Volume 10 Issue 5 March-April 2008

he S.C. Department ofCommerce has an-nounced the availabilityof over $17 million in

Community Development BlockGrant (CDBG) funding for the periodApril 2008 – March 2009 for a varietyof community development programs,including:

Community Infrastructure -$7,000,000 is available for projects thatcontribute to the creation of healthy andsustainable residential communitiesthrough water, sewer, roads or drainageactivities that address one or more ofthe priorities listed in order of impor-tance:1. Documented threats to the public

health of the community2. Regional infrastructure solutions3. Access to significantly improved

public facilities that meet requiredquality standards

Community Enrichment -$6,074,217 is available to fund facili-ties, services and other activities thatstrengthen existing communities andsupport a high quality of life within thefollowing state priority areas:1. Workforce development2. Healthy communities3. Obstacles to economic competitive-

nessA variety of activities are eligi-

ble but consideration for funding will bebased on state priorities listed below:

First priority - Workforce de-velopment (in priority order)∗ Libraries - Construct and/or equip

public computer rooms or stations in

existing libraries to provide access tocomputers with broadband capabilityin order to enhance skills training andeducation

∗ Workforce QuickJobs Programs - fa-cilities or equipment for skills train-ing

∗ Workforce on the job training orother mentoring/partnership programswith business, i.e., housing construc-tions skills, or youth build program(CDBG equipment only)

Second priority - Healthycommunities (in priority order below)∗ Health clinic facilities or equipment

in underserved areas∗ Firefighting facilities that offer new

or expanded service for in-town loca-tions or near business centers

Third priority - Obstacles toeconomic competitiveness (in priorityorder below)∗ Brownfield projects or demolition of

obsolete buildings∗ Building re-use/conversion of exist-

ing, vacant buildings served by exist-ing infrastructure to new eligibleuses, so long as the project does notadd undue operating expenses on ex-isting taxpayers

∗ Downtown streetscape infrastructurewhere there is significant business ac-

(CDBG continued on page 3)

S.C. 2008 CDBG Program

Johnnye Code-Stewart ,ACOG board member since February1994, passed away suddenly on Mon-day, January 28. Ms. Code-Stewart willbe remembered for her unflinchingdedication to Spartanburg County, theUpstate and to South Carolina. She willbe missed by her friends here at theCouncil of Governments.

Appalachian COGLoses One of Its Own

Community Development Block Grants

ACOG Board Member JohnnyeCode-Stewart passed away inJanuary.

Photo-Spartanburg Herald Journal

DID YOU KNOW?The first predecessor of the Appa-

lachian COG was known as the South Caro-lina Appalachian Advisory Committee,formed by Governor Robert McNair in1965. The group’s sole purpose was toadvise the governor on how to invest fundschanneled into the six counties in the Up-state that had been designated as part of thefederal Appalachian region.

VIEWPOINTPage 2

he ACOG hosted aunique class for studentsfrom Greenville CountyPlanning Department and

the City of Greenville Planning Divi-sion in February. The two organizationscombined resources to receive trainingin CommunityViz®, GIS software de-signed to help people visualize, analyze,and communicate about important land-use decisions. Matt Noonkester, a plan-ning consultant with Kimley-Horn andAssociates Inc., of Raleigh, conductedthe class, incorporating current datafrom Greenville County with the train-ing demonstration.

The class is an excellent exam-ple of intra-governmental cooperation.Norman Wright, Principal Planner atthe Greenville County Department ofPlanning, said, “The City and Countyare working together, using the samedecision tools, to set common goals andobjectives.” ACOG provided meetingspace and dedicated staff time to loadand configure the software on equip-ment loaned by the Municipal Associa-tion of South Carolina (MASC). Mr.Wright added, “I want to express mygratitude to the COG for arranging aspace big enough for our group and set-ting up the equipment. They were a tre-mendous help in bringing this all to-gether!”

