Combo of funds earmarked for City Square grant match

    Final details are being put on paper for Imperial’s grant application for City Square development.
    Part of the grant application asks how a potential $562,000 grant from the state would be matched with local funds.
    That was the subject of one agenda item in a long four-hour city council meeting Monday night.
    If Imperial receives the maximum $562,000 grant, the city will use a combination of funds to meet its obligation.
    The state grant would come from the Civic and Community Center Financing Fund, a fund generated from ticket sales at some of the largest arenas in Nebraska.
    On a 4-0 vote, the city committed the following money for its match:
    $350,000 from American Rescue Plan Act funds (unspent COVID money)
    $100,000 In-kind donations (city and volunteer labor, etc.)
    $50,000 City sales tax fund (community development)
    $62,000 City utility funds
    Community Development Director Tyler Pribbeno said the final application is due Feb. 15.
    Staff at West Central Nebraska Development District is doing the bulk of the application work, he said.
    With the council recently approving a housing grant application that would require a half million dollar match, Pribbeno asked the council Monday to prioritize its spending for both potential grants.
    The city received an earlier grant from the CCCFF to pay half of a feasibility study that considered public opinion in determining how City Square will be developed.
    From that, planners at Miller & Associates designed a space with a $1,639,600 cost estimate.
    Nearly half of the estimated cost, or $780,000, is earmarked for site work which would include a new concrete parking lot south of the city offices and gym and would correct drainage issues near the library, according to Clerk/Administrator Jo Leyland.
    The City Square development also includes an entry sign facing Broadway, portable ice rink, patio seating with a shade structure, playground area, public restrooms, a fire pit with seating, a raised bandstand stage and a solar-powered car canopy with numerous electric vehicle chargers.
    When the cost estimates were presented last year, planners noted city officials could add to or subtract any of the amenities.
    If the full CCCFF grant is received, Imperial will still have to come up with another half million dollars to pay for the $1.6 million project, possibly with help from other grants.