Chester — Council members spent the Jan. 12 deliberative meeting scrutinizing the draft fiscal year 2026 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships action plan, pressing staff on monitoring procedures, infrastructure work tied to a Grace Manor development and the scope of proposed repairs at the Boys & Girls Club.

A council member asked whether the city monitors the funds it awards and what reporting methods are used. An unnamed city staff member replied, “So we do. We do go out, either probably every year, maybe sometimes every 2 years, we go out to the site and we pull their records and we give them a list of the documents that they need to provide to us,” adding that the city “follow[s] the HUD procedure on that.” The staff member said the city also reviews affordability records during typical 15‑year periods for subsidized housing.

Council members sought detail about two public‑services line items totaling $60,000 and whether those dollars were tied to specific shelter projects. Staff said the city’s CDBG money for public services is programmatic and other shelter support typically comes through HUD or state supportive‑services funding. The staff member noted a federal cap limiting CDBG public‑service spending to 15% of the entitlement allocation.

On infrastructure, council questioned a proposed $50,000 allocation for Grace Manor. Staff said the planning review requires off‑site improvements, including new roadways and intersection work at 9th & Harwick and 7th & Harwick, and improvements to James Street (an alley east of the project) to meet the same standards required of private developers. “So we wanted to put additional funding to offset that because that wasn't accounted for in our development budget for the new units,” staff said.

Council asked whether the city — which staff confirmed technically owns the Boys & Girls Club building — or the club pays for a $90,000 bathroom renovation. Staff cited the original long‑term lease that assigns minor improvements to the club and items over $5,000 to the city; staff said previous allocations (reported as about $50,000 to $58,000) are being combined with this year's proposal because the total estimated cost is about $148,000 to $150,000.

Staff also outlined outreach and application steps for CDBG awards: an annual application period, newspaper notices required by federal rules, postings on chestercity.com and direct emails to interested organizations. The staff member noted the mayor held a public hearing on the draft in recent weeks and that the city follows a citizen participation plan.

The solicitor read a slate of resolutions on the agenda related to appointments and program approvals, including the CDBG/HOME action plan and a supplemental environmental proposal for the Public Works site. The resolutions were read for final passage, but the transcript does not record any roll‑call votes or final tallies in the deliberative session.

Next steps: staff said they will advertise the draft action plan and proceed with required public notices under federal guidelines. Council did not record votes on the action plan during the deliberative discussion.

(Reporting note: direct quotes in this story are verbatim phrases from the meeting transcript attributed to an unnamed city staff member who presented CDBG details.)