Magnolia applies for state housing program

Selected residences in Magnolia could be improved if the city is selected for a state housing improvement program grant.
The Magnolia City Council recently approved $3,500 toward the grant project, including $2,000 to Development Services Inc. of Ivanhoe, which is completing the application.
Teresa Schreurs with DSI told council members in August that 18 Magnolia homeowners were interested in participating in the revolving home loan program.
The loan, through the Small Cities Development Program, helps low- to moderate-income homeowners improve their homes with new siding, windows, roofing or other qualifying repairs.
“We are trying to help invest money in smaller communities so these are good houses for our kids to move back into,” Schreurs said.
Magnolia City Council members recently implemented a policy against blight in the community of 214 people, and the loan program will encourage improvements.
“It looked like a good program,” said Mayor Dennis Madison.
The city pledged $1,500 toward administration of the loan program where repayments could be loaned back out for other residents’ use.
To increase the possibility of receiving the state grant, Schreurs is pairing Magnolia’s application with the city of Jasper, a community of 600 residents on the Rock-Pipestone county line.
She said each application is scored based on need, demographics, cost effectiveness and impact time eliminated blight could have in a community.
In Jasper, 50 residents indicated interest in the loan program. As a result, the city pledged $20,000 for administration.
Leveraged resources make loan applications more competitive, according to the website of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, which administers the Small Cities Development Program.
Magnolia and Jasper face several deadlines for consideration into the loan program including the preliminary application due next month.
Once applications are received, officials rank communities from strongest (competitive) to weakest (not competitive) based on the submitted information.
Community rankings are released in December with formal applications due in February 2020.
If approved, Magnolia and Jasper residents could submit individual applications in the summer of 2020.