Mahnomen City Council Pursuing $2 Million Solar Grant; Seeking Housing Solutions

Mahnomen, MN — The Mahnomen City Council approved applying for a pair of grants and discussed some housing opportunities at their regular monthly meeting on Monday night, April 18^th.  Following some recent discussions about potentially bringing a solar farm to the city industrial park, the council gave the green light to apply for a $2 million grant from the USDA Rural Energy Pilot Program to kickstart that project, according to Mahnomen City Administrator Kari Kirschbaum.

The Mahnomen City Council will also be applying for a $50,000 USDA grant for a lift for the City Hall & Library project in an effort to bring costs down for that proposed renovation, which had cost estimates come back more than double than was originally estimated.

And housing has long been an issue for the city of Mahnomen, but new options could be on the way thanks to some potential partnerships with the Headwaters Regional Development Commission and the Mid-Minnesota Development Commission, according to Kirschbaum.

Also because rental units make up a good portion of the housing options in the city of Mahnomen, Kirschbaum says they are in the process of forming a Landlords Association to improve the rental environment in the community.

The Mahnomen City Council will also be hosting a community meeting on May 4^th at 5:30pm at the Fire Hall to discuss the comprehensive plan results and how to move forward with planning for the future.