A large crowd turned out at the Ryce Center in Moultrie to receive information about a home-repair grant from the Department of Community Affairs.

MOULTRIE — It may be a while before an executive with the Regional Planning Commission in Camilla gets to Moultrie for a public hearing on a housing repair grant.

The $300,000  federal grant has been approved by the Department of Community Afffairs, however there are many hoops to jump through.

Recently Moultrie City Manager Pete Dillard noted that there was a lot of work required to actually get the money into Moultrie and start repairs on houses.

Brenda Wade, grant administrator with the Regional Commission, said she could not give a date at this time when she will be in Moultrie. She said a list of 16 conditions have to be cleared before she can meet with Moultrie citizens who might apply for these funds.

Those conditions run the gamut from complying with the National Environmental Protection Act to assurance of fair housing practices.

 The city must also assure that reasonable efforts are being made to encourage the use of minority and women-owned businesses in these projects, assurance of a language access plan, and having a person on staff that has a Lead-Based Paint Visual Assessment Certificate, just to name a few.

A recent public meeting in northwest Moultrie saw a packed house at the Ryce Center where citizens were briefed on the grant.

Dean Nelson, a DCA representative, said basically the money would be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis.

 But that idea drew a challenge from the audience.

“I’ve been involved with several grants of this type, and they’ve always been based on need,” said City Councilwoman Susie Magwood Thomas.

Moultrie Mayor Bill Macintosh echoed her sentiments, noting that there should be a “needs evaluation” process.

Nelson said ultimately that’s a decision that will come between the grant administrator and the city.

Moultrie City Manager Pete Dillard said there was a rumor that the city already had the funds and “was just sitting on them.”

“That money is still in Washington, D.C.,” he told the crowd.

One of the first and foremost of the qualifications is that the person applying for the money must be the owner of the home and have an income no greater than 30 percent of the area’s median income. It was estimated that in Moultrie the 30 percent would be about $8,000.

“Obviously we won’t get enough to do all we need to do,” said Dillard. “It’s been a difficult process, but we’ve had a solid group of people working on it.”

A map of targeted areas has been made available to the public.

The funds could rehab about six houses at roughly $49,000 per house. However, it was suggested at the meeting that perhaps some houses would not need as much work and perhaps the money could be spread farther.