City Council Holds Special Meeting on Funding Requests

The Sheridan City Council held a special meeting Thursday to address several requests for affordable housing projects in Sheridan. The City has $81,692 available for affordable housing projects as part of a rollover fund that was established several years ago during better financial times. Developer Steve Grimshaw requested $64,000 in building permit and plant investment fee waivers for the once-defunct York Place project. Habitat for Humanity requested a total of $74,000, $56,000 of which would go toward two phases of their Brush with Kindness program. The remaining $18,000 was for a PIF fee waiver for construction on six new homes.

The Council elected to grant $60,000 to Grimshaw and a little over $21,000 to Habitat, which meant the City did not have to dip into their optional one-cent contingency fund. Sheridan City Councilman John Heath explains that Habitat will have to come back later in the year once the economic picture for the City is a bit more clear.

Both the affordable housing one-cent fund and plant investment affordable housing waiver fund that essentially have been rollover funds are now exhausted. The City does have unallocated one-cent contingency funds in the amount of $245,000, but as Councilman Heath stated, none of his fellow Councilors felt comfortable using that money just three weeks into the fiscal year.