City of Fernandina Beach
Press Release
CONTACT: Scott Schultz, Planner II
January 31, 2015 1:00 p.m.
The City is pleased to announce completion of ten housing rehabilitations: five demolition/rebuild and five rehabilitations, as part of the Community Development Block Grant program funded through the Department of Economic Opportunity. Rehabilitations consisted of improvements to hard features such as doors, windows, roofs, mechanical systems (HVAC), appliance replacement, plumbing systems, bathroom accessibility features, electrical systems, and weatherization. Applicants whose homes could not be rehabilitated received an entirely new replacement house of equal size and number of bed/baths.
Habitat for Humanity of Jacksonville donated building plans to the City for the new construction homes and slight modifications were made to improve natural light via window design, energy efficiency via mechanical equipment, appliances and insulation, and interior sense of space using vaulted ceilings throughout and removal of walls to create open floor plans. The successful bidder for all five new construction homes was CBI Construction, and they completed each project in around 60 days. Four of the new homes were completed on July 31, 2014 and the last one on January 23, 2015.
The program was implemented during 2013 and 2014. All applicants met certain eligibility guidelines related to household income, residency and ownership requirements, and property taxes. While the program is complete and the City is no longer taking applications for assistance, the City is referring interested parties to the United States Department of Agriculture, who is offering similar services through grants and low interest loans year round.
For more information, visit www.fbfl.us/CDBG or contact Scott Schultz at 310-3140.
I had the privilege of working with Scott Schulz on this grant. He is a dedicated public servant with common sense and good judgement. Thank you Scott for your work in making our community a better place.
Congratulations to City staff, especially Grants Administrator Cheryl Nichols, as well as the CBDG Grant Citizen Advisory Committee (Mike Spino as Chair) for all their work on seeing this program through over the last 3 years. While most municipalities pay an outside consultant to manage the project due to all the paperwork and documentation required under the grant, City staff did all the reporting work themselves allowing more of the Grant to be spent on the actual rehabilitation. Great job!