County commissioners OK $130,000 in grants to 12 organizations

Lincoln County commissioners have approved $130,000 in grants to 12 local governments or nonprofits as part of its community and economic development program.

Applications and screening for the long-standing grant program are administered by the Economic Development Alliance of Lincoln County whose board rates projects and makes recommendations to county commissioners.

The county awarded $76,000 in “standard grants” to 11 applicants and $54,000 in an “impact grant” to one organization.

The impact grant went to Samaritan House in Newport, which requested help to buy outdoor recreation equipment, and a washer, dryer and refrigerator at both of its day care facilities.

Standard grants went to:

• The city of Yachats to help make restrooms in the Yachats Commons accessible to people with disabilities; $10,000 of a $15,000 request;
• Central Coast Food Web, Newport, for commercial kitchen equipment; $10,000 of a $15,000 request;
• The ARC of Lincoln County for workforce preparedness training; $10,000 of a $15,000 request;
• Oregon Coast Community College for a workforce English language program; $10,000 of a $15,000 request;
• Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce for its digital sign project; $10,000 of a $15,000 request;
• YachatsNews for a new website and rebranding campaign as it transitions this spring to Lincoln Chronicle; $9,000 of a $9,500 request;
• Oregon Coast Council for the Arts, Newport, for its Bloom conference; $5,000 of a $7,000 request;
• City of Waldport for its museum project; $5,000 of a $10,589 request;
• Master Gardeners for a gardening conference; $1,000 of a $1,161 request;

Because the impact grant award left $6,000 to be allocated, commissioners awarded $3,000 to the Yachats-based conservation group View the Future for a workshop and $3,000 to the Eureka Cemetery in Newport for a paving project. View the Future had requested $14,836 and Eureka Cemetery $15,000.