Madison County grant funds survey results show housing as priority concern

by Randy Pierce • Results of a survey conducted by the Madison County Community Development Department indicate respondents feel that housing is the number one priority concern that should be addressed with grant money received.

According to information shared at a meeting of the county board grants committee held on Tuesday, April 7, more than 80% of individuals responding to the survey listed housing as either important or very important when asked where the grant funds should go over the next five years.

According to Chris Kalter, the program manager for the county’s federal Community Development Block Grant and home investments partnerships, a division of the community development department which has Stacey Pace of Troy as its director, the survey he referenced was part of the process of putting together an action plan for 2026.

That 2026 plan is part of what Kalter called a longer range “consolidated” plan encompassing the five years ending with 2029. Conducting a survey of more than 1,000 residents, stakeholders, elected officials at all levels to find out how they feel the grant money should be used is a component of the process, Kalter said.

In addition to those responses about housing, he added that 75% of the answers considered infrastructure as a matter of great concern regarding the use of the grant money. 

All of this was brought forward by Kalter as part of the first of two mandated public hearings with the next one set for a date in July in a similar setting regarding the finalization of the 2026 plan.

One aspect of this topic Kalter shared with the grants committee relates to how there were not enough contractors committed to the grant-supported program to provide housing for those in need so during the final two months of 2025 the action plan as it existed then was amended to include a new category consisting of parks and infrastructure improvements and moved some $1.4 million of older, unused funding into it.

There are five such projects in that category, Kalter said, which are in some stage of completion that should be finished by the end of June. 

Kalter also said that anyone wishing to share with him their thoughts on how the funds he talked about should be spent can contact him. His e-mail address is [email protected].