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OECD reports grants, housing inspections and blight remediation as part of 2026 budget pitch
Summary
Sherry Frable and Tom Oleski described increased permit activity, nearly $12 million in grant applications in 2025 and ongoing blight-remediation work; the office seeks new administrative support and to convert a part-time maintenance role to full time.
Sherry Frable, director of the Office of Economic and Community Development, and Tom Oleski, director of Code Enforcement, presented a summary of 2025 grant activity, enforcement metrics and 2026 staffing requests.
Frable said the city has “applied for nearly 12,000,000 in grants” in 2025 and reported awards including roughly $1.5 million in state LSA grants and significant CDBG allocations for playground equipment and Weston Field projects. She outlined HOME-ARP allocations totaling $530,000 for supportive services and affordable rental development and said the office has allocated $350,000 each to two local nonprofit developers for new units.
Oleski described operational changes: two new housing inspectors with adjusted shift hours have helped the city nearly double stop-work orders and increase permit throughput (4,224 permits in 2025 vs. 2,670 in 2024, per his figures). He said rental registration work and proactive enforcement have identified suspected rentals and foreclosures and that code enforcement is coordinating with the police to address nuisance properties.
On blight remediation, OECD reported creation of a demolition list of 131 structures and $178,000 spent on demolition since September 2024; seven demolition decisions were upheld by the housing appeals board and 25 blighted structures have been demolished or contracted for by December 2025. Frable and Oleski requested a confidential secretary position for code enforcement, conversion of a part-time maintenance post to full time, and noted several positions shifting from partial OECD funding to full city funding.
Council members asked for detail on why license inspection revenue appears reduced while Bureau of Buildings costs rise; staff explained the buildings increase is driven largely by water costs and the licensing decline reflects a reallocation to professional services and changed trends in blight abatement spending. Staff agreed to provide additional line-item detail in follow-up budget materials.
