Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cdbg Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
AHEC recommends $84,000 to Neighbor Impact, $6,000 to Nativity Lutheran and backs 2026 CDBG annual action plan
Summary
The Affordable Housing and Community Advisory (AHEC) committee recommended council authorize 2026–27 CDBG public‑services awards—$84,000 to Neighbor Impact and $6,000 to Nativity Lutheran under contingency—and voted to recommend approval of the 2026 CDBG annual action plan and an amendment to the citizen participation plan.
The Affordable Housing and Community Advisory committee recommended that Bend City Council authorize Community Development Block Grant public‑services awards for the 2026–27 program year, allocating $84,000 to Neighbor Impact and $6,000 to Nativity Lutheran under a contingency tied to the city’s final CDBG allocation.
Todd Pryor explained the subgroup’s approach, saying that “if the city's CDBG public services funding amount for the 2026–27 program year is more than $90,000 all additional funds will be awarded to Neighbor Impact,” and that if available funding is below $90,000, the full amount would go to Neighbor Impact to preserve administrative feasibility for the smaller, first‑time applicant.
The committee heard that Neighbor Impact intends to use funds for food purchase and distribution across local food banks and kitchens, with objectives stated in the application of 52,000 meals and 62,000 pounds of food; Nativity Lutheran requested $6,000 to serve around 40 families and cover basic operating costs. Staff members noted that for first‑time applicants, very small awards (e.g., $3,000) can be administratively impractical.
In the same meeting, staff presented the draft 2026 CDBG annual action plan, which estimates $90,000 for public services, approximately $127,000 for infrastructure (including a continuation of prior sidewalk and road improvements), and an approximate $250,000 set aside for homebuyer assistance. Melissa Kamani, the city’s affordable housing coordinator, summarized that homebuyer referrals will come from local affordable housing developers and that individual homebuyers could receive up to $50,000 in repayable down‑payment assistance under the plan.
The committee also voted to adopt a revised citizen participation framework for HUD’s CDBG program, raising the threshold that triggers a “substantial amendment” from 25% to a higher trigger used by many jurisdictions, and recasting the local document as a city policy to reduce administrative burden while remaining compliant with HUD requirements.
All three motions were recorded in the meeting as passing; the transcript records the votes as passing but does not include a roll‑call tally in the record distributed to the committee.
The committee closed the public hearing portion of the meeting after no members of the public delivered comments in the session.
What’s next: The recommendations will be forwarded to Bend City Council for final approval and staff were authorized to pursue implementation steps for the activities recommended for funding.
