Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cdbg topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Middletown planning board finds proposed CDBG projects 'not in conflict' with comprehensive plan
Summary
The Planning Board voted to certify that Middletown's proposed Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) projects are not in conflict with the town's comprehensive plan, including local and regional projects such as road upgrades, shelter staffing, and behavioral health urgent care funding.
The Middletown Planning Board voted May (date not specified) to certify that the set of projects the town plans to submit for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds are not in conflict with the Middletown Comprehensive Community Plan. The certification does not require the board to endorse the projects' merits, only to find they do not conflict with the plan.
The board considered a list of proposed activities for program year 2023–2024. Staff presented projects that include bringing Bloom Court — currently a private road — up to town standards, funding staff costs for a behavioral health urgent care center located at Newport Hospital, continued staff support for Lucy’s Hearth family shelter in Middletown, a home-repair program for income-qualified homeowners (those at or below 80% of area median income), and a Looking Upwards project that provides housing for adults with developmental disabilities at a Dexter Street site in Newport.
Planning staff noted the certification task is limited: the board must only determine whether any of the activities conflict with the comprehensive plan, not whether they further plan goals or are good uses of taxpayer money. Board members asked clarifying questions about the geographic reach of certain projects (several services serve Newport County or are located just outside Middletown) and about the reason regional providers sometimes apply through Middletown rather than the municipality where a facility is located. Staff said limitations on how many public-facility projects a community can submit and precedent among neighboring municipalities are reasons regional providers sometimes apply through Middletown.
Board members raised no objections to the staff explanation and several said they saw no conflict between the listed activities and the comprehensive plan. The board then moved, seconded and voted to indicate the planning board sees no conflict with the comprehensive plan for the listed CDBG activities.
The certification was adopted by voice vote. The motion and vote were recorded as passed; no individual roll-call tally was read into the record.
Members of the public did not speak during the discussion. The item will proceed to the next steps in the CDBG application process with the board’s certification on file.
