WEATHERSFIELD Officials seek distress grant

The county is seeking a $300,000 grant for a portion of McKinley Heights.
McKINLEY HEIGHTS -- About 250 questionnaires have been sent to McKinley Heights residents of Weathersfield Township in preparation for the county and township seeking a community distress grant for a neighborhood.
Residents also are being notified that the Trumbull Planning Commission will start holding meetings to receive input from residents on their area's needs.
Times and place
The first meeting will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the McKinley Heights fire station, 2229 Gardenland Ave. Other meetings are scheduled for Feb. 4, March 3 and April 7, all at 7 p.m. at the fire station.
Township administrator David Pugh said the township is helping the county in seeking the grant.
The township has mailed out questionnaires and notices of the meetings to assist the county, which doesn't have funds to do the mailing, Pugh said.
The two government bodies are planning to apply for a $300,000 grant that would cover the area of Harmon, Garfield, Bellwood and Ridgewood avenues and U.S. Route 422 on the west. The streets involved are all west of Route 422.
Eligibility for the grant is based on income and statistics from the last census, Pugh said.
Families or households must meet the federal guidelines for low to moderate income. He noted that section of McKinley Heights has a lot of retirees in it.
He said that by applying for the grant, the county planning commission and the township are hoping to make funds available for home revitalization, housing demolition and work on storm sewers.
He added that one reason the neighborhood looks good for a grant is that it was approved for a grant for the county's installation of sewer lines.
Currently, just about all of the residences in the area are on septic systems. Funds to pay for the first part of the sewer project came from state Issue 2, Community Development Block grants and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Pugh said current grant application is a drawn-out affair and will include receiving points for having the local meetings, for the number of people who turn out, and for receipt back of responses to the questionnaires.
Returning them
Residents who received questionnaires are asked to either return them at Wednesday's meeting or mail them to the township building by Dec. 10.
The township has not been asked to commit any funds toward the project, Pugh said, and he added that the planning commission will apply for the funds in late June or July.