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Council votes to continue Lead & Healthy Homes program, keeping $20,000 local cap
Summary
The Manchester City Council unanimously agreed to continue participating in the federal Lead & Healthy Homes program and to keep a $20,000 annual local-match cap, after a presentation from ECIA project manager Stan Lobiano on eligibility and increased federal project maximums.
Stan Lobiano, project manager with the East Central Intergovernmental Association, told the Manchester City Council the new seven-county Lead & Healthy Homes grant totals $5.75 million and asked the city to continue its participation and local match. Lobiano summarized eligibility rules: the home must have been built in 1978 or earlier, a child under age six must be present, and household income limits apply (a family of four must make $77,500 or less; a grandparent with a visiting child $54,250 or less). Lobiano said the federal program requires a $2,000 local match per project and that federal maximums have increased to $30,000 for lead mitigation and $15,000 for healthy-homes work.
"The lead and healthy homes program is focusing on the health and safety of our families, particularly our young children," Lobiano said, describing recent completed projects in Manchester and the program’s emphasis on addressing elevated blood lead levels promptly. He said the ECIA averages roughly $29,269 per project in recent cycles and prioritizes homes with children who have elevated blood-lead tests.
Councilmembers discussed the existing budget allocation and timing. Staff noted the city had budgeted $30,000 this fiscal year and $20,000 for the next fiscal year in fund 161 (acquisition/demolition), and that approximately $16,000 of the current-year spending had supported grants to date. Lobiano asked for the council’s agreement within six weeks to secure the community’s place in the new program cycle.
A councilmember moved to continue the program with the previously budgeted $20,000 cap on local matching funds; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously (recorded votes in the meeting: Joe yes; Brian yes; Jill yes; Marian yes; Linda yes). The council did not change the $20,000 cap at the meeting and directed staff to proceed with the grant coordination steps identified by ECIA.
The decision preserves Manchester’s eligibility for the federal funding while keeping the city’s annual local-match exposure limited to the amount the council previously budgeted. Staff advised that individual project awards can exceed the program’s prior maxima when approved by the federal grant administrator, but any such higher-cost cases would require case-by-case approvals and use of the grant’s leveraging structure.
