Sheldon to make second try for demo grant

Nevada Daily Mail

For a second year, the Sheldon board of aldermen decided at their meeting Thursday to apply for a grant that would provide up to $200,000 of funding to be used for demolition of residential and commercial buildings considered dangerous because of their condition.

Kristi Kelley of Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commission addressed the board at their meeting, letting them know what they would need to do to move forward in the application process and to find out if they were still interested.

The city of Sheldon sought the grant last year, but failed to receive enough support from the residents. Only four of the 20 owners of buildings in need of demolition committed to the program, which would tear down the buildings, providing more green space at a much cheaper price than if they did it themselves.

"I think we had a lot of misunderstanding," Sheldon grants director Phyllis Sprenkle said of the previous year.

The application is due by May 1, and Kelley said it takes a few months to get all the information and work done, including site visits, a public hearing and letter sent to the residents.

Since the first attempt in 2014, seven of the 20 buildings needing torn down have been either remodeled and repaired or removed. But the others still remain an issue for the city of Sheldon. At least 50 percent of those buildings' owners will likely need to be on board for the program for the application to even be considered.

"I was a little shocked at how unwelcomed it was last year," Mayor Jerod Lamb said.

This year, the city leaders said they would try to hold a hearing earlier and contact the people personally to answer questions and explain the process, which would charge them just $1,000 to have the building torn down and they would retain the land, which would increase in value with the removal of the building.

"Sometimes when you come back to a community again with this type of opportunity, you do get a little more buy in," Kelley said, referencing other communities that took three years before getting the support needed for the grant. "You almost always get a little push back at first."

In 2014, some residents owning dilapidated buildings said they were interested but could not afford even the discounted price of $1,000. But Sprenkle said she had heard from others willing to offer help financially.

Kelley said that fund would not be needed right away, since they likely will not know if Sheldon gets the funding until about October, and work would not be done for another 12 to 18 months after that.

Mayor Lamb said, even with the education and financial support, he was not sure if they would receive the commitment needed from the community.

"You won't know unless you try," alderman Joshua Lamb said.

With alderman Perry Fowler absent from the meeting, the board voted 3-0 to pursue the application once more, this time with more understanding of what needs to be done.