IURA committee recommends about $280,000 in CDBG awards for three job-placement programs

Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (IURA) committee members on [date not specified] registered unanimous support for a recommendation to allocate roughly $280,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds across three local job-placement programs and forward that recommendation to the Neighborhood Investment Committee (NI) and the full agency for final action.

Nels, an IURA staff member, told the committee the packet contained an updated grant matrix and revised job-placement figures from project sponsors and noted the federal continuing resolution under discussion in Congress indicates CDBG and HOME funding could remain at last year’s nationwide levels. “Literally on the table is before you 3 pieces of paper,” Nels said, summarizing the updated spreadsheets and the specific 2021–2023 and 2024 program numbers.

The committee’s working recommendation would allocate approximately $135,000 to Finger Lakes Reuse, $80,000 to GIAC (Greater Ithaca Activities Center), and $65,000 to Historic Ithaca — a combined total of about $280,000 — to be proposed by the IURA subgroup to the NI. Committee members emphasized that this recommendation was not a formal binding vote by the full agency; one member described the endorsement as registered and…