Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the CDBG DR topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Round two of CDBG‑DR housing funds looms after mixed award results; council pushes for North End
Summary
City staff reported mixed outcomes from the first round of CDBG‑DR awards: Prospect Heights and Harrington Avenue projects were funded (totaling about $6.5M), while several North End mitigation components were not funded; $14.4M remains for a housing‑only second round with Jan.12 pre‑application and Feb.27 application deadlines.
Staff briefed council on CDBG‑DR grant outcomes and next steps. The city requested about $27.5 million across housing ($23M), infrastructure ($3.7M) and planning ($336k). State reviewers funded roughly $6.5M of projects including Prospect Heights (housing) and the Harrington Avenue floodplain/debris‑rack project, while other submissions ran out of funds or were judged incomplete for the housing bucket.
The state attached a binding condition to the Prospect Heights award that the city secure a developer by March 2026 for the $10M request; staff cautioned that deadline is challenging. The manager described options for the remaining $14.4M (housing only): resubmitting North End Gateway with edits (preserving elevations and buyouts where possible), focusing a smaller application on city‑owned parcels (for example, 143 North Main), or reframing certain mitigation elements as housing preservation to meet program rules. Several councilors expressed disappointment that the Willie Street bridge mitigation and North End acquisition pieces did not receive more support and urged a vigorous, targeted response for round two.
Staff noted tight application requirements from reviewers—detailed budgets, developer commitment letters and specific project scopes—and recommended the council prioritize a focused strategy for the Jan.12 pre‑application deadline and Feb.27 formal submission.
