Two elderly couples will be getting new homes and others will have their homes renovated under a program funded by a $500,000 Mississippi Home Corp. grant.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen Monday authorized city clerk Walter Osborne to advertise for bids for architectural services to design the new homes, and for legal services for a title opinion and other legal issues for the two pieces of property where the new homes will be built.

“We’ve got two elderly couples in owner-occupied houses, and the houses are in the state of condemnation,” said city housing director Gertrude Young. “With this grant, we will be able to tear down their houses and build them new homes at no cost. The only thing they will have to maintain is their property and the insurance.”

She said six additional homes will be renovated under the program.

To participate in the program, she said, people must be elderly, low income and must own and live in the home. “They must have clear title to the property and have no debt,” she said, adding the request for legal services is to ensure the participants have clear title to the homes.

The grant provides funding to build two, two-bedroom, two-bath homes with a value of up to $145,000 per home, and up to $40,000 per house to renovate the six homes. No match is required from the city.

Young said the city initially applied for the grant in 2016, but had to meet certain environmental and other requirements before the money could be released.

In other action, the board:

• Took under advisement three bids for paving in the North Ward. Submitting bids were APAC, $232,160; Central Asphalt, $218,108.75; and A.J. Construction of Madison, $273,903.20. Central Asphalt and APAC are from Vicksburg.

North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield has listed 14 streets in the northern part of the city scheduled for paving under the project: Irene Street, Scenic Drive, Maxwell Street, Hugo Street, Hildegarde Terrace, Pearl Street, Ford Road, Baldwin Ferry Road, Beresford Street, Baldwin Ferry Road, First North Street, Sky Farm Avenue, Wabash Avenue and Farmer Street.

The majority of the streets on the list, Mayfield said, will be partially paved, adding these are streets where work was done to repair or replace underground utility lines. At least three of the streets, Maxwell Street, Scenic Drive and Irene Street may be fully paved.

• Approved closing Rosa A. Temple Drive Sept. 1 for a ceremony to unveil a historical marker for Rosa A. Temple High School.

The board in 2015 approved renaming a section of Balwin Ferry Road from Mission 66 to Court Street Rosa A. Temple Drive in honor of Rosa A. Temple, who began teaching in Vicksburg in 1885 when she was 16 years old and spent most of her years as a high school English teacher.

She was known for exacting, uncompromising standards of excellence and for inspiring students and those who worked with her.

The school that bore her name, the present Vicksburg Junior High School, was known for its academic and athletic excellence across the state.