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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1 - Public Hearing 2021 Town-wide housing Rehabilitation Grant Program CDBG Citizen Participation Plan 2021 New York State Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) and 2021 CDBG CARES ACT Funding (CDBG COVID-19 Response) Town of Cortlandville October 2021 I. Introduction: Municipalities that wish to participate in the New York State Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program (the “Program”) must prepare a Citizen Participation Plan that provides information to the public about the Program and incorporates citizen participation requirements outlined in Section 24 CFR Part 570.431 of the federal CDBG regulations. The Small Cities CDBG is a Program of the federal U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that is administered in New York State by the State’s Office of Community Renewal (OCR). This Plan meets the above requirements, and has been created to provide appropriate dissemination of information relative to the NYS CDBG Program to facilitate citizen review and input. This Plan may be revised yearly, as needed, to reflect any changes in the Program, application submission processes, funding availability, schedules, and rating and ranking of CDBG applications. II. Participation by Low-and-Moderate Income Persons: The NYS CDBG Program is designed to assist primarily low and moderate income persons (LMI), residents of slum and blighted areas, and residents of low and moderate income neighborhoods. Citizen participation by these persons will be provided for and encouraged as follows: Distribution of surveys and program participation surveys as appropriate and applicable; Holding public meeting(s) and/or hearing(s); Public notices and advertisements in local newspapers available to targeted persons. III. Information on Use of Funds: An Informational Statement will be prepared and made available at public meetings and hearings, and at the local governmental office. This statement will provide information on funds available, program requirements and eligible activities. Public hearings will be advertised in accordance with local law, and will be held so as to afford all citizens the opportunity to participate in the application development process, and to comment on the proposed use of funds. A Proposed Statement of Community Development Objectives and Projected Use of Funds will be available to the public prior to submission of an application to the NYS OCR for CDBG funds. The application(s) will be made available prior to submission to the maximum extent possible given the constraints of time and application deadlines. All records pertaining to the Program, including Annual Performance Reports and information relating to the actual use of funds, will be made available for public review upon request, with the exception of information subject to personal privacy and obligations of confidentiality. Documents will be made available during normal working hours. IV. Technical Assistance: Technical assistance will be made available to all persons desiring to participate in the planning process, and desiring to actually participate in program activities. This technical assistance will include, but will not necessarily be limited to: assistance in preparing applications for assistance; advisory assistance as to how groups and individuals may express their views, make program proposals, and most effectively participate in the NYS CDBG Program; and advisory and technical assistance in developing their ideas and projects to address their concerns. V. Public Hearings: Communities can submit more than one application under the CDBG Program subject to certain limitations. As noted below, grant applications are due at varying times of the year based on activity type. An initial public hearing will be held prior to submission of the first grant due and funded annually under the NYS CDBG program. This initial hearing will meet the requirements for all grant applications submitted for funding review by NYS OCR under the NYS CDBG Program for the year regardless of type of activity and deadline for submission. The initial hearing will include an explanation of the CDBG Program including the Program’s national objectives; a review of funds available, if known; program requirements; solicitation of community needs; review of the community’s program performance; outline of proposed activities and application alternatives; and schedules, to the extent known at the time of the initial public hearing. Citizens will be given an opportunity to express their views on needs, proposed activities, and past performance. The initial hearing is to be held after public notice in accordance with local law, and at times and locations convenient to potential and actual beneficiaries. As necessary and appropriate, accommodations will be made for the handicapped. A second public hearing will be held during the course of program/project administration for funded grants. This hearing, too, will be held after public notice in accordance with local law and at times and locations convenient to the public. VI. Complaints and Grievances: Complaints and grievances will be addressed promptly. Written complaints and grievances will be addressed in writing within 15 days where practicable, and within 30 days under any circumstances. They can be submitted to the Town Clerk, Town of Cortlandville, 3577 Terrace Road, Cortland, NY 13045. VII. NonEnglish Speaking Residents: There are not a significant number of nonEnglish speaking residents in the community, and special citizen participation efforts in this area are not required at this time. Should the need arise, or if notified of the need, necessary accommodations will be provided. VIII. Program Revisions and Amendments: Citizens shall be afforded the opportunity to express their views on revisions and amendments to any funded grant via public hearing as required by the CDBG Program. For revisions that do not entail a change in activities or significant budget changes, proposed changes will be reviewed by the governing body prior to action. All comments and views will be considered. A public hearing will be held to obtain citizen views for amendments that entail the addition or deletion of program activities and/or other significant changes to a funded activity. The proposed amendment will be published in the local paper. The final amendment will be made available to the public prior to its submission to the New York State OCR. All public hearings will be advertised in accordance with local law, and will be held as described in Section V. above. A. INFORMATIONAL STATEMENT: 2021 NYS CDBG PROGRAM Background of the Program: The CDBG Program was created as part of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. The Act was approved by Congress in 1974 and subsequently amended on several occasions. Under provisions of the amended Act, communities in New York State continue to be eligible for grant funds through the "NYS Small Cities CDBG Program" administered by the NYS OCR. CDBG applications are submitted at different times and under different processes, depending on the type of activity. Regardless of the type of grant or activity, all Small Cities CDBG funding is provided on a competitive basis. Criteria under which applications are judged and factors affecting fundability are discussed in more detail under the bolded headings below. Program Objectives and Eligible Activities 2021 CDBG: The primary objective of the Community Development Block