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Committee recommends Gardner City’s FY2026 CDBG application, reallocates prior‑year funds to social services and downtown improvements
Summary
Assistant Director Amy Diaz presented the proposed FY2026 CDBG application and recommended reallocations of prior‑year funds to maintain social services (including Gardner Community Action Committee, veteran services and Saint Paul’s Laundry Love) and to fund downtown phase 6 infrastructure; the committee voted to recommend the packet to the full council for action on April 6.
Assistant Director Amy Diaz told the committee that the Community Development Department simplified the FY2026 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application process, combined two application stages into a single form and held applicant training and public hearings to help nonprofit applicants. Diaz said the steering committee will finalize the proposed application at a subsequent public hearing and the council will receive a resolution accompanying the application.
Diaz explained that the committee’s recommendation includes reallocating prior‑year funds that became available when some projects were completed under budget or when originally planned projects did not proceed. She noted specific prior allocations that must be reallocated: a roughly $90,000 allocation for School Street School design (the demolition did not move forward), a $50,000 allocation previously set for the Gardner Emergency Housing Mission (GEM) which no longer exists, and smaller residual amounts from FY22–23 grants.
The recommended reallocation would continue funding critical public social services and add one infrastructure project for FY2026 (downtown improvements, phase 6). Diaz named several reallocation recipients and amounts discussed by the steering committee: Gardner Community Action Committee (funding for a full‑time coordinator and projects), Gardner School Department athletic scholarship assistance ($15,000), a CAC project ($30,000), Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church Laundry Love program ($4,500), and Voices of Truth domestic violence prevention and survivor support ($15,000). Diaz said the department prioritized maintaining funding for existing services while also proposing downtown phase 6 as the FY2026 infrastructure submission.
Committee members praised the clearer schedule and streamlined application. The chair asked for the resolution that will accompany the council submittal; Diaz agreed to send the drafted resolution to committee members so they can review it before the council meeting. The chair then entertained a motion to recommend the steering committee’s package to the full council; the motion passed on an oral vote and the packet will move to the council calendar for action on April 6.
Next steps: Diaz will email the resolution and final packet to the committee; the steering committee will hold a final public hearing before the formal submission to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and the council will consider the resolution on April 6.
