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Juliet's House seeks county-backed CDBG grant to buy adjacent office and expand services
Summary
Juliet's House asked Yamhill County to support a Community Development Block Grant application to acquire an adjacent small office building, expand assessment and trauma-informed services for children exposed to abuse and drugs, and host partner agencies. Business Oregon staff detailed federal rules, environmental review and county responsibilities; commissioners asked for cost and liability estimates before deciding.
Russell Mark, a representative of Juliet's House, told the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners that the nonprofit is seeking the county's support to apply for state-administered Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to buy the small office building next door and expand services for abused and drug-exposed children.
"This grant will allow us to do that and to expand the services, our our assessment services," Mark said, adding the site could host other nonprofits and an independent-living office for youths exiting foster care. He described the purchase as an "acquisition" project that would meet immediate operational needs and be a preliminary step toward a future family justice center for the service area.
Martha Chapa of Business Oregon explained how the CDBG program is structured and what the state looks for in applications. She said the program is divided among four buckets — public works, housing rehab, community facilities and small miscellaneous projects — and that Juliet's House would fit in the community-facilities bucket if it can document services to low- and moderate-income people. Chapa warned that acquisition-plus-rehabilitation projects trigger a more complex NEPA environmental review and prevailing-wage (Davis-Bacon) obligations, while an acquisition-only project typically avoids prevailing-wage triggers.
Commissioners pressed staff on administrative burdens, liability and the timeline. One commissioner said the board has a fiduciary duty to know what county costs and exposures would be; Business Oregon replied the county is the grant recipient and is responsible to HUD for implementation, that deed restrictions commonly secure eligible uses for five years, and that the agency can help craft policies and templates for subrecipient arrangements. The board directed county staff to produce a ballpark internal cost estimate, to publish the required public-hearing notice promptly (a pre-application intake is due in late August and full applications by Sept. 30), and to return with numbers and a recommended public-hearing date prior to a final application decision.
The commissioners did not approve the application at the Aug. 6 meeting; rather, they authorized notice of a public hearing and requested staff cost estimates and a follow-up discussion at the Aug. 20 meeting to decide whether to proceed with a full application.
