Committee reviews public‑service and facilities applications; votes to shift Southside Community Center resilience project to public‑facilities review

The Getragette Urban Renewal Agencies neighborhood investments committee spent most of its meeting reviewing public‑service and related public‑facilities applications for the upcoming CDBG program year. After discussion, the committee agreed to recommend that the Southside Community Center’s resilience hub application be moved from the public‑service to the public‑facilities category so it can access the broader CDBG public‑facilities pool (which has no per‑project cap).

Why it matters: Moving the Southside project into public facilities would allow the applicant to compete for larger grants to cover building improvements and infrastructure (solar, electrical upgrades and structural work) that the committee identified as mostly facilities‑eligible rather than strictly public‑service items like emergency kits.

Southside Community Center resilience hub: Committee members described the project as a multi‑phase public‑safety/resilience proposal that aims to make a downtown facility usable as a shelter or hub after extreme weather or other emergencies. Members raised questions about scope, flood‑plain siting, whether the basement is functional, and which budget lines represent secured versus proposed funding. Staff reported a mix of secured amounts (letters or commitments cited for $250,000 from a state…