The Bremerton City Council on Wednesday adopted Resolution 3,398, approving the city's consolidated-plan priorities and the 2026 CDBG/HOME policy plan to guide competitive grant awards for the coming program year.

Sarah Lynham, Bremerton's CDBG administrator, told the council the city must stretch limited federal dollars and that, “we are estimating $300,000” for the city's CDBG allocation while noting the county coordinates roughly $10,000,000 in related funding countywide. The adopted priorities place affordable housing first and list infrastructure and park projects as additional capital priorities; CDBG public services will not be funded in year one of the five-year plan.

The policy plan will open the competitive application cycle on June 17; applications are due July 15 at noon. A project review committee will score and interview applicants in August, deliberate the first week of September, and forward recommendations to council with a 30-day public comment period before a November council hearing, Lynham said.

Public testimony at the hearing emphasized two recurring themes: concern that past project awards (commenters raised Quincy Square funding from 2019) had not benefited unhoused residents, and calls for basic services such as public sanitation. Local activist Jose Camacho argued CDBG is intended for low-income residents and said the city should prioritize people living on the street; Robin Weldon and other speakers repeated calls for restroom access downtown. Developers and some business groups, by contrast, urged the council to keep capital funding focused on housing and infrastructure rather than public services this first year.

The motion to adopt Resolution 3,398 passed unanimously. With the policy plan now approved, staff will begin applicant meetings this month and return recommended allocations to council later in the fall for final action.

The council packet and the adopted policy plan describe HUD regulatory limits (for example, CDBG's 15% cap on public services) and require projects to meet HUD national objectives and local consolidated-plan priorities to be eligible for funds. Staff advised that the federal program remains subject to change and included new policy language allowing flexibility for forthcoming federal guidance or contract conditions.