Board reviews CDBG and HOME applications and readies scoring process; staff emphasizes equity lens and conflict-of-interest checks

Clark County staff told the Urban County Policy Board on Jan. 13 that the county received a slate of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME program applications and will provide board members access to full applications before scoring begins.

Rebecca Royce of Clark County Community Services summarized applications submitted for public facilities, asset and economic development, and affordable housing and homelessness. Among requests listed in staff materials and presented at the meeting were:

- City of Battle Ground: two public-facility/neighborhood-improvement requests — $150,000 for a northeast Grace Avenue walkway and $400,000 for Remi Park improvements; - Clark County: $400,000 to repair a county-owned building in Battle Ground used by Sea Mar for programs; - City of Ridgefield: $400,000 for Maple Street water, storm and sidewalk improvements; - Vancouver Housing Authority: $400,000 for an exterior renovation at Bertha’s Place shelter; - City of Washougal: $400,000 for phase 1 ADA sidewalks and stormwater improvements; - Evergreen Habitat for Humanity: land-acquisition funding (amount not specified in presentation); - Fourth Plane Forward: $285,000 for BIPOC-focused business assistance; - Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber: bilingual microenterprise technical assistance (amount not specified in presentation); - Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon: $118,000 for business assistance; - Upwards: $240,000 for business assistance/microenterprise support; - Columbia Nonprofit Housing: $300,000 for a new senior housing project (River & Main) in Washougal; - Vancouver Housing Authority: additional $400,000 for Weaver Creek Commons in Battle Ground; - Tenant-based rental assistance applications from Janus Youth (youth-focused), SHARE (general households) and YWCA of Clark County (domestic violence survivors).

Royce told the board staff will request technical changes from applicants as needed and expects to make applications available to board reviewers by late January or the first week of February. She also said staff anticipates a “significant amount” of HOME funding for this round because of previously rescinded awards and a repaid loan, but that final HOME totals will be available in March when staff brings funding recommendations.

On scoring, Royce summarized the county’s Neighborly online review system and said reviewers will receive separate access notices for each of the three funding tracks (public facilities/neighborhood improvements; asset and economic development; affordable housing and homelessness). "You will get an email from the Neighborly system when you have access to go in and start scoring the applications," Royce said. She added that because Neighborly does not capture conflict-of-interest attestations for scoring, the county will send a DocuSign form that every scoring committee member must sign to disclose conflicts and that reviewers should not compare applications to one another when scoring.

Staff also emphasized guidance that reviewers should apply an equity lens: evaluate projects for how they target historically marginalized populations, whether proposals demonstrate community engagement, whether applicants use data to show need, and whether applicants have capacity to serve the target population. Royce reviewed common scoring biases and reminded reviewers to score each question on its own merits.

Staff said technical assistance will be available to scoring committee members, and that Neighborly support and county staff can help with access. The board will hear applicant presentations at its Feb. 10 meeting.

Votes or formal decisions on funding were not made at the Jan. 13 meeting; staff will return with scoring and funding recommendations in March.