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Avery County closes out 2021 CDBG housing grant, will return $206,890 to state
Summary
At a public hearing the county approved closeout of its 2021 CDBG Neighborhood Revitalization grant; three homes were reconstructed using $514,692.25 and $206,890.64 of the $750,000 award will be deobligated after rehabilitation procurement and hurricane impacts prevented full program completion.
Michelle Ball opened a public hearing on Jan. 6 to allow citizen input on the closeout of Avery County's 2021 CDBG Neighborhood Revitalization Program (#20-C-3626), a $750,000 award intended to provide housing repair assistance to very low- and low-income residents.
Ball reported that three homes were treated with the program and all three were replaced through CDBG reconstruction and clearance assistance. The county expended $514,692.25 on reconstruction activities and $28,417.11 on planning and administration. An average of $168,564.08 was spent per replaced house. Because rehabilitation projects encountered procurement delays and contractors were scarce, the county was unable to complete the originally planned rehabilitations; $206,890.64 of the original grant will be deobligated and returned to the N.C. Department of Commerce for use in future programs.
Ball described a procurement timeline that delayed sole-source approval from Commerce (the county noted Commerce's approval came on July 11, 2024) and an extension was later approved on Sept. 11, 2024; the county said the original grant expenditure deadline was Aug. 4, 2024. While trying to resolve bids, Hurricane Helene struck the area, further complicating schedules. County staff presented the alternatives and recommended closing out the project and pursuing another CDBG-NR application in the fall rather than seeking another extension.
The board went into and out of the public hearing by unanimous motions, then voted 5-0 to approve the closeout documents. Commissioners discussed the procurement challenges and thanked staff for their efforts in a time-sensitive process.
