Sugar Land City Council approved a policy July 15 that allows community-based organizations to participate in capital improvement projects. The policy states that up to $200,000 from the city's 4B Corporation budget can be awarded to organizations to help complete CIPs each year.

"It is a new policy to City Council but the 4B Corporation has had a similar policy since 2008," said Stephanie Russell, business retention manager with the city's office of economic development. "What is new about the policy is that it increased the funding for the program and set a couple stipulations."

When the policy was first implemented, funding was capped at $100,000. Several projects in recent years—such as the new lighting at Eldridge Park—required a large amount of the available money.

"We have seen a spike in the use of the program in the past two years," Russell said. "As we have seen this increase, the 4B Corporation wanted to increase the impact on the community as well."

Last year, the Sugar Land Soccer Club applied for the lighting project at Eldridge Park through the office of economic development. The club was awarded $90,000 for equipment and installation services. The project is slated for completion this summer.

"This is a city owned park that the soccer club utilizes for their program," Russell said. "The club benefits from being able to play at night, and it was part of the city's parks master plan but funding had not been identified yet."

The updated policy stipulates that each application is able to receive 50 percent of the required money or up to $75,000—whichever is less—from the Sugar Land 4B Corporation. Any award more than $50,000 requires approval from City Council, and the 4B Corporation can recommend funding more than $75,000 for a single project.

Possible capital improvement projects that qualify for funding include beautification and landscaping, public art, and other quality-of-life projects, Russell said. The policy has a Jan. 1 deadline for all submissions and is open to any community-based organization, such as homeowners associations, nonprofits and clubs.

"[Organizations] can submit as early as today," Russell said. "The review process begins in January once we have received all the applications. The selected projects would be scheduled for 2015, and each year will bring a round of new projects."

The Sugar Land 4B Corporation, which is funded by a portion of the city's sales tax revenue, focuses on quality-of-life initiatives and can also help with economic development initiatives, Russell said.

For more information, visit www.sugarlandecodev.com.