Grant Program is the development of viable urban communities, including decent housing and a suitable living environment, and expanding economic opportunities, principally for persons of low-and-moderate income (LMI). Consistent with this primary objective, communities may apply for grants in the following areas: (1) Housing: (a) Rehabilitation, (b) Direct Homeownership, (c) New Construction, (d) Manufactured Housing Replacement Assistance, and (e) water/wastewater lateral assistance (2) Public Infrastructure and Public Facilities (3) Economic Development : (a) Traditional Economic Development – Generally larger businesses; assistance to attract new business, expand existing business or retention projects that result in the creation or retention of permanent, private sector opportunities for principally LMI individuals; (b) Small Business Assistance – For commercial enterprises that are independently owned, operated, and controlled; 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees; (c )Microenterprise Programs – Five or fewer persons including the owner(s); and (4) Planning Factors Affecting Funding by Grant Type: A CDBG may provide funds for activities designed to meet a specific community development need. Funds are available to address serious problems with housing occupied primarily by LMI, or lack of suitable housing for LMI; public infrastructure where the existing conditions affect public health and safety; public facilities that benefit LMI; or economic development activities to address a need to create or retain LMI employment opportunities. As noted above, CDBG applications are competitive and are rated and scored pursuant to a number of factors. Points are awarded for the following: (1) municipal poverty; (2) need; and (3) program/project impact. A minimum of 51% of the beneficiaries of public infrastructure and public facilities grants must be LMI. Public infrastructure grants must address a severe public health issue or need in an area where at least 51% of the residents are LMI. Similarly, public facility grants must address a lack of or deficiency in facilities, which benefit LMI persons. Economic development, small business assistance, and Microenterprise Programs must provide economic opportunity to LMI persons through direct assistance to an LMI individual/household or through the creation or retention of jobs, which are available to or taken by LMI persons. Grants for these activities are provided to the local governmental unit for loan or grant to the business. Housing rehabilitation must address substandard housing that is occupied primarily by LMI households and address a need for decent, safe, and affordable housing. Home ownership and new construction programs must directly benefit LMI; be marketable given the income characteristics of the beneficiaries, neighborhood and/or municipality; leverage private funds; and have an absence of implementation obstacles. The following factors will influence grant ratings for all types of grants: 1. Environmental considerations; 2. Leveraged funds; 3. Readiness/Project feasibility 4. Displacement considerations (housing); 5. Fair Housing 6. Past CDBG performance, if applicable. Activity Funding Limits: The limits for 2021 CDBG funding are as noted below: Activity Applicant Maximum Public infrastructure County, City, Town or Village $1M/$1.25 M* Public Infrastructure Joint applicants 1.5M/1.75M* Public Facilities County, City, Town or Village 300,000 Planning County, City, Town or Village 50,000 Microenterprise County, City, Town or Village 300,000 Economic Development County, City, City or Village 750,000 (Traditional) Small Business Assistance County, City, City or Village 100,000 Housing – Single and Multi County 1 Million Family Rehabilitation; Home. City, Town or Village 500,000 Buyer Down Payment Asst.; Stand along water and waste- water lateral assistance Manufactured Housing County 1.5 Million Replacement Assistance City, Town or Village 750,000 *With NYS Co-funding initiative Grant Submission Processes: CDBG applications to fund public infrastructure, public facilities, and planning are submitted under the NYS Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) process. The 2021 CFA grant submissions were due July 30, 2021. Housing, including housing rehabilitation, homeownership, new construction, manufactured housing replacement and water/wastewater later assistance are submitted in a separate housing round. The deadline for housing applications is October 29, 2021. Economic Development projects, including Microenterprise grants, are submitted on a rolling basis. Funding for CDBG applications submitted pursuant to the CFA are determined on a competitive basis, according to the rating and raking criteria noted above and scoring by the Regional Economic Development Council and NYS OCR. Under the CFA process, applicants for public facilities or infrastructure will compete with other applicants for public facilities or infrastructure, and so forth. The State of New York’s OCR will review CDBG applications and oversee the competition for NYS CDBG funds for those applications submitted through the CFA. Communities can apply for one public facilities/public infrastructure grant in a given year, subject to funding limitations. Communities can apply for small business and traditional economic development grants up to a total of $750,000 per year, and Microenterprise grants CDBG housing applications are submitted separately under a separate Housing Resources Funding Opportunity and generally under a different deadline. The deadline for 2021 is October 29, 2021. The CDBG Program provides economic development funds for large and small businesses, and Microenterprises on a rolling basis, outside the CFA and housing rounds. Communities can apply for a total of $750,000 for large/small businesses subject to funding limits of $750,000 and $100,000, respectively. As of fiscal year 2020, Microenterprise applications are also now submitted on a rolling basis. Communities can submit more than one Microenterprise application in a program year with a maximum of $300,000. CARES ACT Funding Specifics: Eligible communities can apply for multiple activities that meet the COVID-19 criteria of “preparing, preventing, and/or responding to the COVID-19 global pandemic”, up to a maximum of $500,000 for all activities. All activities must be completed within a 12-month period. Communities interested in submitting a CDBG CARES ACT (CDBG-CV) application should complete a consultation form and submit it to OCR prior to submitting an application. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Originally a deadline of August 27, 2021 was established for this program. However, Housing and Community Renewal (HCR) will continue to accept applications following the expiration of the August 27, 2021 deadline stated in the CDBG-CV Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) issued March 2021. The application will remain open until a new CDBG-CV NOFA is issued. A new NOFA is anticipated in the fall of 2021, or until funds are exhausted. NYS has been allocated $60 million, of which no less than $30 million will be available for non-entitlement (small cities) communities. The application for the CARES ACT funding is separate and different than the 2021 CDBG application, both of which can be accessed on the NYS OCR website. Additional information on the 2021 CDBG Program or the 2021 CDBG CARES ACT can be requested by contacting the Cortlandville Town Clerk, Kristin Rocco-Petrella, 3577 Terrace Road, Cortland, NY 13045, (607) 756-5725.