Click the logos to be taken to the websites of all the grants and organizations you see here!

• Readiness Assessment Scale Grant from GCP Reg V for Asset Management

For those who are not aware of what asset management is, it is when businesses and organizations apply a structured method to overseeing and maximizing the value for all their assets, tangible and intangible.

In the interest of asset management, we were awarded $1,000 via the Readiness Assessment Scale Grant from the Genesee-Lapeer-Shiawassee (GLS) Region V Planning and Development Commission in January 2021. This grant allows our City Manager to complete the Michigan Infrastructure Council (MIC) Asset Management Assessment Scale.

This completed scale, referred to as The Scale, helps the City understand, measure, and advance our asset management proficiency. Additionally, the work completed in The Scale will be utilized to implement a statewide Integrated Asset Management Program, helping all Michigan local communities with their asset management efficiency!

     

• School Violence Prevention Program from the Department of Justice (COPS Office) for Metal Detectors

The Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act of 2018 (STOP School Violence Act of 2018) gave the COPS Office authority to provide awards directly to states, units of local government, or Indian tribes to improve security at schools and on school grounds in the jurisdiction of the grantee through evidence-based school safety programs.

Our Police Department submitted to the grant program in the interest of portable metal detectors for our schools. This grant has a 75% (Federal) and 25% (local) funding requirement. Gratefully the Police Department received $23,513 from the program in September 2020, with a local share amount of $7,837. Through this grant, five portable metal detectors have been placed at the high school and two in each middle school.

The portability of these detectors allows them to be moved to the entrances of assembling locations, such as the gymnasium or football field, to screen all who come to school events, providing safety both during school and extracurricular activities! The versality of these portable metal detectors is an indispensable advantage for the wellbeing of our community schools’ faculty, students, and visitors alike.

                

• Pride in Service Grant from CSX for RIT Equipment Bag

Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) equipment is a vital resource for firefighting scenes where an interior attack is warranted. This equipment consists of several sizes and length of rope, cable cutters, bolt cutters, hinge hook, sling, multifunction Promaxx 24 (a type of axe/prybar combo) and a bag to contain all of the equipment. In the event of interior firefighters becoming trapped or needing immediate assistance, the RIT are standing by the door with this equipment to make a quick entry and rescue.

Thanks to the Pride in Service Grant awarded to our Fire Department by CSX, our FD received $2,012 in September 2020 for this necessary RIT equipment, securing the maximum safety precautions for our first responders!

• Safety Grant from The Hundred Club for SCBAs

In June 2020, The Hundred Club of Genesee, Shiawassee and Lapeer Counties awarded our Police Department with grant funding of $4,628, allowing for the purchase of one (1) Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) with a thermal imaging unit, an air cylinder, and a mask. A SCBA is essential in an environment without clean, breathable air for our first responders and to use a SCBA requires specialized training.

This grant, combined with the grant from the Community Foundations of Greater Flint, allowed our PD to complete this project in full, giving their officers with firefighter certification the opportunity to be promptly able to help in an emergency!

        

• Grant from Community Foundations of Greater Flint for SCBAs

$7,018 was awarded in October 2020 to our Police Department that went towards the purchase of one (1) Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) with a thermal imaging unit, air cylinder, and mask, like the grant above. However, the additional funding also allowed for the purchase of two hydrant bags. These bags are filled with the equipment needed to open and prep a fire hydrant, as well as the fittings needed to get it connected to the fire engine’s water supply hose line.

This grant, combined with the grant from The Hundred Club of Genesee, Shiawassee and Lapeer Counties, allowed our PD to complete this project in full, giving their officers with firefighter certification the opportunity to be promptly able to help in an emergency!

          

• CARES ACT First Responder Hazard Pay Premiums Program

The CARES ACT provided the First Responder Hazard Pay Premiums Program, which offered $1,000 of hazard pay per first responder. Information about our Police and Fire Departments were submitted to the Michigan Department of Treasury and the City was awarded $37,000 in September 2020 to pay our first responders.

           
 

• CARES ACT Public Safety and Public Health Payroll Reimbursement Program

As a part of the Public Safety and Public Health Payroll Reimbursement Program under the CARES ACT, the City submitted all costs associated with our Public Safety payroll for April and May 2020, the height of the COVID pandemic, to the Michigan Department of Treasury. Thankfully, the City was awarded $134,432 in July 2020. The City remains grateful for all the help the CARES ACT grant provided during the most trying time of the COVID pandemic crisis.

• Placemaking Grant from I-69 Thumb Region for Mural in Chalet Park

The Placemaking Grant from the organization I-69 Thumb Region was designed for projects in public spaces that promote a sociable environment and the City could think of no place better suited than our Chalet Park!

With the Chalet Park being located between our downtown and Physicians Park, it has become a welcoming gathering spot for all to browse and shop as well as sit and enjoy a meal or conversation. What’s more, is that the City has always encouraged artistic expression within our community and had been looking to get a mural wall placed within the Chalet Park for another added touch of beauty!

The City received $2,000 in June 2020 from the grant to construct the concrete wall at the Chalet Park. The wall itself was completed by a local masonry company with supplies from a local concrete company. We utilized our partnership with the Grand Blanc Arts Council to provide us with 2 local artists using paint supplies from a local company for the charming murals.

                             

• Michigan Recreation Passport Grant from DNR for Physicians Warming Hut

Physicians Park is home to many features worth exploring, and our most recent addition of an ice rink/splash pad has proven to be a roaring success of enjoyment for our community. The addition of a warming hut near the ice rink has proven to be our logical next step to complete the experience for all.

A warming hut would provide everyone a safe place to rest, change their shoes to skates, or simply to view the ice rink and all of its skaters from the toasty and comforting indoor environment. Seating will be provided within and, in the hot months, the warming hut would also be utilized as a storage area for visitors to the splash pad.

Thanks to the Michigan Recreation Passport Grant provided by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the City received $127,500 to bring our warming hut plans to life now! Construction to begin soon, check back for updates!

   
                                

• Capital Improvement Grant from MCACA for Library A/C Units

With the completion of a new roof on the Grand Blanc McFarlen Library in the previous fiscal year, a replacement for A/C units quickly became the #1 priority for the City and the Township. The original air conditioning units were installed in 1976 and the air handling units hailed from 1999. These units were needing consistent repairs, leading to the decision of prioritization from the City and Township.

The benefits of an updated A/C system? Outside of the obvious ability to keep all who enter the building in the warmer months cool and comfortable in the environment, it also helps remove external allergens and reduce the presence of insects, and given that the library is located next to the Grand Blanc Commons woodland park, these are imperative improvements for one of our community’s greatest treasures.

With these things in mind, the City submitted for the Capital Improvement Grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) and were generously granted $24,923.75! This was awarded in September of 2020 and the A/C units were installed in January 2021.