County holds final public hearing on $1.9 million CHIP application for owner‑occupied rehab and home repair

Lorain County held its final public hearing June 6 on a proposed Community Housing Impact and Preservation (CHIP) program application for program year 2025 that would combine CHIP CDBG funds and participating jurisdictions’ housing program income to fund owner‑occupied rehabilitation and home‑repair activities.

Lauren Falcone of Kleinfelder summarized the proposal and timelines to the commissioners, saying the county and partner jurisdictions intended to request roughly $928,000 in CHIP owner‑rehab funds plus about $301,990 of HOME housing program income and $480,000 for home‑repair grants, for a total program budget near $1.9 million.

What the application would fund: Kleinfelder said the private owner‑rehab activity targets 15 owner‑occupied households at an average of about $81,879 per unit (including up to 20% project soft costs and lead‑based paint assessments where required). The home‑repair activity proposes grants averaging $30,000 per unit for 16 households to address one or two health or safety items such as plumbing, electrical, heating, roofing or accessibility needs; mobile‑home owners may be eligible for repair grants.

Partners and funding rules: Partner jurisdictions named in the application include the cities of Amherst, North Ridgeville, Oberlin and Sheffield Lake; each will combine local HOME program income (PI) with the CHIP award as required by the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD). Kleinfelder said ODOD allows $1,000 in CHIP HOME funds per unit to be drawn while partner PI remains available, but generally requires jurisdictions to exhaust PI before drawing CHIP HOME funds.

Income eligibility and timeline: Falcone read household income limits used for eligibility (very low and low income tables tied to household size) and noted that, if funded, awards would be allocated in 2026 with all construction finished and draws completed by early 2028 per ODOD deadlines. The commissioners were asked to pass a resolution authorizing application submittal by June 17; the application is due to the state by June 25, 2025.

Public process and next steps: The meeting included opportunity for public comment; no substantive objections were recorded in the hearing. A motion to close the public hearing was made and approved. Commissioners directed staff to prepare the resolution and application materials for consideration and submittal by the June 17 timeline.

Sources: Presentation and figures given by Lauren Falcone of Kleinfelder at the June 6, 2025 Lorain County Board of Commissioners meeting.