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QUINCY, ILL. -- Some federal funding is on its way to Quincy, in particular, the northwest part of town.

The federal stimulus money is part of the Neighborhood Stabilization program.

KHQA's Jarod Wells sat down with City Planner Chuck Bevelheimer to find out what improvements you're going to see, when, and why they are so badly needed.

Quincy City Planner Chuck Bevelheimer said, "The goal is to renovate as many homes as we can."

Bevelheimer says the city asked for $5 million dollars with the hopes of taking care of about fifty rundown homes. It got $1.9 million, with an extra $200,000 secured by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D- IL).

Bevelheimer said, "Now that we've gone through the process we think we'll be able to tackle about 20-22 properties."

There are 16 properties on the city's to-do list right now. Four will be demolished, 11 will be cleaned and rehabbed, one will be used for fire fighter training.

Bevelheimer said, "These are properties that have been abandoned by their owners, that have been left open, they've got junk and debris, city has liens filed against it, the water been shut off. So there's a significant problem that we're dealing with."

All 16 properties are in the northwest part of Quincy.

Bevelheimer said, "The reason we are concentrating on the northwest neighborhood is because, according to the census statistics, this area meets the criteria of both age of housing stock, degree of poverty and the amount of blight that exists. So the combination of factors qualifies this area as a distressed area."

Properties that are cleaned and rehabbed will be sold through the First Time Home Buyers program.

Bevelheimer said, "The vacant lots will be potentially sold in the future. There is a second round of stimulus money coming towards NSP programs or reallocation of funds that we're looking into right now and it may be possible to build back on those lots."

But Bevelheimer says the future of the vacant lots is still up in the air.  Either way, the city will sell the properties for the amount of money it puts in to them.  That's a stipulation of the federal stimulus grant and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the city cannot make a profit off the properties.

Next Monday, June 14th, the Quincy City Council will be accepting bids for work on the properties.

After bids are accepted, Bevelheimer said work could begin with in about a month