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North Brookfield moves to submit FY2025 CDBG application for South Common, St. Clair work
Summary
The Select Board authorized submission of a fiscal year 2025 Community Development Block Grant application to fund design and construction work on South Common Street and St. Clair, with roughly $725,000 earmarked for the project and $125,000 for grant administration.
Joe Ferguson of the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission presented a required public hearing and the Select Board voted to authorize submission of a fiscal year 2025 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application on behalf of the Town of North Brookfield.
Ferguson said the application, due April 14, would propose design and construction improvements along South Common Street (between Grove and Forest) and the length of St. Clair, and that the project concept was sized to fit within the state’s FY2025 CDBG funding limit of $850,000. "We are earmarking it at about $725,000," Ferguson said, adding the grant would also cover design, engineering and procurement. The RPC proposed about $125,000 for grant administration and said its usual fee is about 13–15 percent of administration funds.
The town’s eligibility and project selection process included a February 25 community development forum, neighborhood outreach, and coordination with the water, sewer and highway departments and the housing authority. Ferguson said an earlier focus on the town’s west side did not meet the federal low-to-moderate-income data thresholds, so the proposal shifted to the east-side area around the town common. He also noted North Brookfield’s state-assigned need score of 9, which he said makes the town competitive for CDBG funds.
Board members moved and seconded a motion "to support and approve the submission of a fiscal year 25 CDBG application, including the activities as presented today with allowance for minor budget or program adjustments and to authorize the chair and CFO to sign all documents required for the application." The motion passed with verbal assent.
Ferguson said state and federal representatives were not expecting a change to the April 14 deadline but that the town had been told to expect notice if that changed; he said award decisions were typically announced in summer or fall of the funding year. He provided contact information and invited further community input and participation in planning later in the summer.
Details to note: the CDBG program is a federal HUD grant that requires projects to meet one of three national objectives (benefit to low- and moderate-income persons; prevention/elimination of slums and blight; or special circumstances such as disasters). Ferguson noted the program requires no municipal match. The RPC will administer procurement and reporting if the grant is awarded. The town will return to planning if federal deadlines or allocations change.
The Select Board’s motion authorizes staff to submit the application and sign documents; the board did not commit any municipal match or future appropriation in the vote. Anticipated award notifications were described as likely in summer or fall 2025.
