The Marshall County Fair Board will be applying for an Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) grant worth $500,000 for a multi-purpose building in the Town of Argos.
An application request was approved by the Marshall County Council members on Monday morning. Marshall County Fair Board Secretary Angel Balsley explained that the project did not receive grant funding in the previous round of OCRA grants but will apply for the additional grant round in February. The date to announce an intention to apply for the grant is Friday, Dec 1. The fee is $150 which will be paid for by the fair board.
Balsley explained to the council that the rental fees for the community building were not specific enough which may have led to the loss of the grant in the previous round.
“Our rental fees were low, but we didn’t specify a lower amount for low to moderate income families,” said Balsley. “I think what we’ll do is increase the rental fee for normal income families and then it’ll be on a sliding scale so it’ll be banded. The non-profit organizations would pay $25 or something like that.”
Additionally, she noted that there were a higher number of applicants in the previous grant round.
The cost of the construction of the building is $800,000. The board is hopeful for the $500,000 OCRA grant and the members are continuing their efforts in raising funds for the rest of the project. What isn’t funded will be financed through a bank.
