CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Homes in Champaign’s Garden Hills neighborhood could be seeing improvements soon.

Those homes are eligible to have a free yard pole light, entryway lighting, and video doorbell installed by a qualified technician. The City of Champaign said this project is through the city’s modified Safety, Lighting, and Energy Efficiency Program (SLEEP) program. It will provide safety and energy features for single-family homes and duplexes in the Garden Hills area.

The boundaries include Bloomington Rd. to the North, Bradley Ave. to the South, Mattis Ave. to the West, and McKinley Ave. to the East.

The city shared some of the program’s guidelines. These include:

Courtesy: City of Champaign
  1. The subject property must be located within the Garden Hills neighborhood.
  2. The property owner must own the property through a recorded deed. Ownership under contract sales qualifies as long as the contract seller gives written permission for the work to be done.
  3. The enrollee must not have any outstanding municipal code violations on the
    property, or any other property owned within the city at the time of enrollment and through construction. If municipal code violations are cited while the enrollment is being reviewed, the enrollment will be voided, and the enrollee must re-enroll during the next enrollment cycle after the violations are cleared. If municipal code violations become apparent after approval, all rehabilitation work will halt until such violations have been cleared.
  4. The enrollee must not have any outstanding fees, charges, or liens owed to the city. These include parking tickets, sewer fees, and nuisance abatement fees, charges, or liens.
  5. A maximum of $1,900 of assistance is available to the enrollee depending on the chosen repair items.
  6. The program covers the cost of the device and installation of the video doorbell feature but does not include any subscription, internet, and/or cellular plan that may be involved with the device.
  7. The city is not responsible for any maintenance or repair of eligible items after installation
    of the same. The city will provide one light bulb per fixture at the time of installation, but will not provide replacement bulbs.
  8. The city will send the bid to contractors from the city’s approved contractors list who will provide cost estimates via an open bid process. Due to the nature of the work, several home addresses will be bid as a package. The contractor will be chosen based both on the lowest bid and availability to complete the project in a timely manner.
  9. The owner must provide a signed Owner Authorization form indicating that he or she has provided permission for the modifications to be made in case of rental property.

People can enroll in the program by completing the form here or by returning a physical copy to Neighborhood Services in Champaign.

There is also an enrollment event on March 7 between 4-6 p.m. at the Mattis Avenue Fire Station community room in Champaign.