(KAIR)--The Atchison City Commission has given authorization to apply for a federal grant that would improve sidewalks in a section of the city.

City Public Works and Utilities Director Justin Pregont came before the Commission Monday afternoon to present additional information on the Community Development Block Grant administered by the Kansas Department of Commerce.
He said the maximum amount of funding provided by the grant is approximately $350,000. The published project budget is $442,000, so the city would have to provide the additional funds.

Pregont said the time to apply for the grant was short, so the city was limited on how they could prepare the application. He says “the only option we had was to do something at what is called the census track block level. The city of Atchison has twelve or fifteen different census track block groups. There are several of them that qualify for this funding based on what is called a percentage of low to moderate income residents.”

The grant requires the project effect every resident in the block group, and Pregont says officials believe they have found an area in the city that meets the requirements. The project planned “is a sidewalk project in what is our smallest census track block group...the area that comprises that group starts at Sixth and Santa Fe, and that's the southeast corner, and the northwest corner of that would be at approximately Twelfth and Laramie.”

After a public hearing drawing no comment, the Commission voted 5-0 to approve the grant application.