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Council unanimously adopts bridge property acquisitions and a package of grants including HUD CoC and NextGen 911 funding
Summary
Roanoke City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance to acquire property rights for the downstream Wylie Drive bridge replacement and approved multiple grant acceptances: FY24 HUD Continuum of Care planning grant ($133,237), Virginia Homeless Solutions Program funds, United Way Bank On funding (FY26), and two Virginia Dept. of Emergency Management 9‑1‑1 grants for NextGen and shared call‑handling equipment.
Roanoke City Council approved a set of ordinances on Dec. 15 to support infrastructure, homelessness planning and emergency communications.
What passed: Council adopted an ordinance authorizing city staff to acquire real-property rights needed for the downstream Wylie Drive bridge replacement project, a VDOT-funded project intended to improve environmental conditions along the Roanoke River and river access. Council also adopted measures to accept and appropriate multiple grants:
• HUD Continuum of Care (FY2024) planning grant — $133,237 to support community-level coordinated entry, the annual HUD application and COC administrative support.
• Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development — Virginia Homeless Solutions Program grant (amount details in ordinance text) to support coordinated entry staff and planning activities.
• United Way of Roanoke Valley FY26 funding for the Bank On Roanoke Valley program to support financial-wellness classes and community outreach.
• Virginia Department of Emergency Management FY26 Next Generation 911 grant to upgrade call-handling equipment to support next-generation features such as real-time video, photos and AI assistance.
• Virginia Department of Emergency Management FY26 CHE shared call-handling equipment grant to maintain and enhance 911 center operations and employee wellness.
How council voted: Each ordinance was moved, seconded, read by title and adopted by roll-call vote with the clerk recording unanimous "Aye" votes from the members present. Where staff provided details, they emphasized the grants' programmatic purposes — homelessness coordination and 9‑1‑1 modernization — and noted some near-term funding risk: HUD had recently rescinded a NOFO that (staff said) would reduce next-year funding for permanent supportive housing by about $350,000.
What to watch: The HUD CoC update from the city’s COC planning representative warned that HUD’s FY25 NOFO had been rescinded and is being revised; initial changes would limit permanent supportive housing funding and could cut about $350,000 from programs that serve chronically homeless households. City staff signaled they will monitor the NOFO revisions and the community funding impact.
Procedural note: The ordinances moved through the regular process (motion, title reading, staff remarks and roll-call adoption) with city staff present to answer questions on programmatic details.
