BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council will discuss a Brookings Empowerment Project funding request for $7,000 during its regular meeting set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Brookings City & County Government Center.
At the Nov. 28 council meeting, BEP members explained to the council how they wanted to set up transitional housing so those who have mental illnesses would have some place to go after they got out of institutions, to assist in easing them back into society.
The types of places that help mental health patients are not in this area, making it hard for parents to be there for their adult children. To get the help they need, one member has a child in Huron, another has a child in Florida.
Craig Pahl, chairman of the BEP and president of their board, said the group would need a total of $35,000 to get a transitional house started in Brookings. There would be room for six women, who would be referred by East Central Behavioral Health.
Pahl said ECBH would coordinate with other local services like Independent Living Choices, Social Services, VoRehab, Inter-Lakes Community Action Partnership, National Alliance on Mental Illness and churches, to name a few, to get the women the help they need. They would be allowed to stay for 12 months, at most.
“BEP is reserving the right to request more funding in the event other sources do not materialize,” according to an attachment to the agenda available on the city’s website.
A question-and-answer attachment included on the city’s website goes into more details about the arrangement with ECBH, licensing, and staff needs/supervision for the residents.
Also on Tuesday, the 14 winners of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day poster and essay contests will present their entries to the council.
This year’s theme for the poster contest was “We may all have come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” The theme for the essay contest was “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”
There are no public hearings or second readings listed on the council agenda next week, but there are two first readings. No action is taken on first readings, and public hearings on both items are set for Feb. 13.
The first item is a conditional use permit for an ambulance service in Maylands First Addition, along Yorkshire Drive. The second item is re-zoning lots in the Fox Run Addition.
The council will decide whether to approve a lease amendment for a communications tower with Crown Castle International Corporation for a term of 25 years.
“Crown Castle International Corporation contacted the city to extend the lease for an additional 25 years beyond the expiration date of the current term, which is set to expire in 2032. This extension would set the new expiration date at year 2057,” according to an attachment to the agenda.
The tower is located on the Dwiggins-Medary Park (Bob Shelden Field). There are two communication towers on that site, and this tower is located to the west, according to the attachment.
The city renegotiated financial terms of the lease.
“The city will receive a signing bonus of $7,500 and an accelerated rent model starting this year at $15,000 with a 3 percent increase each year thereafter. All revenue received is directed to the General Fund,” according to the attachment.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
