $52,500 for a project total of $402,500, according to a representative of the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission, which will draft and administer the grant.

At least 50 percent of the grant funds would have to be spent to address accessible sidewalks downtown. Lighting is also an eligible expense under the grant.

The grant application is due May 3 with a possible award date this fall.

The city also took further steps on a Community Development Block Grant application that would pay for sewer improvements on the north side of town. Aldermen scored engineers for that work with Brandt Engineering of Amarillo narrowly winning the job over OJD Engineering of Wellington.

The council also continued discussions with Cheryl Johnson about closing a portion of Eighth Street that runs between her properties. Mayor Sandy Skelton said the city’s attorney advised against closing the street due to the precedence it would set. Discussion then turned to possibly installing stop signs at Eighth and Jefferson or possibly making Eighth Street one-way in that area. The discussion will continue at a future meeting.

No action was taken on the status of nuisance abatement at 600 S. Bugbee Avenue since the property owner was not able to attend last week’s meeting. The council did not consider any action on code issues at 117 N. Gorst since the code officer reported that the property owner there is making progress on those issues, but the council did declare 502 S. Bond as a nuisance because of no progress on issues at that location.

The council approved amending the Code of Ordinances to regarding parking regulations to give the city more authority to deal with vehicles that block driveways.

A resolution ordering an election to be held May 1 was approved to elect the mayor and two aldermen. The terms of Mayor Sandy Skelton and Aldermen Nathan Floyd and Jacob Fangman are expiring. Floyd resigned his seat Thursday night citing business and family obligations, city officials said. The council will consider appointing a replacement to fill the remainder of Floyd’s term next month.

Aldermen considered a request from the Donley County State Bank to pay for curb and gutter work. The bank recently replaced a portion of its sidewalk at a cost of $5,900, and City Administrator David Dockery reported that $1,200 of that was curb and gutter work and said the bank was asking for any possible funding. The city recently paid for curb repairs at the Courthouse, but city officials said in that case the county had talked to the city before the work was done. Aldermen unanimously voted against the bank’s request.