DOWAGIAC — Several homes in Dowagiac could be getting some front yard enhancements in the future.

At the Monday evening city council meeting, the council unanimously approved a resolution to continue the next steps necessary for receiving the Neighborhood Enhancement Program grant. The grant is in an agreement with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority in the amount of $50,000. The city received the NEP grant agreement from MSHDA on June 19.

Council had a chance to read the official document and approve that City Manager Kevin Anderson sign the NEP documents at the June 24 meeting. The documents were then sent overnight to the MSHDA to ensure the city meets its return deadline.

The NEP is part of a larger project called the citywide housing initiative, which encourages the building of new and energy efficient homes in the area. The city is incentivizing new construction projects by offering free land, free building plan review, and free water, sewer and electrical connections.

“A few weeks ago, we were able to report that the grant application we put in to receive $50,000 to spend on homes that could use improvement, particularly those that enhance curb appeal and neighborhood appeal, was approved,” Anderson said. “This is the follow up piece to that.”

The city cannot actually receive the grant until it finishes up a program piece, outlining how it will be administrated, Anderson said.

“There’s a handful of things that have to be done before we can get approval to take applications,” Anderson said. “We are closing that up actively and being very diligent so we can get those funds into people’s hands.”

Assistant City Manager Natalie Dean has been working closely with the MSHDA agency and clarified the grant must be used by a deadline of Dec. 31. The city’s plan is to divide the grant into $5,000 increments to be used on 10 separate homes. To qualify as a home to receive the grant, residents must own their home and be caught up on their taxes, Dean said.

The enhancement aspects outlined in the agreement are limited to the front side of homes. The city does not have the financial ability to do any changes with lead paint or asbestos because of expensive abatement costs, she said.

“They have to be from the front yard an esthetic improvement, so whether that’s light landscaping, maybe driveway paving, a pathway or steps to the front porch. Other than that, there really are not too many requirements,” Dean said.

Additionally, she would like to help fund some ramps for handicapped residences.

The city of Dowagiac earned the grant because of its conformity to income limits, but one boundary of the city is blocked out from receiving the assistance, Dean told the council.

“It’s most of the neighborhoods. Some of the outlying neighborhoods were not included, but most of the core neighborhoods were,” Dean said.

Dean confirmed she already has two residences interested in the grant, despite having no official application drafted yet. 

“I think I’m just going to have droves of people come to me now, but some people think maybe I’m going to have to go out and talk to people, but that’s fine either way,” Dean said. “We will be using the entire $50,000, so it’s full speed ahead.”