Perry holds first public hearing on 2023–24 CDBG application; residents cite housing, fire station needs

The City of Perry opened its first public hearing on a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application for program year 23–24, with consultant Andy Easton describing the application timeline and the role of a door-to-door income survey to establish eligibility.

Andy Easton, of Andy Easton and Associates, told the Perry City Council the application deadline is May 2 and that the city must show that a sufficient share of residents have household incomes below the state median to be competitive. "This is a door to door survey, a random sample survey to find out what the average income is in the area," Easton said.

The hearing is the first of two required public hearings and follows a Citizens Advisory Task Force meeting held immediately before the council session. Easton said the task force discussed water, sewer and streets and voted to recommend the council apply under the neighborhood revitalization category, which can include community centers, fire stations, streets and water and sewer work.

Council and attendees discussed what geographic area an award would serve and how CDBG activities can be citywide for facilities such as a fire station or limited to specific blocks for street work. Easton said the program is flexible but limited by federal program rules and scoring; he noted examples such as building renovation projects in other Florida municipalities that used CDBG funds.

Easton explained the survey methodology: roughly 100 randomly selected households will be interviewed and that competition increases if a larger share of households earn 80% or less of the area median income. "If 70% of the people have incomes of 80 percent or less of the median household income, then you get a high score," he said. He cautioned results vary by community and the city will have to await survey results to know competitiveness.

Councilmembers and public commenters raised housing and cleanup needs and asked whether signage and business demolition or rehabilitation could be eligible activities. Easton said some economic-development activities, including acquisition and rehabilitation of structures, can be eligible, but eligibility and competitiveness depend on the project category.

The consultant said staff will assemble an application after survey results and hold a second public hearing in two to three weeks to review the completed application and consider a motion to authorize submission. No final application or motion was taken at the hearing.

Next steps: the consultant and city staff will complete the income survey, prepare a draft application and schedule a second public hearing where the council may vote to submit an application and authorize any required matching commitments.