HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999 Jan 13 Special Town Board MinutesDRAFT'
TOWN OF ENFIELD
PUBLIC HEARING
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13TH, 1999
A public hearing on the Process of Small Cities Community Development (HUD) program
was held Wednesday, January 13th, 1999 at the Enfield Community Building, 182 Enfield
Main Road, Ithaca, New York at 6:30 p.m. Supervisor Owens presiding.
Present: Supervisor, Jean Owens; Town Councilman, Gary Fisher, Town Councilman,
Donald Lovelace; Town Councilman, Greg Stevenson. Town Councilman, Tom Drew
was absent. Others present, Highway Superintendent, Ron Updike; Bookkeeper, "Pat
Podufalski; Town Clerk, Alice Laue.
As no members of the public were in attendance the Supervisor closed the ;public hearing
at 6:42 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Alice Laue
Town Clerk
INFORMATION FOR PUBLIC HEARING #1 FOR 1999 SMALL CITIES COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM - Town of Enfield
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced funding available to
local municipalities for housing, community development and economic development activities. Two
Notices of Funding Availability (NOFA) were published in the Federal Register on November 20, 1998.
One NOFA provides for approximately $54.4 million in funding for the Small Cities Community
Development Block Grant, and the another NOFA provides for $3 million for the Canal Corridor
Initiative. Both NOFA's will be discussed in this public hearing.
i) Small Cities Community Development Block Grant
HUD is making $54.4 million available for the 1999 round of Small Cities funding. Maximum grant
limits for towns, cities and villages are $400,000, and for counties are $600,000. Municipalities may
apply for one grant or more than one grant, as long as the overall amount of the requests is not greater
than the limit.
Applications may be submitted in the following areas: housing (including rehabilitation, construction of
new housing, and homeownership), economic development, public facilities (typically water and
sewer), and microenterprise development. All projects must meet at least one National Objective for the
CDBG program, for which the most common is direct assistance to low and moderate income persons in
the community. The other National Objectives are clearance or rehabilitation of slums and blighted
conditions; and meeting the needs of a community in an emergency situation.
The Town of Enfield participated successfully in the Small Cities program in 1993 and 1994, receiving a
total of $800,000 for housing rehabilitation. Both of these programs are largely completed, and
closeout by HUD of these projects is anticipated in 1999 through a field visit by HUD personnel. Both
projects have met or exceeded application guidelines for number of customers served, amount spent on
construction and adherence to HUD guidelines and regulations.
An unsuccessful Town application was submitted for housing rehabilitation in 1996, and an
unsuccessful Tompkins County application for housing rehabilitation in Enfield was submitted in 1992.
In addition, eight houses have been sold in the Town of Enfield using Tompkins County Homeownership
Program funds. Tompkins County has not completed an economic development project in the Town of
Enfield.
The Town of Enfield believes that replacement of mobile homes and upgrading the housing stock is its
major need that can be met with Small Cities funds at the present time. The Town does not have public
infrastructure, and no economic development projects have come forward from the County solicitation
of projects.
j) Canal Corridor Initiative Funding
HUD concurrently announced the availability of a second round of Canal Corridor Initiative funding.
This funding is available through a separate Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for Canal Corridor
Initiative communities, which include Tompkins County and its local jurisdictions.
A total of $3,000,000 is available in grants, as well as loans through the HUD Section 108 program.
Each community is eligible for a maximum of $300,000 in grant funding, and all projects to be funded
must be job -creating economic development projects that have some impact on the Canal or waterfront.
_TO
z Grant funding is encouraged to combine with the Section 108 loan funding to provide lower interest rate
opportunities for economic development projects. Unlike the previous round of Canal Corridor
Initiative funding, Section 108 loans will not be written down by HUD, or have written -down interest
rates. Current Section 108 loan rates from HUD are approximately 6 1!2%, and all Section 108 loan
monies borrowed must be returned to HUD.
The Town of Enfield did not participate in the 1997 Canal Corridor Initiative, and does not anticipate
participating in this round. The Town is not proximate to the Canal. Should an opportunity to
participate in the Initiative come forward, the Town will be pleased to explore this funding possibility.
k) Abbreviated Consolidated Plan
The Town will be completing a new Abbreviated Consolidated Plan for submission with the application
that includes the elements of the applications being submitted for the 1999 round, in accordance with
HUD regulations for the Small Cities program.
1) Both Programs
Applications for funding for both NOFA's are due to the HUD Field Office in Buffalo on Wednesday,
February 3rd by 4:30 p.m. The second public hearing will describe the application or applications being
submitted in greater detail, as per HUD guidance for public hearings. The second public hearing is
scheduled far january ZO at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Hall.
I would be happy to take any questions at this time.
M