A downtown Grand Forks project to house the homeless has been delayed after an error at City Hall froze the building's federal funding.
The forthcoming LaGrave on First building, set for the corner of First Avenue South and Walnut Street, was expected to have a groundbreaking date between mid-June and the next few days. But the roughly $8.5 million, four-story project has yet to receive contractor bids after federal money entrusted to the city was spent too soon.
Meredith Richards, a senior community development official with the city, said the city sent federal funding to the coalition backing the project-meant to cover the more than $300,000 purchase price of the site location, which was owned by city. The building is expected to sit on the public skate park and parking lot on the property.
But Richards said the city made a "procedural error" when it did so. During a city committee meeting on Monday evening, she said it was related to basic requirements in an "environmental review" process. Though the grass, soil and landscape are up to par, she said, the city did some things out of order.
"(It) was just a procedural issue in terms of the city publishing notices and spending funds prior to comment periods elapsing," Richards explained, adding in a later interview that the error occurred amid turnover at both City Hall and the U.S. Housing and Urban Development department.
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The error, Richards said, was discovered in March. It means the city is no longer able to use that same federal funding on the project, and that other hundreds of thousands of dollars of federal funding for the same project is frozen while federal officials consider granting local leaders a "waiver." Richards said she is highly confident the waiver will be granted, with the delay resolved by early August.
No loss of funding for the project is expected.
Richards offered the majority of her explanation after a meeting of the city's Committee of the Whole. Committee members voted 5-0, with members Danny Weigel and Jeannie Mock absent, to offer early approval on a plan for more than $370,000 in funding for the city. Most of that money is the same funding directly related to the error discovered earlier this year, and will help replace the parking and skate park on the site.
City Council member Bret Weber called the error "innocent" and "done with the best of intentions."
"Unfortunately, in that desire to get that process moving, they jump-started a process by like a hairline, which triggered a bunch of consequences back in D.C.," Weber said. "They've been dealing with that ... they've been working with our congressional delegation, getting good advice on how to do that, and it looks like it's all going to go through and shouldn't cause any trouble. It's sad that well-intentioned civil servants got caught in this."
LaGrave on First is expected to provide permanent, supportive housing-a place where those currently homeless will receive a living space as long as they prefer, but most likely will move out as they can support themselves. The housing will be in close proximity to addiction counselors and other resources, with the project helping to lift residents out of the cycle of homelessness, proponents say.
Terry Hanson is the executive director of the Grand Forks Housing Authority, which is leading the push to build the housing project.
"It's a project that we're all looking forward to getting underway. Nobody likes missteps such as this, but a lot of people have come together over the last three months to get this coming together and back online again," Hanson said. "Once it gets going, it'll just be a faint memory."
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• The committee voted 5-0 to offer early approval to transfer the liquor license to incoming new owners at Sledster's Bar, 21 S. Fourth St.