CommunityViz® is a compo-nent of the Placeways suite of GIS of-ferings, developed and funded throughthe Orton Family Foundation.“CommunityViz® adds a large suite ofextra functions that combine with[ESRI’s] ArcGIS to make more special-ized, powerful decision-making plat-form tools for setting up alternative fu-tures (scenarios) and analyzing their ef-fects; tools for making interactive three-dimensional (3-D) models of real placesas they are now and as they could be inthe future; and tools for explaining andcommunicating across the many groupsof people who become involved in mak-

ing decisions about the future of aplace.” (http://www.placeways.com)Wayne Leftwich, Planner for the City ofGreenville Planning Division, explainedthat “the City and the County are pre-paring our comprehensive plans to-gether, looking ahead to 2030. WithCommunityViz®, we will be able tomodel where the City and County willgrow so that we can carefully shape thatgrowth.”

Instructor Matt Noonkesterwas pleased with the outcome of thethree-day class. The group worked withGreenville data to construct a workingmodel for growth scenarios and re-sources. Noonkester remarked that thisis the first class he has taught that wasable to finish their model and walk outof class ready to use it for communityplanning.

Appalachian Area Agency on Agingwas chosen as the first region to receivethe blankets and take part in a “blanketblitz” distribution tour by the Lt. Gover-nor and representatives from Duke En-ergy.

The Lt. Governor traveled withthe ADRC mobile unit to sites inAnderson, Oconee, Pickens, Cherokee,Greenville and Spartanburg countieswhere he personally handed out blan-kets to the seniors. The ADRC mobileunit will be handing out additional blan-kets during the initial promotional tourin March and April.

The ACOG Area Agency onAging was also one of five agencieswhose proposal was selected for partici-pation in the Living Well South Caro-lina initiative. This initiative providesevidence-based disease prevention pro-grams to help older adults take con-trol of their own health as they livewith chronic conditions such as diabe-

tes, heart disease and COPD. Accep-tance of the ACOG’s proposal will al-low for three aging services staff toattend a four-day “train the trainer” pro-gram offered by the Lt. Governor’s Of-fice on Aging. As a result of the train-ing, the Living Well program will beoffered in the Upstate to senior caregiv-ers. The outcomes expected throughthis pilot will help senior caregiverssuffering from chronic diseases increasetheir ability to live a better quality oflife, maintain or improve their healthstatus, and improve their capacity tocontinue their caregiving responsibili-ties. The first evidence-based programwill be offered in Greenville.

Greenville City and County PlannersLearn New Skills

Blankets andWellness forSeniors

Another first time event forthe ACOG Area Agency on Aging tookplace in February and incorporated theefforts of Lt. Governor Andre Bauerand the Duke Energy Endowmentfund. Through this effort, over 1600blankets were donated by Duke En-ergy for distribution to seniors. The

ACOG’s Nancy Hawkins and JessicaArnone unpack blankets destined fordeserving senior citizens.

Page 3 VIEWPOINT

he ACOG Area Agency onAging is pleased to wel-come two new staff mem-

bers. Barbara Jardno, is the new In-formation, Referral and Assistance Spe-cialist, who will also be the lead staffperson on the ADRC mobile unit. Ms.Jardno is not new to the ACOG, as shehas worked with us as a sub-contractorfor Medicare Part D outreach and en-rollment.

Siri Taylor, who is the newOmbudsman Program Intake Coordina-tor, comes to the ACOG from the San-tee-Lynches COG where she was aMedicare Part D and Benefits Coun-selor.

Last but not least, we are proudto announce the birth of a new baby boyto one of our Ombudsman, JamieGuay. “Jayse Guay” was born on Feb-ruary 6, and both mom and baby aredoing just fine.

challenge of assisting small businessesin the counties served by the Appala-chian Development Corporation(Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Spar-tanburg, Oconee, and Pickens). Wel-come aboard Carl!

cades and exteriors of at least ten lowand moderate income occupied housingunits within a single, concentratedneighborhood. Eligible activities in-clude improvements to the exterior onlyof housing units, including paint andother necessary exterior repairs. Home-owners are required to assist or contrib-ute to improvements to their property.In addition, the use of volunteers orother partners will leverage the impactof this program on the neighborhood.

CDBG funds should not ex-ceed 75 percent of the cost of a project.There must be 25 percent leveraging,unless otherwise approved or specifiedin the program requirements (i.e.,downtown streetscape), which can comefrom a variety of sources includingother, non-Commerce grants, loans,waiver of fees, public or private invest-ments, and documented volunteer or in-kind contributions.

