Rison To Conduct Its Own LMI Survey

RISON - Mayor Charles Roberts informed the Rison City Council last week that the latest census has the city’s population with less than 50 percent low-to-moderate income (LMI) residents, which in turn makes it difficult for the City of Rison to qualify for a grants to fund a new fire truck and other projects.Roberts said he has been reaching out to federal and state agencies looking for ways the city can find money to get the Rison Fire Department another pumper truck. One of the issues he has encountered is that the percentage of residents who qualify as LMI is not a high enough percentage to qualify for many grants. Many federal grants require a city to have at least 51 percent of the population classified as LMI. Roberts told the council that the latest LMI percentage for Rison is 47.9 percent, which puts it below that threshold. He said the city will need to be at or above 51 percent to be eligible for many of the grants that could help the city buy another fire truck as well as other things.By reaching that 51 percent mark, Roberts said it opens up the city to a much wider range of grants with federal and state agencies.A new truck is expected to cost about $500,000.Roberts said he has reached out to grant consultant Karen Barlow, who is working with the Southeast Arkansas Economic Development District, to create a questionnaire the city can use to conduct its own LMI survey.  The mayor told the city council that once the questionnaire is finished, he would like to use the volunteer firefighters to help conduct the survey. Since the fire department is the primary target for the grant funding, Roberts said the survey will extend beyond the city limits and into the Rison Fire Department’s coverage area.“It’s going to be a challenge,” Roberts said about the effort to get the information. He acknowledged that people are hesitant to take surveys, especially ones that may deal with household inco...