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RESOLUTION APPROVING THE AMENDED 2017 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN
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Summary and Background Information:
In 2016, the City became an Entitlement Community and now directly receives funding from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). As required by HUD, the City works through its Citizen Participation Plan to determine the allocation of project funds. The final document produced with this procedure is the Annual Action Plan (AAP). The AAP serves as the City’s application and plan for the following CDBG funding year.
Consideration Number One - Amending the 2017 AAP to Reallocate Unspent Funds
During the first 18-months of the 2017 CDBG Program, three projects were not undertaken for a variety of reasons. The total amount of the unspent grant funding was $64,000. HUD requires CDBG grant funds be spent within certain timeframes. Reallocating the unspent funds will help the City’s CDBG Program stay in good standing with HUD.
As background on the specific projects, one project was to fund $50,000 in bus stop improvements. However, due to staffing challenges, Public Works could not utilize this funding. The second project was the $10,000 for a Residential Resource Directory, but similar resources produced by Adams County around the same time, made the project redundant. The $4,000 Fair Housing project was unable to meet the required National Objectives as mandated by HUD.
Current or future CDBG projects may use the unspent funds. The CDBG Office recommends placing all the funds into active 2018 AAP projects to help meet the looming HUD Timeliness Test.
The process to reallocate the funding consists of:
• Citizen participation and input,
• CDBG Team review and recommendations,
• Amending the AAPs
• City Council approval, and
• Submitting the amended AAPs to HUD.
Funding reallocation opportunities were presented at the March 28, 2019 Public Input Meeting. Legal notices in the Sentinel and La Prensa invited citizens to provide written comments on the funding reallocations and the same information was placed on the City’s website. During this time, the CDBG Office sought additional input from citizens through the City’s Facebook, Twitter, and Channel 8 platforms. The deadline to receive written comments is June 28, 2019. The public will also have an opportunity to comment on the reallocations at the City Council’s regular meeting on July 1, 2019.
The CDBG Team recommended the 2018 Minor Home Repair Program receive the $64,000 from the three 2017 project described above. This decision was based on the number of LMI households served, meeting identified community needs, the past success of the projects, and the regulatory limitations on where and what types of projects could receive the funding. Please see the Reallocation Table in the attachments.
Should the City Council approve the funding reallocations, the CDBG Office will submit the necessary amendments to 2017 AAP to HUD in late July 2019.
Staff Responsible (Department Head): Chris Cramer, Director of Community Development
Staff Member Presenting: Cheryl Steinberg, CDBG Coordinator
Financial Impact:
Funding Source:
Staff Recommendation: Approval of the 2017 AAP as amended
Suggested Motion: Move to approve Resolution 2019-76.