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Rotary in talks with NMHC for project repairs
The Rotary Club of Saipan is looking to tap Community Development Block Grants or Federal Emergency Management Agency funding to repair the typhoon damage sustained by the Kagman Family Park and the Garapan Skate Park.
Club vice president Brian Clayton told Rotarians last Tuesday that they have two options to repair both projects: to work with the Northern Marianas Housing Corp. and work on a CDBG application or to raise the funds themselves.
“[I] and [club] secretary Sonya [Dancoe] have already contacted NMHC and we are trying to get them to use CDBG funding,” Clayton told Rotarians Tuesday. He noted that NMHC has yet to get back to the club.
In a separate interview after the meeting, Clayton said: “We were told there was FEMA funding available [for repairs] but we have to apply for it.”
According to Clayton, he was told that FEMA funding may also be used for CDBG projects; however, it would need the coordination of the club and the NMHC in its application.
“We are trying to get a piece of [the CDBG] so that we can repair the Kagman Family Park and the Garapan Skate Park,” Clayton told Rotarians. “We are hoping that we would get some kind of response but it’s going through the federal government. It could take months,” he said.
Clayton noted in an interview that NMHC awarded the club with CDBG funding for both projects.
Referring to the damage sustained by the Garapan Skate Park, club president Greg Borja said in a separate interview that the club could convince the CNMI government to get the fence fixed. “If not, that could just be a project we could look out for in the future,” he added.
Borja noted that the club’s focus right now includes maternal and child health but the club is committed to both projects’ repairs.
