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Cheektowaga holds public hearing on HUD-funded CDBG and HOME plans, officials outline 2024 accomplishments
Summary
Town staff reviewed programs funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, outlined 2024 activity and opened a public comment period on the draft FY2026 annual action plan.
The Town of Cheektowaga on Wednesday opened a public hearing on its U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) annual action plan for fiscal year 2026, reviewing how Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds will be used and inviting resident feedback.
Rachel Straker, a town community development official, told the board the HUD program year runs from April 1, 2026, through March 31, 2027, and that “HUD funds are extremely beneficial to the town to fund needed community services and accomplish necessary projects that would otherwise have to be funded by the town.” She said the town will publish a draft action plan for public comment on Dec. 23, 2025, and that citizen comments will be incorporated into the final submission to HUD.
The nut of the hearing was an overview of 2024 activity. Straker listed housing rehabilitation spending—$153,395 in CDBG, $493,000 in HOME funds and $163,000 from the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation—totaling about $809,000 applied to single- and multi-family rehab, emergency repairs, handicap accessibility and a sump-pump assistance program. She said those activities plus loan repayments and other program income enable additional work and noted partnerships with community organizations for weatherization and housing acquisition/rehab.
Straker said weatherization assistance reached 46 units in 2024 and that the town continued partnerships to provide counseling, summer camp aid and senior and youth services. She said public-facility and infrastructure projects in HUD-designated low- and moderate-income neighborhoods included a Shanley Street curb replacement (an estimated 690 beneficiaries), a new ADA elevator at the Alexander Community Center and Village of Depew sidewalk work (about 925 beneficiaries). Straker said the town also funded a full-time domestic violence advocate embedded with the Cheektowaga Police Department.
Board members asked technical and eligibility questions. Councilman Brian Pulaski asked whether the city27s housing rehabilitation program helps the town27s court-ordered consent issues; Straker said that rehabilitation work includes checks to prevent cross-connections and that workers cap and address noncompliant floor drains where they find them during rehabs. Council members also asked whether HUD low-mod area boundaries had changed; Straker said HUD updated maps in October and that some areas previously eligible dropped off while others, including parts of Depew, returned to eligibility.
Straker said the town has a waiting list of more than 200 households for housing rehabilitation and that staff limits—one full-time code enforcement officer and one part-time—constrain throughput. She told the board the town applied for a $650,000 New York State grant to increase rehab funding; past awards have been $450,000.
The public hearing was closed after no speakers from the public signed up; Straker invited written comments and said maps and the draft plan would be posted on the town website and in public offices.
Ending: The hearing was a routine step in preparing the HUD annual action plan; the draft will be published for comment on Dec. 23, 2025, and the town will incorporate citizen input before formally submitting the plan to HUD.
