Scranton City Council holds public hearing on HUD 2025 consolidated action plan; Hilltop Heights funding noted

Scranton City Council opened a public hearing to receive testimony on the city’s draft HUD 2025 consolidated action plan, the staff member presenting the plan said. The plan covers programs funded under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, the HOME Investment Partnerships program (HOME) and the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program.

City staff said the five-year consolidated plan is now posted (or being posted) at scrappa.gov for a 30-day public comment period and that the council will hear the plan again on June 29. “So our 5 year consolidated plan is present now online at scrappa.gov and needs to reside there for 30 days for the public to have input on the plan,” the staff member said.

The staff member described the draft as largely consistent with prior years’ priorities and emphasized housing and nonprofit support. “So there’s not big changes to the plan by any means. There’s more need and then there’s less funding,” the staff member said, adding that the city is prepared to amend the plan if final HUD allocations differ from current expectations.

Staff outlined timing uncertainty tied to HUD’s schedule. “Our deadline is to have it fully uploaded in HUD by August 16,” the staff member said, and noted the city has previously received HUD allocations late in the calendar year, which complicates program rollout. The staff member also said HUD technical assistance had been temporarily delayed but that contact with HUD analysts has resumed.

No members of the public had signed up to speak at the hearing, the presiding official said. Council members asked for clarification about where to find the document online and about material changes from the prior plan. Council member Dr. Rothschild asked specifically for a comparison between the draft and the prior plan: “I’m wondering, if you're able to explain what changes there have been, in this plan compared to our past one and the updates that have been made to it because even going through it, you know, try to, like, make that comparison.”

Council member Mr. Shuster asked about a project listed in the plan, Hilltop Heights. City staff said Hilltop Heights appears in last year’s action plan and is funded with HOME-ARP dollars. “There’s $350,000… The way that we are going to approach it is that it will run through the Scranton Redevelopment Authority,” the staff member said.

The city staff described the draft as 149 pages in length and said the consultant Chrysalis would help implement changes and edits that result from public comment. Staff urged interested parties to review the posted draft and submit comments during the 30-day period.

With no further business, the presiding official asked for a motion to adjourn; a motion was made and the meeting was adjourned. The hearing record contains no roll-call vote on any action during the hearing.

Next steps recorded at the hearing: the draft plan will remain available at scrappa.gov for 30 days, the council will revisit the plan on June 29 for further consideration, and staff intends to upload the final plan to HUD by the city’s stated August 16 deadline.