The Ripon Senior Center re-opened this week.

The City of Ripon facility welcomed back folks on Monday after being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, the Ripon City Council approved allocation from the Community Development Block Grant funding sources to go towards the Ripon Senior Center Retrofit Project.

According to Planning Director Ken Zuidervaart, the background of the funding comes from the Federal Coronavirus Aide Relief and Economic Security Act, which provided phased funding to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for us in addressing issues related to the pandemic and future preparedness planning through the CDBG program.

Ripon is scheduled to receive $54,092 from Phase 1 funding and $58,390 for Phase 3. No San Joaquin County city received Phase 2 funding.

“We did do an exhaustive research on allowable uses for these funds in coordination with SJC’s CBDG staff,” said Zuidervaart, who added that his staff recommended allocating all the grant funding to go towards the retrofitting of the Senior Center.

All told, the City of Ripon will have approximately $350,000 in CDBG funds, with some of that going towards the retrofit design and construction improvement that includes work to the building façade.

Under future pandemic preparedness planning, the Senior Center will look at adding an outdoor planning area with a free-standing covering.

Any funding not utilized on the retrofit project can carry over to future CDBG projects, Zuidervaart noted.