Dothan staff present 2025 CDBG funding recommendations; commission to consider June 3

City planning staff presented the Community Development Advisory Committee’s recommended allocations for the 2025 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and outlined the schedule for final approval and HUD submission.

Tom McDonald, Planning Director, briefed the commission on the committee process and funding recommendations. The committee reviewed applicants, interviewed agencies and used the recently announced HUD award to prorate recommended awards. “We ended up with, 11 awards for public services, 7 awards for public facilities, and 1 award for housing,” McDonald said.

McDonald and staff described the recommended dollar allocations in categories discussed during the meeting: public service recommended awards of $78,351 (prorated to $80,579), public facilities recommended awards totaling $45,000 (prorated to $47,525), and city projects recommended at $190,000. Staff noted the public service awards cannot exceed 15% of the grant amount per program rules. The presenters said the city had more requests than available funds and listed unfunded requests.

Schedule and next steps: staff asked the commission to consider a resolution on June 3 to approve the recommended projects; that approval would move the annual action plan and consolidated plan into a 30-day public comment period, followed by a public hearing expected Aug. 5 and a HUD submission deadline in mid-August. McDonald told the commission the HUD allocation announcement arrived after the committee had completed its interviews, increasing the award slightly — staff proposed prorating awards to match the final grant total.

Commissioners recognized the heavy workload of the advisory committee and presented a public thank-you to staff. The commission did not take a final vote on the recommendations during this meeting; staff will return with the resolution on June 3.