by Leah Justice
leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com
The Polk County Board of Commissioners approved
closing out a Community Development Block Grant
(CDBG); Scattered Site Housing application from 2011
that was funded by the N.C. Department of Commerce,
Division of Community Assistance.
Polk County was funded $400,000 in CDGB funds, which
were used to rehabilitate homes that qualified for the
funding within the county.
Commissioners met Jan. 5 with Paula Kempton with the
Isothermal Planning and Development Commission
(IPDC), which administers the grant.
Commissioners also held a public hearing to hear
comments on the closeout of the grant, with no
residents speaking.
Funding of $146,225 was expended to substantially
rehabilitate two homes; $157,275 was spent to
demolish and rebuild two homes and $38,705 was
spent to address urgent repair needs of additional
eligible households, according to Kempton.
The selected units were evaluated and qualified as
owner occupied, low to moderate income residents who
reside within Polk County. Polk County also used
$40,000 in grant funding for planning and grant
administration services.
Polk County will have to de-obligate and return $1,295
of the funding not spent during the project. Homes rehabilitated included one in Columbus and one
in Mill Spring.
Clearance and reconstruction included for two disabled
residents; one in Tryon and one in the Pea Ridge
community.
There were eight homes that received urgent repairs
with a $5,000 maximum, including three Columbus
homes, two Mill Spring homes, one Green Creek home
and two homes in Tryon, according to IPDC’s report.
No Polk County funding is used for CDBG grants for
rehabilitation of homes.
Kempton said the final closeout of the grant is pending a
final audit and final monitoring of the project from the
N.C. Department of Commerce Grants Management
Department. No complaints were received during the
cycle of the CDBG project, Kempton said.