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Council backs Grace Avenue sidewalk gap as preferred CDBG project; staff to pursue phased approach
Summary
Staff presented Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) options and recommended projects; council members favored using CDBG to fill sidewalk gaps on Grace Avenue's west side in a phased southern-first approach to avoid creek-related environmental constraints and improve access to the new farmers market.
City staff briefed council on potential Community Development Block Grant projects and timeline during the Oct. 6 meeting, and council members expressed a preference for pursuing the Grace Avenue sidewalk gaps as the top candidate for a CDBG pre-application.
Jose (staff member) described CDBG rules and scoring: pre-applications are due Oct. 31 and full applications Dec. 5; projects must serve low- and moderate-income areas; maximum grant requests are typically $400,000 and require additional compliance for requests over $200,000 (with Buy America/Build America rules applying above $250,000); NEPA and environmental requirements can raise effort and timeline. "Projects must be in a low income neighborhood," Jose told council.
Staff outlined candidate projects, including McConnell Park improvements, Remi Park design carryover (noting significant environmental constraints at Remi, including wetlands and archaeological concerns), and the Grama Pathway. Council members identified Grace Avenue gap-fill on the west side as a priority for CDBG because the southern segment avoids a creek and targets areas of greater need; phasing the Grace project could reduce environmental complexity and preserve competitiveness in the scoring timeline. Council noted benefits to pedestrian access, including improved connectivity to the new farmers market.
Council consensus favored pursuing the Grace southern-phase sidewalk gap as the first CDBG pre-application target; staff will work with the planning and engineering teams to prepare the pre-application and noted that HUD/NEPA environmental review and census-based income maps affect project eligibility and scoring.
The pre-application timeline is tight; staff indicated that a final project selection and public hearing recommendation will return to council at a subsequent meeting. If the county reallocates funds or prioritizes housing projects to meet HUD spending timelines, the pot of available CDBG funds could be reduced or eliminated this cycle, staff warned.
