By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
The Ortonville Village Council and the Brandon Township Board of trustees have approved applications for funds through the Community Development Block Grant for the 2023 program year.
On Monday Nov. 28, the village council voted 4-1 to allocate $2,000 to code enforcement, $2,000 to child care services, $2,000 to youth services and the remaining $2,001 to parks and recreation. Council president Ken Quisenberry voted against the allocation, and council member Tony Randazzo was absent with notice.
“From my perspective, I would prefer to see the CDBG money go more directly towards residents needs, so I like supporting programs like BGYA or OCEF or HAVEN,” said council member Larry Hayden.
Funds allocated to youth services or child care services have the ability to be used by Brandon Groveland Youth Assistance. The allocations will also have to be approved by Oakland County.
“Those are certainly good causes, I don’t think there’s any bad cause where we could send our money, and we have given to the programs before,” said council member Kay Green. “But last year I believe it was we had talked about parks and rec, about our trails, and I guess I would like to see some of the money go to trails so we can get that project moving.”
On Dec. 5, the township board of trustees approved an allocation of $3,500 to youth services, $3,500 to other public services not listed, and $19,750 to public facilities and improvements senior center with a 4-0 vote. Trustee Bob Marshall was absent with notice, and treasurer Scott Broughton and supervisor Jayson Rumball abstained from the vote due to being BGYA board members.
“The senior center has a deck on the south side of the building that needs to be repaired, so we’re looking to get that fixed,” said clerk Roselyn Blair.
The funds for the public facilities and improvements would go to the Edna Burton Senior Center. CDBG funds are for the purpose of supporting community development activities to build stronger and more resilient communities.