Grant Writing Policy for the City & Commission Presentation

    Last week I was asked to write the grant writing policy for the City.  The purpose of the policy is to establish guidelines for the indentification, application, administration and reporting of grants from various federal, state, and private sources. The policy starts at the very beginning of the process when department heads have discovered a grant opportunity for something that fills a need in their department or the City.  The policy provides a step by step guide from the initial grant research through the completion and submittal of the application to the grantor; from the award and acceptance by the Commission; the implementation; and finally to the close-out of the grant at the end.  It provides a detailed listing of the responsible person for each of the steps along the way.  I found the process quite informative as I plan to write grant applications after I finish my degree.  Earlier today, I met with Lunda who was pleased with the policy as it was written, but suggested the addition of a clause creating policy to address the procedure to be taken when the City has added service that was funded by a grant and now the grant period has expired.  This happened earlier this year when the previous grant funding for a Victim's Assistance program expired and the City Commission felt it was a beneficial program for the community, but there was no money allocated in the budget for it.  The City Commission now faced a decision to either find funding to continue the program or to discontinue it and cut two paid positions.  Fortunately, the grant money was received from another source and the program was renewed at the last minute.
     Tomorrow I am to meet with the City's grant writer to fine tune the terminology, form names, and employee titles to specifically fit Newton.  Once it has passed this stage, Lunda will look at it again.  He has already informed me that I will be presenting it at the City Commission meetings.  I anticipate that this will take place on April 24th as I will be in Arizona during the next meeting of the City Commission on the 10th.  City Manager Randy Riggs has definitely kept his promise to make this a meaningful internship...and Thank you, Lunda!!