Redevelopment Authority and commissioners reallocate older CDBG funds and approve fair‑housing resolution

The county’s Redevelopment Authority presented its annual Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) cycle to commissioners and won approval to submit its application and adopt a required fair‑housing resolution.

Dan Lyons and Sydney Richardson of the Redevelopment Authority described a standard annual process: a pre‑application invitation to eligible municipalities and public service agencies, a public hearing for input, staff evaluation and a second public hearing, and publication of the proposed budget. Commissioners approved the fair‑housing resolution and authorized the chairman to sign the application submission to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

Authority staff also proposed budget modifications to reallocate unspent, older monies to projects ready to spend. Lyons said money from as early as February 2019 is past the contract expenditure deadline and that state monitoring required reallocation to cover administrative shortfalls. The proposal moves older funds from 2019 and two 2021 allocations to pay an outstanding invoice on a 2023 Meijerstown project that is under construction. South Lebanon will reassign leftover owner‑occupied housing rehab funds into an acquisition‑rehab‑resale program to complete a property on Fifth Avenue. A Jonestown project approved in fiscal year 2022 was withdrawn by that municipality and will be reallocated to an eligible Handbill project ready to proceed.

Commissioners approved the application, the fair‑housing resolution and the budget modifications during the meeting. Lyons said the changes will pay immediate invoices and shift money to projects with more immediate expenditure timelines.