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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCDBG Grant Writer Committee Minutes 05.27.1993 LAUREL COMMITY DEVELOPMENT GRANT COMMITTEE MINUTES May 27, 1993 The Laurel Community Development Grant Committee met on Thursday, May 27, 1993, at noon at the Owl Cafe. Those members present were: Don Hackman Cal Cumin Gay Easton Patsy Guenthner Jim Worthington - Also present were Barbara Campbell and Kris Vandersloot, with Double-Tree, Inc. It was the consensus of those present to amend the name of the committee to include the word "Grant". Barbara Campbell introduced the Community Needs Assessment Process as outlined by the MT Dept. of Commerce Community Development Block Grant Program, with each committee member receiving a copy of the DOC guidelines. The importance of the participation of a good cross-section of Laurel residents in the needs assessment process was emphasized. Some of the areas that should be addressed are Education, Sr. Citizens, Labor, Retail. Committee members will seek persons from these areas who are willing to participate. The time-frame for developing, surveys was discussed. Barb distribution rather than summer, people at home in the summer. month, with school back in ses routine. preparing, and distributing the advised waiting until fall for since it's more difficult to catch October was suggested as a good ;sion, and households back into a Barb stated that door to door distribution of surveys works the best, but is sometimes difficult to find adequate manpower. Don Hackman asked if volunteers such as Boy Scouts could help. Barb said the distribution would be coordinated from the Double-Tree office, and that possibly mailing the surveys should be considered. Discussion included sending surveys in the water bills (approx. 2500) or in the newspaper, neither of which are viable because the households would lose their identity. Patsy asked how many returns are needed for a valid response. Validity is determined through a formula calculation. Cal asked if the survey area would be only within the city limits. Barb said yes, unless the committee decides to do otherwise. Several outlying areas were discussed as possibly being included, with Cal suggesting that surveys be hand- delivered to concentrated areas outside the city limits. Sample surveys from Joliet and Red Lodge were reviewed and Barb gave an overview of designing the survey. She emphasized including "everything" in the survey, and to decide what exactly should be accomplished with the survey. The successful response level of many surveys has been attributed to offering an incentive of money itC AV a? Page 2 Laurel CDGC Meeting May 27, 1993 or prizes which can come from the city's general fund, businesses, service organizations, etc. Red Lodge and Bridger were illustrated as good examples. Survey questions must be designed so that valid answers can be derived. Barb said an up-to-date mailing list and maps will be needed, and that houses will be number coded individually and color coded by section of town for data isolation purposes. The cost of the survey will be that of printing and mailing. Barb estimated $1000 would cover the costs. Cal stated that while the prize/incentive money should come from businesses, he thought there may be funds available in the Planning Budget that could appropriately be used for the "hard costs" of the survey itself. Don will check on it. Writing of the survey will begin at the next meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, June 24, at noon at the Owl Cafe.