DRA grant to help Inverness

BY Lisa Uzzle Gates
DBJ Contributing Writer

A vacant building in disrepair – 0 dollars.
A federal grant - $36,500.
Generating revenue and creating jobs – priceless.

It’s a formula similar to what the town of Inverness has used successfully before, says Mayor Jimmy Weems.

The town recently received a $36,500 grant from the Delta Regional Authority to be used to restore the vacant building on East Grand that used to house a dentist’s office. The family of Dr. C.K. Bell donated the property after his death, and it had been vacant for several years prior to that. And while the town appreciated the donation, Weems said they did not have the money to do the necessary repairs on the building.

The DRA grant will get the building in shape so that it can be leased, with the rent going into the town’s coffers. The town currently owns two other buildings it leases out – the post office building is owned by the town and rented by the U.S. Postal Service and the former health department building has been refurbished and is currently leased. While the health department building has been leased for more than two years, it has remained vacant. Weems said he would love to see the building get some use as a clinic or other business, to offer additional services for some of the towns 1,153 residents, while providing additional jobs. Weems predicts the town will earn more than $450 a month in rent, along with the additional jobs.

That is also his hope for the Grand Avenue building. “We told the architect to design it for office space and something that can be used for a variety of things,” Weems said.

The grant was awarded in October and Weems said architect Lowell P. “Tommy” Mills of Greenville is in charge of the design. The grant is being administered by Randal Lauderdale at the South Delta Planning and Development District.

“We are trying to stretch the grant money as far as we can,” Weems said. That means the town is absorbing the cost of preparing the building for the renovation, including doing the clean up and some demolition.

Once the work gets underway, Weems said it could be completed in a few weeks.

The money Inverness received from the DRA was part of a $3,595,086 grant for 48 projects in the DRAs eight states. “The 2004 Delta Regional authority federal grants are a perfect example of state, local and federal government successfully working hand-in-hand to meet the needs of small towns throughout the DRA region,” Pete Johnson, DRA Co-chairman, said. “These grants would not have been made possible had it not been for the leadership of all the congressional delegations in each of the eight states. The governors are to be commended for identifying very worthy projects that will help to stimulate economic activity in their individual states.”

Mississippi received a total of $420,865 for four projects; Walthall County - $119,365 for erosion control of Bogue Chitto River; Mid-South Housing Foundation - $65,000 to provide waste water services for low income housing; and the City of Vicksburg - $200,000 for upgrade of the Warren County Port Crane.

These projects are predicted to retain 326 current jobs and to create 158 new ones, and an estimated 23 families will be positive affected through the waste water system improvements DBJ