College Station City Council Awards Grant Funded Contract To Build A Low Income Rental Home Two Months After Rejecting A Similar Contract

Screen shot from a city of College Station document.
Screen shot from a city of College Station document.

In August, the College Station city council rejected spending $360,000 dollars in federal grant money to build a one bedroom, one bathroom handicap accessible house that would be rented by a low income elderly resident.

At the October 12th council meeting, there was unanimous approval to spend almost $275,000 dollars in grant money to build a similar home in another location.

Community development director Debbie Eller says they have tried to spend money on homes with three bedrooms and two baths. But home sellers don’t want to wait to complete city and federal requirements.

Instead of building a 650 square foot house on a 5,000 square foot lot, councilman Dennis Maloney asked Eller about getting a zoning change and letting Habitat for Humanity build a duplex. Eller said she preferred waiting to award another contract to Habitat until they finish a home on Renee Lane.

The contract the council awarded October 12 and the contract that was rejected in August involves an organization called Elder-Aid, which has received $2.5 million dollars in grant money during the last eight years to purchase 11 duplexes in College Station for rental by elderly residents.

Click HERE to read and download background information from the October 12, 2023 College Station city council meeting.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the October 12, 2023 College Station city council meeting.

Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the August 10, 2023 College Station city council meeting.

Click below to hear comments from the October 12, 2023 College Station city council meeting.

 

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