Council approves timeliness report and adds $300,000 review for Vermont Village project

The City Council approved a timeliness task force report aimed at moving block-grant capital projects into construction and added an amendment to identify and assign resources for the Vermont Village project for committee review. Councilmember Ridley Thomas introduced an amendment (4a) requesting that task-force-identified resources for the Vermont Village project be included and that the work be referred to Housing, Community Redevelopment and the Community and Economic Development (CED) committee.

Councilmember Hernandez explained that the timeliness effort was driven by HUD expectations to get block grants spent for projects ready to move and that the recommended allocations were primarily capital dollars for projects that are construction-ready. Hernandez asked the council to add the phrase "subject to project readiness" to one recommendation so that funding would follow projects able to proceed.

The amendment asking allocation of $300,000 for review and referral to the named committees was seconded and the council voted to approve the item; the clerk recorded 10 ayes. Members said the move is intended to accelerate projects that are ready rather than merely starting new projects.

Council also said it plans further audits and reviews of projects that have been on the books for many years to reprogram funds to projects that are demonstrably ready to proceed. The action is aimed at shifting the emphasis from groundbreaking ceremonies to project completions that deliver community benefit.