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County updates on CDBG, CHDF awards and ESD infrastructure grant for Southworks project
Summary
Planning and housing staff told the committee on Sept. 3 that CDBG Healthy Homes is mid‑project, the legislature authorized CHDF awards including $90,000 for Village House units for homeless youth, and the county has an ESD infrastructure award letter for Southworks but formal steps remain.
At the Sept. 3 committee meeting, planning staff and the housing and community development director updated legislators on several housing grants and the committee approved Community Housing Development Fund (CHDF) awards.
CDBG Healthy Homes: David West, Housing and Community Development Director, said the current round of the CDBG Healthy Homes program was designed to serve 20 homes. To date the county has eight homes complete, three under construction, four in design/permits/bidding and a wait list of 20 homes. West said the county expects to request a program extension from the state because some work was delayed by new DEC ground‑disturbance rules.
CDBG application and training: The department is seeking $50,000 from CDBG to support next year’s housing strategy work and is partnering with the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) funds. The planning department is also sponsoring training for municipal planning and zoning board members on September 18 and planning a Strong Towns lecture series.
CHDF awards: The committee considered and unanimously passed a resolution to disburse county funds for CHDF awards (ID 13528). The disbursements included four Round‑25 awards and an increase to one Round‑24 award; staff highlighted that one award — Village House in the City of Ithaca — supports three units intended for homeless youth (three units to serve seven individuals) and that the Village House award was for $90,000. The motion to authorize the awards passed unanimously (motion moved by Legislator Korman; seconded by Legislator Pillar).
Empire State Development (ESD) county infrastructure grant: Planning Commissioner Katie Borgella (presenting via David West) said the county applied for an ESD County Infrastructure Grant for the Southworks project and has an ESD award letter, but the application remains incomplete and the formal award process requires further state review, a public hearing and an ESD Board action. The county applied for $1,000,000 and staff said the grant is reimbursement‑based; early estimates discussed in the meeting suggested the infrastructure funded by the ESD share would support an initial 100 housing units with a phased project ultimately expected to yield roughly 915 housing units and over 900,000 square feet of development. Staff cautioned that formal contracting and reimbursement steps will take time and that the county is drafting subrecipient agreement language to clarify roles because the county is the recipient but the private/partner development team will implement the infrastructure work.
Committee members thanked staff for the work and noted the awards and training are timed to support local affordable‑housing goals.
