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Board signs off on 2025 CDBG awards and acknowledges disclosure for city consultant with La Casa ties
Summary
Goshen authorized execution of 2025 Community Development Block Grant agreements for programs and housing repairs and publicly acknowledged a conflict-of-interest disclosure for a consultant who is employed by a subrecipient.
The Board of Public Works and Safety authorized the mayor to execute Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) agreements for the 2025 program year and approved multiple public-service and housing awards described in staff materials.
Theresa Cummings of the Planning Department presented the awards list and said the city had received and signed the grant agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The board approved agreements for a $7,000 La Casa planning grant; public-service grants to Boys & Girls Club ($5,125), Council on Aging ($5,125), Elkhart County Clubhouse ($4,100), Goshen Interfaith Hospitality Network ($19,500), Maple City Health Care Center ($5,125) and Walnut Hill Early Childhood Center ($10,250). The packet also listed four housing grants to La Casa: owner-occupied rehabilitation for $68,000; homeownership assistance for $50,750; housing counseling for $1,000; and an energy-conservation multifamily rehab project listed in the packet as $112,172.
Cummings said the planning grant will fund neighborhood outreach, public-service grants will support early childhood education, daily nutrition programs, mental-health support, senior transportation and primary health care, and housing grants will cover owner-occupied rehab, homeownership assistance with counseling and solar improvements to 12 affordable multifamily units. The board authorized the mayor to sign the agreements by a unanimous vote.
In a separate item tied to the CDBG program, staff disclosed a potential conflict of interest: Jeffrey Weaver, a former deputy clerk, has entered a temporary consulting agreement with the city to assist during the 2026 budget process and began employment with La Casa as a real-estate financial analyst on Sept. 15. Because La Casa is a CDBG subrecipient, staff said Weaver publicly disclosed his employment and agreed he would not work on matters related to HUD-funded programs, would not interact with claims tied to La Casa or CDBG, and that before his transition he reassigned his CDBG bank reconciliation duties to the clerk/treasurer to avoid a perceived conflict. The board acknowledged the uniform conflict-of-interest disclosure and will forward an application/waiver to HUD as required by program regulations; the acknowledgement passed unanimously.
