The East Baton Rouge Council on Aging could be getting a new headquarters if the Metro Council approves spending $1.3 million in federal dollars to renovate a blighted building near downtown.
Mayor Sharon Weston Broome’s administration will introduce the measure at today’s council meeting, asking for approval to spend the $1.3 million in Community Development Block Grants—federal funds dating back to the recovery from hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The building is at 1701 Main St., next to Baton Rouge Community Radio WHYR 96.9-FM.
William Daniel, interim chief administrative officer, says the city-parish obtained the property several years ago and has long planned to renovate it. The building already has a new roof, and this pot of money will help get the rest of the building renovated.
“The goal was to get the Council on Aging out of that horrendous building they are in on Florida Boulevard and move them into this facility,” Daniel says. “The building they’re in now is not suitable and the elevators don’t work, their A/C is iffy—you can’t have seniors in 100 degree buildings.”
Daniel called the move a “win-win,” as the COA will pay market rate to rent the building from the city-parish, which will transform a blighted building. As Business Report noted in a recent cover story on the COA, the city-parish has agreed to let the agency operate out of the current headquarters at 5790 Florida Blvd. rent free through 2035.
Voters in November passed a 1.5-mill dedicated property tax for the COA that is expected to generate about $8 million per year for the agency. The COA provides services like Meals on Wheels, and gets federal, state, local and private funding.
Two Metro Council members are eyeing several changes to the agency, including giving the council more authority over the COA and its board of directors. The cooperative endeavor agreement between the city-parish and the COA for the new tax will be introduced at today’s council meeting, and councilmen Buddy Amoroso and Dwight Hudson, both Republicans, will introduce their changes next month.
Also at today’s meeting, Broome will introduce the city-parish’s plan to spend around $11 million in federal funds for flood recovery. As proposed, the plan would provide $3.5 million to homeowners, $5.2 million to rental housing, $1 million to homelessness prevention, along with $1.3 million to various administrative costs.
The city-parish must follow the same federal rules for spending U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development flood recovery dollars as the state, which will soon begin spending $1.6 billion on flood recovery. The city-parish is spending less on homeowner programs because the state plan focuses almost exclusively on them, Assistant CAO Rowdy Gaudet said earlier this month.
The Metro Council meets at 4 p.m. today on the third floor of City Hall, 222 St. Louis St. See the full agenda.
—Sam Karlin
