Elgin grant program will push sustainability goals

After a one-year hiatus for fear of lacking funds, Elgin’s Neighborhood Improvement Grant Program is back — but with a bit of a facelift. The program is now funding projects exclusively committed to sustainability.

Cherie Murphy, assistant to the city manager for community engagement, helps coordinate the program. She said the new sustainability focus won’t amount to a complete makeover since many of the proposals already incorporated similar goals.

“Most of the neighborhood improvement ideas, unintentionally, are sustainability by nature,” Murphy said. “They’re usually things that improve the neighborhoods to make the community better.”

New names and judging criteria for the program grants will push community groups to engage in projects supported by the city’s Sustainability Action Plan committees. They will encourage bike-related improvements, community gardens, tree planting and recycling, for example.

No money was awarded through the Neighborhood Improvement Grant Program in 2010 because of uncertainty concerning available Riverboat Funds. It will restart this year without the Neighborhood Planning Fund, which provided up to $15,000 to local organizations wanting to create a neighborhood plan.

What used to be the Small Sparks Fund and Large Project Fund will now be called the Small Green Project Fund and the Sustainable Neighborhood Project Fund providing up to $1,000 and $15,000 respectively.

The matching grants require neighborhood groups to foot half the cost of their projects, whether it be in materials or even labor.

“A lot of times they can match it just through their own hard work,” Murphy said. “That helps build community, and that’s as much a goal of this grant as anything.”

Applications will be available online at cityofelgin.org once the City Council officially approves the $50,000 allocated to the program. The council voiced unanimous support at a committee of the whole, discussion-based meeting Wednesday. The official vote will be held at the council’s next meeting on March 9.