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Council hears questions about CDBG-funded fire trucks and East Biloxi rec center funding
Summary
Councilors and staff discussed recent fire apparatus purchases financed in part with CDBG funds, how community development block grant rules target low- and moderate-income zones, and the status of an East Biloxi recreation-center project that councilors say remains unfunded after prior transfers.
Councilors pressed staff about recent fire truck purchases and whether Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and other sources were used, and asked about the status of a previously approved East Biloxi recreation-center project that councilors said has not been funded.
Why it matters: use of federal block grants and city capital dollars for neighborhood projects, emergency apparatus and community facilities draws scrutiny from neighborhoods and affects where limited funds are spent.
Staff and a CDBG representative, Susan Pickett (Staff member), explained that some ladder trucks were purchased with CDBG funds and that CDBG-eligible expenditures depend on designated low- and moderate-income zones across the city. “The most recent purchase…Truck 3, which is residing at Station 1…we did use CDBG money to purchase that,” Pickett said, and she added that CDBG-funded apparatus have been deployed to stations across the city.
Council members from East Biloxi raised a past $500,000 allocation that had been earmarked for a rec-center project in Ward 2; they said much of the original amount was transferred to other projects and that roughly $48,000 remained in that line. One council member expressed frustration that money once intended for a Ward 2 building was spent on other projects, including work related to a CSX railroad track. Staff and councilors said transfers were approved by prior councils and that some expenditures had supported park repairs and fencing.
Councilors asked whether the proposed $10 million bond included funding for the East Biloxi rec-center project; staff said the bond as discussed did not include that rec center and that the project would need separate funding, including potential CDBG applications or other grant sources.
Staff said CDBG entitlement funding can be used in designated low- and moderate-income zones across multiple wards, not exclusively in East Biloxi, and that the city has both CDBG and CARES/Coronavirus-related CDBG (CDBG-CV) funds with different eligibility rules. Pickett said the location and eligibility for CDBG expenditures change as census and population data change and that staff would provide maps and documentation showing the eligible zones.
No council votes on reallocations or rec-center funding occurred during the workshop; councilors requested more detailed information and asked staff to return with documentation clarifying where CDBG and other funds were spent and what remains available for the East Biloxi project.
