Ames neighborhoods will have the opportunity to improve their areas with the help of an Ames City Council program designed to foster community spirit, as long as proposals are received on time.

Grants can range from as little as $1 to $5,000. To secure funds, neighbors must draft a proposal and submit it to City Hall, 515 Clark Ave., by July 31.

Steve Schainker, Ames city manager, said the program is not entirely new. It was created by the mayor and City Council five years ago, when Ted Tedesco was mayor.

“I think the council should be commended because they are fulfilling their goal of helping neighborhoods,” Schainker said.

Proposals are reviewed by a committee of city staff and citizens, Schainker said. They are then passed along to the City Council to vote which projects will receive money.

Schainker said $50,000 is allotted to the program every year, and not all projects receive grant money.

Once the money is given out, it is up to the neighbors to complete the projects. Schainker said the council provides the funds and the neighborhoods match the money with something he termed, “sweat equity.” In rare cases, heavy equipment such as cranes are rented out by the city, but for the most part, the labor is done by citizens, he said.

Dan Rice, 1st Ward representative, said projects like these help to better the community and are well received by the council.

“Certainly we encourage anything that will help neighborhoods retain their neighborhoodness,” Rice said.

Schainker said the program is not meant to tell the neighborhoods how to make improvements.

“Instead, the neighbors themselves are creating proposals and projects that they actually want,” Schainker said.

Schainker said unique projects from the past include street signs in the historic district. He also said one neighborhood built a new playground at a grade school.

Other projects have included the planting of trees and wildflowers in an effort to beautify neighborhoods, as well as a general variety of projects, he said.