Ames residents can now apply for grant money from the Neighborhood Improvement Program (NIP It!) to benefit and beautify their residential areas.

“The improvements are not sand castles. They must really and truly better the community,” said Clare Bills, public relations officer for the City of Ames.

“The program was started three years ago to develop old-fashioned relationship building among neighbors,” she said.

Some examples of projects done in the past include landscaping, beautifying medians, prairie restoration, construction of a shelter house and new playground equipment, said Lynette Windsor, city manger’s office receptionist and NIP It! committee member.

“The main criteria we look for in the applications are public impact, safety, residential improvement, improved housing, use of public space and environment use,” Windsor said.

“The application consists of the letters from the neighbors plus a formula they’ve worked out to show how many hours of work will be done and the worth of the improvements,” Bills said.

She said when funds are approved for a specific improvement, the grant money is placed in an account, and neighborhood residents then match the amount with labor, materials or money.

“The amount of money allocated for each improvement is up to $5,000,” Bills said. “The funding for the program comes from a local optional sales tax of which 40 percent must go to community betterment.”

Twenty city improvements were made in 1996, while 10 neighborhoods received funding in 1997. Last year, three improvements were approved totaling $11,175 in changes.

Windsor said brochures are available in City Hall and at the Ames Public Library, which give more information about the program and show pictures of completed projects with before, during and after photos.

The NIP It! program committee members include the city planner, city manger, a public works representative and four Ames residents from different wards of the community, Windsor said.

“It is important for the residents to show that the improvements will make a permanent change in the neighborhood,” Bills said.

The deadline for this year’s grant applications is Feb. 26.