CLINTON - Clinton Mayor Ed Wollet hasn't given up his pursuit of a large grant that would allow low- to moderate-income residents to receive help for home repairs.

The grant is available through the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and is capped at $350,000 for a community. The money could help about 10 homeowners.

"It's a highly competitive grant, and we're staying optimistic because it would help a lot of our residents increase the value of their homes," Wollet said.

The grant is similar to a grant the city used in 1984 to help homeowners with much-needed repairs. While that program required homeowners to match the grant with their own money, the new one does not.

As a requirement of the grant, city officials and volunteers must survey one out of every 15 homes in the city to see if they qualify as low-income or senior residential housing.

"We wanted to get a better sampling, though, so we randomly selected one out of every seven homes," Wollet said. "This is the type of grant that if we don't get selected this year, we want to reapply next year. So the more work we do, the better coordinated we will be, and it will make this much simpler in future years.

"It's just very important that we do everything in our power to help our proposal."

Staffers and volunteers are concentrating their efforts in the northeastern portion of Clinton. Once the target area is selected, every resident in the area must be surveyed.

"We have to have 100 percent involvement or we won't be eligible," Wollet said.

Eight questions are asked of residents during the survey, including what repairs need to be made.

City administrative assistant Tim Followell said the city is in the second phase of the project, which is finalizing the target area and surveying each resident in it.

"We've got a very good idea of where that is going to be, although we are still in the process of conducting the surveys and making sure our preliminary assessments are valid," Followell said. "When you apply for grants, you want to make sure you have all of your background work completed exactly as requested."

Each eligible household could receive up to $49,000 for home repairs and remodeling. The average grant is about $36,000.

The deadline for the grant is mid-November.

Kevin Barlow can be reached at kbarlow@pantagraph.com.