City of Sandusky reports spending, demolitions and park upgrades in 2024 CAPER

Nicole Growe, the City of Sandusky's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) administrator, presented the city's Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) for program year 2024, saying the program year ran "July 2024 to June" (end year not specified) and that the city was allocated $715,533 and spent $553,049 for the period.

The CAPER summarizes work tied to the city's five-year Consolidated Plan (2024'2028). Growe told the Sandusky Boards & Commissions meeting that the report covers administration and planning, housing and fair-housing efforts, clearance and demolition, housing rehabilitation, neighborhood stabilization, community development (including transit), public facilities, code enforcement and special-needs assistance.

On administration and planning, Growe said the budget line was about $118,000; a previously reported $49,000 in expenses had increased in recent weeks but the packet had not been updated to reflect the latest charges. On fair housing, she said the city budgeted $9,500 and the fair-housing consultant fielded 99 calls (the consultant's annual target was estimated at 150).

Growe said the city demolished four structures during the program year: 937 Washington, 2224 Severs Way, 717 Warren and a garage at 530 Lockwood. The total cost of those demolitions was reported as $254,000 and was paid from carryover CDBG funds; Growe said demolition costs are assessed to the property taxes and will be submitted to the Erie County auditors for tax assessment. "I don't know if the full amount's been assessed yet, but it will be," Growe said.

The rehabilitation program had a $150,000 allocation, Growe said, and about 87 percent of that allocation was spent. She said 11 homes have received work so far and that the program will likely reach 13 homes as remaining funds are applied; the program includes lead-based paint removal and healthy-homes activities and is administered in partnership with the Erie County Health Department.

Neighborhood stabilization spending totaled about $116,000, Growe said, and yielded multiple park improvements. She identified three parks with work this year: Ambedts (shelter, benches and shade structures), Huron Park (splash pad repairs) and Shafer Park (playground replacement). Growe said the budget had estimated one improvement but the city completed three.

Under community development, Growe said the transit allocation was roughly $41,000 (about 80 percent spent) and supported three transit stops and related pads; the city also placed trash receptacles at eight locations. For public facilities, she said roughly $345,000 was spent on repaving five segments of Pierce Street and that the project came in slightly under budget, leaving funds to roll into the next program year.

Growe reported $107,000 spent on code enforcement activities and said the program funded nearly 700 inspections during the reimbursed period. She said that while the CAPER packet estimated 150 inspections, staff performed substantially more, and that during the months covered by reimbursement the city recorded 497 enforcements with about 71 percent resulting in compliance. Growe cautioned that some receipts and paperwork were still outstanding for certain reimbursement lines.

Special-needs assistance included subrecipient grants. Growe identified subrecipients and programs as Ogo (mobile food pantry), the Erie County Senior Center Meals on Wheels program and Father's Heart Church (toiletries distribution). She said the subrecipient budget line was $62,000 but reported about $87,000 was spent in the program year (including rolled-over funds) and that those programs reported serving about 427 people; New Jerusalem Church had unspent funds from program year 2023 that were used this year to expand a heating/cooling shelter.

Growe reviewed HUD-calculated eligible census block groups and said the city's maps were recently updated, increasing the areas the city can serve under the Low- and Moderate-Income (LMA) national objective; she said 36 projects used the LMA objective during the program year. She told the meeting the CAPER was posted online at www.cityofsandusky.com under Community Development Block Grant documents and a printed copy was available at the Sandusky Library.

A public comment period on the CAPER opened Aug. 21 and runs through Sept. 5, Growe said, and a public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 8 at 5:00 p.m. in the city chamber. With no additional comments from attendees, Growe adjourned the meeting.