Carlisle council approves submission of five-year HUD consolidated plan, with submission contingent on HUD allocation

The Carlisle Borough Council voted to approve submitting the borough’s five-year Consolidated Plan (2025–29) and the 2025 Year 1 action plan, a required federal submission that frames planned use of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and related HUD funds.

Consultant Troy Truax of Michael Baker, who presented the plan at the April 2 workshop public hearing, said the borough and county are both HUD entitlement communities and must update the consolidated plan every five years. He noted a hard target to prepare and adopt the plan before HUD’s May 15 submission deadline, but cautioned that the borough can file only after HUD confirms its allocation: “we're kinda racing to the finish line of May 15,” Truax said.

The plan sets goals to preserve and increase affordable housing, improve public facilities and living environments (for example, sidewalk and park investments), and support economic development and small-business façade improvements. Truax summarized stakeholder engagement used to shape the plan: six focus groups, a housing summit, two public meetings for the analysis of impediments, a public hearing on Feb. 26, and a public survey that produced more than 400 responses.

At a borough-level scale, Truax provided preliminary funding figures used for planning: over the five-year period the county-level allocation is roughly $6 million in CDBG funds plus about $2 million in HOME funds; the borough’s five‑year allocation was stated as about $1,750,000. He emphasized these figures are planning estimates until HUD confirms final numbers.

Council discussion focused on process and timing. Council members asked whether staffing changes at HUD could delay allocations; a borough staff member noted last year’s delay was attributed to upper-level transitions at HUD and said day-to-day communications with HUD remained functional but the timing of higher-level approvals remained uncertain. The borough’s program year begins July 1, which staff said the borough must treat as the administrative start even when HUD later confirms cash allocations.

Council moved to approve the submission of Carlisle’s five-year consolidated plan for 2025–2029 and the 2025 Year 1 action plan; the motion was seconded by the deputy mayor and carried by voice vote. The council’s approval authorizes staff to proceed with adoption and final submission once HUD confirms the allocation.

Next steps listed by the consultant and staff include: collecting any remaining public comments from the current public comment period, finalizing the plan text for adoption, and submitting the adopted plan to HUD after HUD provides the borough’s official allocation amount.