As part of the 25 percent lever-aging, the local government is requiredto provide at least 10 percent match ofthe total CDBG grant request. CDBGfunds may only be used for hard con-struction and installation costs for low-a n d m o d e r a t e - i n c o m e h o o k -ups/connections to public water andsewer, and not to pay any water orsewer connection, impact or capacityfees. Any associated fees for low- andmoderate-income hook up/connection topublic water and sewer must be waivedor paid with non-CDBG funds, and maybe considered part of the local match re-quirement. For projects involving hous-ing, homeowners must contribute to theproject.

The deadline for requestingan application is:• March 17 for Community Infrastruc-

ture and Paint the Town programs• August 25 for Community Enrich-

ment and Village Renaissance pro-grams

For additional informationon the CDBG program, call Dirk Reisor Dan Wagner at the ACOG, or visithttp://www.sccommerce.com/teamscpdfs/Grants/CDBGDesc.pdf.

ACOG AgingStaff News

tivity and substantial prior invest-ments, and CDBG funds are neededto complete the necessary infrastruc-ture improvements. The CDBG re-quest cannot exceed 50 percent of thetotal project costs.

∗ Planning for regional infrastructure,smart growth or sustainable develop-ment plans (subject to a cost reason-ableness cap)

Village Renaissance PilotProgram - $2,000,000 is available toassist in the development of sustainablecommunities through revitalization ofin-town residential neighborhoods.Grants will include mixed use projectsthat incorporate strategies for commer-cial revitalization (such as those out-lined in the National Main Street Pro-gram) and apply them in neighbor-hoods that are adjacent to downtown orbusiness centers.

Paint the Town Pilot Pro-gram - $1,000,000 is available to makecommunities more economically com-petitive by improving the overall physi-cal appearance and stabilizingneighborhood property values. Visualimpact will be enhanced by paintingand making necessary repairs to fa-

(CDBG continued from page 1)

New ACOG Aging staff members (left toright) Siri Taylor and Barbara Jardno

New ADC LoanOfficer

The Appalachian DevelopmentCorporation (ADC) is pleased to an-nounce the addition of Carl E. Sakony,Jr. to its staff as Loan Officer. Carlcomes to the ADC with approximately18 years of lending/underwriting experi-ence with various banks and credit un-ions in both Ohio and Pennsylvania.Carl says that he is pleased to take on the

Carl Sakony joins the Appalachian De-velopment Corporation as a Loan Offi-cer.

VIEWPOINTPage 4

he Appalachian AreaAgency on Aging an-nounced the expansion of

the Aging and Disability ResourceCenter (ADRC) with a January visitfrom the U.S. Administration on Ag-ing’s Assistant Secretary Josefina Car-bonell. The Assistant Secretary touredthe pilot ADRCs in Anderson-Oconeeat SENIOR Solutions with Lt. GovernorAndre Bauer, ACOG Director Steve Pe-lissier, and ACOG Aging Services Di-rector Vickie Williams. Later, the sameofficials met at Senior Action inGreenville to make the official an-nouncement to the media and to showoff the new ADRC mobile unit, whichwill be used in the six-county region be-ginning in March 2008.

Aging and Disability ResourceCenters began as a cooperative programbetween the Administration on Agingand the Centers for Medicare and Medi-caid Services in 2003. The State ofSouth Carolina was one of twelve origi-nal states to be funded, and since thattime has initiated ADRCs in five re-gions of the State; Appalachian, Santee-Lynches, Pee-Dee, Lower Savannahand Trident. The ADRC mobile unitthat will be used in the Upstate is con-sidered to be a “best practices” initiativeby AOA and CMS and will provideone-stop accessibility to comprehensiveinformation, referral and assistance,benefits counseling, Medicare/Medicaid

programs, private and public bene-fits/resources/Certified Insurance Coun-seling and a vast array of programs andservices. The ADRC serves individuals55+, adults with disabilities, caregiversand their families, and individuals andfamilies impacted by Alzheimer’s andrelated diseases.

towns have resolved to plan for andachieve success, rather than to simplyreact and hope that good things cometheir way. Good government doesn’tjust happen, and we acknowledge thesecouncils. Contact ACOG’s Joe Newtonor Donna Kazia for information onACOG-facilitated planning retreats.

