The DeKalb City Council voted Monday to apply for a $50,000 state grant for the remodeling and expansion of a local corporation.

The Community Development Assistance Program grant will enable the Electro-Mechanical Devices Inc., 121 Dodge Ave., to repair and improve its facilities, DeKalb City Manager Mark Stevens said. He said the expansion means the business, which employs 130 people in producing electric wiring harnesses and panel assemblies, can create 25 additional jobs.

After receiving the grant, the city will lend money to the corporation at a 3 percent interest rate for a 10-year period, Stevens said.

The council voted five to one to defeat a proposal to build a parking lot next to the Enterprise Savings Bank, 1325 Sycamore Road. Ron Klein, attorney for Tom Rosenow, developer and owner of the property, spoke in support of the project from the floor.

Residents of Hollister Avenue, located behind the bank, spoke in opposition. They said they did not want the parking lot in their neighborhood.

Third Ward Alderman William Hanna voted in favor of the proposal, and Sixth Ward Alderman Steven Brody was absent.

The council passed an amendment providing for a listing of streets prohibiting five-ton vehicle traffic and those on which public transportation vehicles (Huskie buses) can travel.

In other business, the council voted to add Second Ward Alderman Michael Welsh’s request to consider an ordinance restricting smoking in DeKalb businesses to its Aug. 8 meeting agenda.

Stevens announced House Bill 1859 passed the state legislature, but needs the governor’s signature before becoming law.

Implementation of the law would mean the city would no longer receive money from the three-fourths percent sales tax currently applied to food and drug sales, Stevens said.

As a result, the city will lose an estimated $450,000 in tax revenues, he said.

Assistant City Manager Gary Boden said the figure represents five percent of the city’s general fund budget.

If signed, the law will become effective Sept. 1, 1991.