Go ahead and get started and call this Southwest Altona Community Redevelopment Agency meeting to order.

If I can please have the city clerk call the role.

Commissioner Calwell.

Here.

Commissioner Hammington.

Point of order.

It's we're not using commissioner.

I'm so sorry.

Yeah.

Every time.

Member of Ill Vasquez.

Still

here.

Member Cole.

Still with her.

Member Howlington.

Here.

Member Lilly.

Present via teams.

Member Santiago.

Member Harriet.

Present.

Member

of Ela.

Here.

This time we're going to go ahead and go with uh public forum.

No.

All right.

Action item request for approval resolution number twenty twenty-five dash sixty-one.

Requesting board consideration and approval of matching grant proposal, which could potentially benefit businesses with CRA boundaries.

And because this is a little different than what we regularly do, we're going to go ahead and go directly to Mr.

Don Cox for his presentation.

The Florida statutes allows CRAs to offer these types of grants to businesses, in particular to eliminate blight and slum like conditions throughout the district.

So as we have been working in our DRC and their businesses who are actually uh renovating or renovating or coming to the CRA, in those meetings, I've said I need to let you know that because you're in the CRA, there may be something to your benefit in the form of a grant.

But when I drilled down, I discovered that we haven't had a grant program.

We've not issued a grant through the CRA.

So

I'm requesting that as many communities throughout the state of Florida do, we offer a grant to businesses that can help them in a number number of ways.

For example, maybe they have a paving issue, painting issue, landscaping, uh it could be a facade grant.

Anything that will improve the look of the business.

How are these grants funded?

They're funded by the CRA trust fund.

So each year communities that offer grants just allocate part of their trust fund for these grants.

They're also matching grants, which means that uh the proposal that you have had that is before you tonight is a grant that is a matching grant in fifty in the 50 percent.

So if the project is a ten thousand dollar grant, the city would match it at 50 percent, which would be five thousand dollars in each of these different areas.

Now, painting is a little bit different, that only goes to five thousand.

Um, but it's a it is a simple process, it's one that can benefit businesses in the CRA, and so recommend it to you based on uh the information that you've received

uh I'm gonna go to Commissioner Villavasquez first, then Vice Mayor Harriet, because the majority of the CRA is in your district, Commissioner Villavasquez, please.

Thank you, Mayor.

So uh for the grants, is it per business?

Will you be offering this to every single business or is it for the whole entire CRA section?

It's for the its businesses within the CRA boundaries.

Yes, ma'am, thank you.

Each business.

That's correct.

So I have I think it's 12 restaurants on Del Tona Boulevard.

So each restaurant will be able, well, not restaurants, but food, you know, uh businesses that sell food or whatever.

Yes, ma'am, if they're in the district, they qualify in the CRA for matching grant.

For example, one of them may have a sign that has been broken or vandalized.

They can apply for a signed grant and we can partner with them and see a new sign put up.