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gras sponsored by the OepnrtBeas of Housing aad £rtoas Dmlopw£: «=4 —ni|H professionally at a local level. Ic works with Che city on a financially shared
basis. Its function is to bring housing, utilities and other aspects of the community up to a basic standard. As our community is certainly not an affluent one, this financial aid has been of tremendous importance. The total assessed evaluation of our community is $9,718,526. The total sales tax collected to date in 1971 has been $176,211.03, which does not give our city officials a great deal of funds with which to provide improvements beyond the necessary.
Operation-Upturn offers to every citizen who qualifies a maximum grant of $3,500 and/or a 37» loan to be used to upgrade his home to meet the minimum standard building code. Thus far, one hundred and seventeen citizens have been helped by this program.
City gas and water lines have been replaced, sewer lines laid, City Hall renovated, streets repaired, sidewalks laid, parks built or renovated, Youth programs carried out, and employees hired to carry out the upgrading of the community.
It is through this program that the city has been able to obtain the services of our most capable and dedicated Superintendent of Public Grounds, Mr, Felix Seeger. Under his direction, three new parks have been laid out and completed and two others restored. All are fenced and furnished with new playground equipment with the exception of one mini-park fronting the beach which is furnished with benches. Mr. Seeger is responsible for the more than one hundred orange "Pride Barrels" spotted all over our city. These barrels are old reclaimed barrels and cans which were painted and stenciled by the Neighborhood Youth Corps workers who worked for the city during the summer. They also made small orange signs with the word "PRIDE" which were posted throughout the community.
The numerous city water wells and pumping stations have been painted and landscaped and the historical highway markers within the city limits have been landscaped and maintained. New street markers have been placed all over town, the sides of roads are kept cut, the city cemetery has been cleaned and maintained, dead trees cut and removed and in several instances, historic old oaks saved.
A revised city trash collection schedule was worked out, published in the "Echo", and has proved most successful.
Many of the local landmarks have been restored and rebuilt; the County Court House, badly damaged in Camille, the City Hall, the old L. & N. Railroad Station, the Garden Civic Center, the newly rebuilt Christ Episcopal Church, and
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