Clay County proposes $2.1 million CDBG amendment to expand sidewalks and fund nonprofit capacity building

Jody Heisler, Clay County Grama Compliance Manager, opened a public meeting to review a proposed substantial amendment to the county—ommunity Development Block Grant (CDBG) FY25-26 that would raise the grant total to $2,101,940.03 and shift unspent funds to sidewalk infrastructure and nonprofit capacity building.

The CDBG is a federal program administered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that funds projects addressing affordable housing, homelessness, public services, special-needs populations, public facilities and infrastructure, and economic development. Heisler said the program nd the county im to benefit low- to moderate-income residents and address urgent community needs where other funds are unavailable.

Heisler said the amendment stems from a year-five reconciliation of the five-year grant. "The reconciliation demonstrated that there was $1,041,690.03 that had accumulated over the past 4 years from projects that were completed under the allocated amount," she said. Under the proposed amendment, that balance would be reallocated to county priorities.

"That would be broken down with with $1,851,940.03 to infrastructure sidewalks, a $100,000 to nonprofit capacity building, and a $150,000 to administration," Heisler said. Previously approved funding for FY25-26 totaled $1,060,250 (allocated as $910,250 for sidewalk infrastructure and $150,000 for administration). The amendment would therefore increase the overall FY25-26 grant total to $2,101,940.03.

Heisler said the proposed reallocation aligns with Clay County nd HUD strategic plans: the county is prioritizing safe pedestrian sidewalks, and HUD emphasizes services for low- and moderate-income areas. She described the $100,000 as a one-time allocation to build nonprofit capacity to deliver community services.

The county also intends to amend its citizen participation plan to update the listed physical location for submitting comments, replacing the previous reference to "Clay County Community Services" with the "Clay County Grama department." Heisler said public comment will be accepted in person at county libraries or the Grama department, online, or by email through Feb. 16.

Heisler said all public comments will be compiled into a document that will be appended to the substantial amendment and submitted to the Board of County Commissioners for review and a public hearing scheduled for Feb. 24.

The meeting information and the citizen participation plan are available online at claycountygov.com, Heisler said. The Board review on Feb. 24 is the next procedural step; no final action was recorded at this meeting.