Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cdbg Covid Reallocation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council delays vote on reallocating $407,553 in COVID-era CDBG funds, asks staff for alternatives
Summary
After a staff presentation on a proposed sidewalk redesign at Town Center Gateway Plaza, the Bellflower City Council opened public comment and directed staff to return with more project options before reallocating $407,553 in remaining CDBG CV funds.
The Bellflower City Council on April 14 postponed a decision to reallocate $407,553 in unspent COVID-era Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus (CDBG CV) funds, asking staff to bring back alternative projects and more detail before adopting a substantial amendment to the 2020–21 Annual Action Plan.
Staff said the city originally received $1,188,480 in CDBG CV funds from the CARES Act and later HUD allocations and that $407,553 remained unspent. City staff recommended reprogramming the balance to a sidewalk redesign and ADA improvements at the Town Center Gateway Plaza adjacent to the Belmont Street kiosk to allow more social distancing and improve lighting and access.
The recommendation was presented by staff and explained as meeting HUD’s COVID-tieback requirement — the improvements would encourage social distancing and be located in a CDBG low- and moderate-income area. Staff noted the project could be completed before the HUD expenditure deadline of November 16, 2026, and that a HUD representative agreed the plaza redesign met the COVID tieback.
Council members raised several questions at the public hearing about the project’s scope, the constrained footprint around the kiosk, and whether other locations would produce a better COVID tieback or greater community benefit. Councilmember Dan Coops and others suggested potential alternatives such as sidewalk improvements near schools (examples discussed during the meeting included Rose and Cedar/Coke area near an elementary school) and traffic-calming measures in residential neighborhoods.
Public comment included support for prioritizing sidewalks where children walk to school. One resident said the area near the school was “a mess” and urged the council to consider that location.
After discussion, Councilmember Victor Sanchez moved — with a second from Councilmember Wendy Morris — to continue the public hearing and return the item to council on May 12 so staff could present a short list of alternative projects that meet the CDBG CV criteria (including traffic-calming measures and sites near schools). The motion to continue to May 12 passed on a roll-call vote, 5–0 (Mayor Pro Tem Santanez, Council Members Coops, Morse, Sanchez and Mayor Dutton voting Aye).
Staff said the continuation avoids the need to re-notice the hearing and allows internal review of other eligible projects and the multifaceted federal requirements that must be met to use CDBG CV funds.
What’s next: staff will assemble candidate projects that meet HUD’s CDBG CV requirements (COVID tieback, located in eligible low- and moderate-income areas, and able to be completed by the expenditure deadline) and return to council at the May 12 meeting for direction.
Ending: The council did not adopt Resolution No. 25-14 (the staff-recommended amendment) on April 14 and left the public hearing open to a May 12 continuation so members could weigh alternatives and the COVID tieback rationale in more detail.
