Hocking County holds public hearing on HUD-funded CHIP housing grant application

Hocking County commissioners heard a public hearing May 1 on the county’s plan to apply, together with Perry County and the city of Logan, for a federally funded Community Housing Impact and Preservation Program grant.

“This is federally funded through HUD,” said Glenn Griffin, director of housing and community development at HAPCAP (Hocking‑Athens‑Perry Community Action), explaining that the CHIP application pool is supported by Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnership dollars distributed from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to the state of Ohio.

Griffin told the board the partnership will execute a formal agreement in May as it prepares an application due June 18, 2025. He said CHIP funding is competitive and the state typically awards roughly 18 to 22 grants statewide; award amounts are often about $1 million or more.

The program’s national objective is to benefit low‑ and moderate‑income (LMI) households, Griffin said, and LMI eligibility is set at 80% of the area median income for Hocking County. He offered examples from the application guidelines: a one‑person household might qualify with annual income “around $46,000 to $48,000,” and a family of four could be eligible at an income “over $60,000,” depending on HUD’s annual area median income calculations.

Griffin described activities that CHIP funds can support: full home rehabilitation (typically large projects “usually exceeding $50,000 or $60,000” that are provided as declining loans secured by liens), smaller home repairs delivered as grants (commonly “in the range or vicinity of $15,000 to $20,000”), and combined down‑payment assistance plus rehab for homeownership. He said rental rehabilitation is used less frequently because landlords who are not themselves LMI must contribute 50% of costs, which limits feasibility; tenants of the Metropolitan Housing Authority would be automatically eligible when the authority participates.

Griffin also discussed lead abatement work. “Lead paint is a huge part of CHIP,” he said, noting HAPCAP is delivering a Lead Safe Ohio program in the region and estimating the agency has invested about $2,000,000 in lead abatement across the three counties it serves during recent years. He described required lead clearance testing and certifications.

Speakers and commissioners asked several implementation questions during and after the presentation, including how the county would administer a housing revolving loan fund (program income repaid to the county when a homeowner sells) and how the county would handle the risk if federal funding were rescinded mid‑grant. Griffin said rescission would be “major legal” territory if it occurred, and that HUD had not, at that time, announced a rescission affecting CHIP funds.

No formal vote was taken: Griffin’s presentation was a public hearing step in the application process. He and county officials said they will prepare the partnership agreement and application materials for submission by the June 18 deadline.

Commissioners and staff agreed to continue coordinating with local housing providers and stakeholders if the county submits an application. Griffin closed by noting that weatherization programs (Department of Energy) are separate from CHIP-funded activities and that CHIP focuses on preserving aging housing stock and helping households remain in place when eligible.

The presentation also included a sign‑in sheet distributed to attendees and an offer to leave informational materials with the commissioners’ office.