Dropping of Peabody grant clarified
Staff writer
Officials of Peabody Main Street Association wrongly announced on social media last week that the first disbursement of a $1.5 million grant to rejuvenate downtown would have to be paid back.
The second disbursement of the grant has been canceled, but money already paid will not have to be returned.
The Kansas Department of Commerce, which canceled the second half of the grant, issued a clarifying statement after last week’s newspaper was printed.
Commerce said failure to submit required documentation had brought the grant under scrutiny.
Former Commerce employee Jonathan Clayton, Peabody’s interim city clerk at the time, was administrator of Main Street’s grant.
After Commerce sent a July 25 letter telling Main Street the grant needed to be brought into compliance, Clayton disappeared. He was later found dead in his wrecked pickup near Newton.
Commerce sent an Aug. 5 letter demanding that the first installment be repaid, but the department relented and began working with Main Street to rectify problems .
Commerce spokesman Pat Lowry told the Record that Commerce and risk management company Witt O’Brien’s had worked tirelessly with Main Street but were unable to get the grant into compliance.
Lowry said Commerce’s decision to terminate the grant was based on:
- Ongoing compliance issues.
- Main Street’s lack of capacity to administer a complex federal grant.
- Lingering damage done by Clayton in the administration of the grant.
- Ongoing appearance of conflicts of interest.
Part of the grant money was used to repair a Main Street-owned building for Clayton and his husband, city council member Christopher King, to open a gift shop, CK Vintage.
Lowry said it was important to remember that the $740,000 first installment of the grant was invested in renovating historic buildings that could be used for new businesses.