More than 300 Jefferson City residents told city staff what they say they already knew: housing and infrastructure are the most pressing needs in the city.
The focus of the Community Needs Assessment survey was to identify where Community Development Block Grant COVID-19 (CDBG-CV) relief funding should go. But it also confirmed the areas of need where city staff was focused.
"Nothing was really surprising," said Rachel Senzee, supervisor of neighborhood services. "We know housing is a problem; we know infrastructure is a problem. This let us get it all together and gives us confirmation from the community of what we already thought."
The survey received 322 responses, which is significantly more than city surveys typically receive, she said.
It was mostly identical to ones that municipalities around the state and country are using, Senzee said. The results can help give state and federal agencies an idea where the country needs funding.
Between the 2019 tornado and COVID-19, the city is looking to receive or apply for more than $18 million in relief funding during the next five years.
Each pool of money would have different potential uses.
There are limitations to where CDBG-CV funding can be used, Senzee said, and projects have to relate back to COVID-19.
For instance, one project the city asked residents' opinions on is the widening of Monroe Street into two lanes. It would provide better access to Capital Region Medical Center.
According to the survey, 39.9 percent of respondents supported the project.
Eligible uses for CDBG-CV funding, in order of priority based on the survey, are general infrastructure, economic development, public service, community facilities, demolition and planning.
The survey responses included more than 100 comments about issues that were not specifically asked. While some of those comments don't qualify for this funding, Senzee said, they could for future funding.
For instance, some comments that would not qualify for this funding include: substance abuse prevention, code enforcement for dangerous buildings, transportation, food deserts and a five-year plan to revitalize the Historic Foot District.
The survey did receive comments related to the eligible uses, although some received more comments than others.
General infrastructure
Comments related to general infrastructure largely focused on streets, sidewalks and stormwater, but they tended to be too general, Senzee said.
"We know the city needs more sidewalks," she said. "We need to know more about where people want sidewalks."
Some specific suggestions included fixing the High Street overpass, street repairs on Jefferson and Madison streets as well as Industrial Boulevard, sidewalks and curb repairs along East Ashley Street and pedestrian-activated crosswalks particularly near schools.
One comment said, "We need to fix the roads that are extremely high traffic instead of just patches. Quit putting band-aids on these things. Industrial Boulevard is a total mess."
Several people also mentioned completing the greenway system and investing in renewable energy.
Economic development
Most economic development suggestions focused on education and workforce development.
For instance, "financial and life skills training for lower-income families," "job training to get the unemployed back to gainful employment" and "employee training to increase self-sufficiency and decrease reliance on public assistance."
However, several also pointed out a need for more job opportunities and suggested the city could help bring more jobs into the area and "support the development of small businesses in the area."
Public service
The two main comments in terms of public service were:
"A new public safety training center for police, ambulance, fire and volunteer agencies that can double as a mission control center during pandemics and natural disasters."
"Easy COVID testing and vaccination, extra manpower to enforce wearing a mask inside public places and business to prevent the spread of COVID."
Community facilities
The three key points brought up by comments about community facilities focus on homeless shelters, community centers and childcare facilities.
Most of the conversation at Thursday's public meeting about CDBG-CV funding focused around the need for more low-income housing and homeless shelters.
Participants were especially interested in low-barrier and emergency shelters.
One survey comment said, "With winter coming and COVID on the rise again, homeless shelters will be a breeding ground for COVID. The underserved population will be afraid to move inside for fear of COVID exposure, but will be in danger of weather exposure.
"When compounded by the fact that the moratorium on evictions ended, there will be a growing homeless problem that needs to be addressed now rather than later and a plan to keep separation and safety a priority when the cold weather arrives."
On the community center side, survey participants called for a rehab of the center on Dunklin Street and for youth centers.
One person said, "We need better youth centers and youth outreach near section 8 areas and more incentives for kids to go there. The children running amuck in Ventura/Truman area has been an ongoing problem for the four years I have lived here. We have dealt with landlords, parents, police, bus route, school officers, etc. These kids continue to attempt unlawful entry, steal packages, vandalize, loiter, etc. I can't image other parts of the city are fairing better."
Two comments discussed childcare and specifically called out a need for infant care, since most centers don't take infants and it can be hard for parents who need to go back to work.
One said, "Parents of infants are struggling to return to work due to a lack of childcare options. As a result, parents are leaving their infants in an unlicensed childcare setting that does not meeting licensing standards We need to support our local childcare centers and help them be successful in serving infants by offering grants to help make up the money lost when serving infants giving these babies a strong, safe start."
In June, the city accepted $413,000 from which childcare facilities can apply for grants.
Planning
In terms of planning, most comments did not go into that aspect of the funding, but focused on things to do.
However, staff identified two things from the comments that would fall into it: planning for transitional housing and the Building Community Bridges development plan.
Planning for transitional housing could look at Jefferson City's need for transitional housing and what it would look like. Transitional housing gives homeless people temporary housing while they work on finding a permanent living situation.
Alicia Edwards, director of operations for Building Community Bridges, said the organization would like to develop a community center, neighborhood grocery store, non-profit resource hub and teen center among other projects. Planning money could go toward figuring out where would be the best place to start those projects and what is needed to get them going.
Senzee said the funding could be used to develop an organization's plan to address an issue or a feasibility study that would further develop an existing plan.
Senzee said planning is an important aspect of getting a project done and some projects discussed Thursday, such as a new homeless shelter, could benefit from using planning money first.