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Council votes to apply for CDBG Neighborhood Revitalization funds to rebuild or rehabilitate owner-occupied homes
Summary
Council authorized consultant Ben Jones of Falter Consulting to prepare and submit an application for the NC Department of Commerce CDBG Neighborhood Revitalization program, which can provide up to $950,000 per year for scattered-site owner-occupied housing reconstruction or rehabilitation.
The Nashville Town Council voted to proceed with an application to the North Carolina Department of Commerce for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Neighborhood Revitalization program. Ben Jones of Falter Consulting Company presented the program and will prepare the town’s application.
Jones told the council the program is a scattered-site, owner-occupied housing program that can provide up to $950,000 per year to the applicant community; funds can be used to demolish and rebuild or to rehabilitate qualifying owner-occupied low-income homes. He said awardees may apply annually and that the program period is structured as a three-year process for environmental review, construction and closeout; in practice a community can apply again for additional funds in subsequent years.
Jones described program rules discussed in the meeting packet: recipients receive funds as forgivable loans secured by a promissory note and deed of trust; the house must remain owner-occupied for eight years or the borrower must repay a pro-rated portion of the loan if sold earlier. Jones said rehabilitation and full reconstruction are both allowed, and that the program includes administrative and compliance costs within the grant budget. He advised the council that listed applicants are screened during application (verbal owner-occupancy and income checks) and that title opinions and third-party income verification occur after funds are released and environmental review is complete.
Council members asked about contractor procurement (typically awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, sometimes limited to distribute risk among contractors), whether a town-held property could be used when a home is not currently owner-occupied, and how advertising and other small costs are handled; Jones said advertising and initial public hearing notices are town expenses but are typically reimbursed from the grant administrative budget after funds are released. He also said the program can fund nonhousing neighborhood projects that meet low-income benefit tests and that the first formal step is holding the required public hearing(s).
After the presentation, the council moved and voted to have Falter Consulting prepare and submit the application, and to hold the public hearing as a next step.
