Council authorizes initial project assessment for DCA workforce housing grant (up to $2.5M)

City staff asked the council to approve Resolution 26‑53 to authorize an initial project assessment submission to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for the rural workforce housing grant program. Staff said the grant could provide up to $2,500,000 toward infrastructure costs — water, roads, drainage and sewer — for qualifying housing developments, and that the city must submit the initial assessment as a step before a full application.

Staff said a developer has proposed a project on the vacant field across from the Woodlawn apartments and that the city would need a developer agreement to allocate costs and determine responsibility for potential overages. "The city actually has to be the grant applicant, but we have a separate agreement between us and the developer about costs associated with that," staff said. Council moved to approve the initial assessment submission.