New and Expanded Aging Services

Dedicating ACOG’s new ADRCmobile service vehicle: (from left toright) Mr. Curtis Loftis, Mr. StevePelissier, Ms. Vickie Williams, Assis-tant Secretary Josefina Carbonell andRev. J.W. Sanders.

Annual PlanningRetreats

ACOG facilitated four munici-pal planning retreats in January andFebruary and has scheduled additionalretreats over the next two months. The

City Councils of Easley, Mauldin,Woodruff and Belton spent Fridays orSaturdays establishing and prioritizinglong and short term goals and objec-tives for their respective communities.The elected officials of these cities and

ACOG Facilitates Annual PlanningRetreat—The Woodruff City Coun-cil at a Saturday strategic planningsession at ACOG’s offices

The City Council of Mauldin attheir semiannual planning session

SCDOTEnhancementGrants Almost inSeason

With the new year upon us, it istime to begin thinking about the 2008Transportation Enhancement GrantProgram. Administered by the SCDOT,this program is part of the TransportationEquity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The program funds community im-provement projects that have a relation-ship to transportation, including facilitiesfor pedestrians and bicycles; roadwaybeautification and landscaping; preserva-tion of abandoned railway corridors; andpedestrian safety and education activities.

Now is the time to start thinkingabout your projects and getting yourplans together. Most recently, the Citiesof Blacksburg and Pendleton have usedthe grants for street, sidewalk, and pedes-trian path improvements. An education

(SCDOT continued on page 5)

City of Woodruff DowntownStreetscape Project

n the January Boardmeeting of the Appala-chian DevelopmentCorporation, two pro-

gram changes to the ADC loan pro-gram were presented and approved.Both changes deal with specific loansituations being granted interest ratereductions from the loan program’snormal rate.

The Board approved a onehalf of one percent interest rate re-duction from the previous ratecharged under the ADC loan pro-gram for loans that create one jobfor each $10,000 borrowed under theprogram. The previous requirementwas one job per each $25,000 bor-rowed. This will reward companiesthat create a larger number of jobs andmake the program more attractive tothe manufacturing sector. The reward-ing of a larger job creation factor is inline with the overall focus and pri-mary directive of the loan program,which is local job creation. It is esti-mated that this change will allow for arate of approximately 6.00 percent for

these types of loans.The other change involves a

one-half of one percent interest rate re-duction on projects that finance envi-ronmental-related products or fixed as-set improvements. The reduced-ratefunds would have to be used to financethe production of environmental products,purchase and installation of energy-saving equipment, the construction of“certified green” buildings, or renovationof existing buildings involving environ-mentally related improvements. The finaldetermination of eligibility for this ratewill be at the sole discretion of the Board,after staff recommendation. This effort

Development Corporation News

program has been established bySCDOT to provide communities withthe information necessary to apply forup to $200,000 toward eligible transpor-tation activities. A series of workshopsare scheduled in which representativesfrom SCDOT will distribute brochuresand answer questions regarding thegrant program. The workshop for theAppalachian region will be heldMarch 19th at the offices of the Appala-chian Council of Governments.

Look for more updates on theenhancement grants workshop on theAppalachian Council of Governmentswebsite at www.scacog.org. For moreinformation concerning the Transporta-tion Enhancement Program, contactPhillip Lemmon, Jr. at the AppalachianCOG at 864.242.9733, Cathy Rice withthe SCDOT at 803.737.1953, or visitthe SCDOT website athttp://www.dot.state.sc.us/community/tep.html.

(SCDOT continued from page 4)

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGEPAIDGREENVILLE, SCPERMIT NO. 1604

VIEWPOINT

Appalachian Council of GovernmentsP. O. Box 6668Greenville, South Carolina 29606

Address Service Requested

recognizes the value of conservation ofnatural resources and energy and shouldaid in such endeavors. This rate shouldalso fall within the 6.00 percent range.

Beacon Blankets, Inc., in Westminster is therecipient of two ADC-managed loans.