Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Recovery topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Housing committee to consider CDBG/DR plan amendments; council to appoint Helene recovery boards amid application‑deadline questions
Summary
Staff previewed amendments to steady‑state CDBG policies and CDBG‑DR action plan elements — including raising the lien threshold to $25,000 and adjusting program award levels — and outlined an early‑2026 earliest expectation for grant awards under federal procurement rules.
City staff outlined updates for the Housing and Community Development (HCD) committee at the Oct. 9 agenda briefing, including proposed amendments to the CDBG‑DR action plan and an update on appointments to multiple Helene recovery boards.
Ben Woody described three primary CDBG/steady‑state items that will appear at the HCD committee: 1) increase the lien threshold for the steady‑state home repair/rehab program from $10,000 to $25,000 so more homeowners can participate without a city lien; 2) raise the maximum beneficiary award amounts for owner‑occupied home repair/reconstruction under the CDBG‑DR program to better match local costs; and 3) reduce the minimum subrecipient award size for housing and economic support services to widen the pool of eligible nonprofit subrecipients. Woody said the Disaster Recovery (DR) bucket for some programs is about $2 million.
Staff also reviewed timing for DR‑funded programs. Woody and James Shelton said the next steps include issuing Notices of Funding Opportunity to identify qualified subrecipients who would administer city grants; because DR funds must follow federal procurement rules and the city is no longer under an emergency declaration, the earliest staff expects grant programs to reach businesses and households is early 2026.
Separately, staff briefed council on appointments to four Helene recovery boards. City Clerk Maggie Burleson said she will present tallies at the Oct. 14 meeting. Councilmembers raised procedural questions after some applicants missed the posted deadline; several councilmembers praised a specific applicant (Jeffrey Burrows) and asked whether exceptions could be made. Burleson said the application window opened Sept. 9 and staff is reluctant to admit late applications when others met the deadline; staff said vacancies and future openings could provide additional appointment opportunities.
Ending: HCD will have a detailed presentation on CDBG policy and DR action plan amendments at the committee meeting; staff will publish NOFOs, identify subrecipients, and return to council for program approvals. Clerk’s office will deliver the application tallies and council will make appointments on Oct. 14.
