City Council
MEETING DATE: 8/9/2017
TITLE:
Title
CDBG Five-Year Consolidated Plan and first year Annual Action Plan
End
FROM:
John A. Corella, P.E. - City Engineer
Vincent Lopez - Senior Administrative Analyst
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council approve the FY 2017-2021 Consolidated Plan and first year Annual Action Plan for submittal to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); and, authorize the City Manager (or designee) to execute the SF-424 application of the Action Plan to receive the entitlement award.
Body
BACKGROUND:
On February 22, 2017, an update was provided to the City Council by Staff and The Ramsay Group (TRG) regarding the Consolidated Plan process. The purpose of the update was to provide the City Council an opportunity give direction and feedback on the types of program, service, and public improvement goals needed during this planning term. TRG also provided an update on what had been completed thus far and provided information on what to expect during the planning process.
On May 10, 2017, this item was scheduled for approval and submittal to HUD. Based on Notice CPD 16-18 released early this year, HUD advised all grantees to submit their Action Plan with an amount equal to the previous year entitlement due to the delay in their budget approval. However, Staff asked for a continuance for a date uncertain until HUD released the fiscal year appropriations.
DISCUSSION:
The City of Cathedral City’s Five-Year Consolidated Plan consists of three basic components required from the HUD program. The three components of the Consolidated Plan are: a housing and community development needs assessment; a survey of available resources; and a five-year strategy that specifies attainable program goals.
The City of Cathedral City has identified seven priority development areas to meet the greatest needs of residents in the City. Priorities are based on responses to the 2017 Community Survey conducted in the City, information gathered in specific focus groups, interviews with various organizations and service providers in the housing and community development field, data obtained from the 2010 Census, the American Community Surveys, Needs Assessments, Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy, and the City’s General Plan.
Based on this information gathered, the City will invest its CDBG funding to address needs in the following priority areas:
• Community Services (Public Services)
• Infrastructure
• Community Facilities (Public Facilities)
• Neighborhood Services
• Special Needs Services
• Housing
• Business and Jobs (Economic Development)
More detailed priorities, project-specific information, and accomplishment projections for Housing, Community Development, Homeless and Special Needs populations and anticipated accomplishments will be presented and carried out by the Annual Action Plans.
FY 2017 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN:
The Annual Action Plan (AAP) outlines a summary of the actions, activities, and programs that will take place during the next fiscal year to address the priority needs and specific objectives identified in this FY 2017-2021 Consolidated Plan. The AAP identifies the relationship between federal resources and the specific objectives created to address priority needs identified by the strategic plan.
For this fiscal year, the City increased the Inland Fair Housing budget by $6,000 to implement one of the goals identified in the Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) submitted in October 2016. Inland Fair Housing will now offer “mobility counseling” in addition to the services they currently offer Cathedral City residents.
Mobility counseling is a counseling intervention that ensures that people using government housing subsidies like the Housing Choice Voucher Program have access to full information about available housing options in a variety of neighborhoods.
The City will continue funding non-profit organizations that provide the programs and services needed in the community while assisting the City in achieving the goals identified in the Consolidated Plan. The fiscal allocations for the City’s 2017 CDBG Program are demonstrated in the Fiscal Impact.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
An environmental review record subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and/or California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for federally funded projects will be prepared on a project-specific basis.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
Per the City’s adopted Community Participation Plan (CPP), the City hosted two community meetings to solicit resident input as well as one focus group meeting with local organizations and agencies to discuss the development of programs and services for this next Consolidated Plan. The Consolidated Plan and Annual Action Plan were also made available for review and public comment for thirty (30) days prior to its initial submission date. No public comments were received during that commenting period.
Per the Waiver of 24 CFR 91.105 and 24 CFR 91.115 that was sent to all entitlement grantees, HUD issued revised procedures on submission of the Action Plans due to the delay in appropriations. Due to these circumstances, HUD determined that a 14-day review and commenting period was acceptable.
The City promulgated a second commenting period; giving the community a second chance to review the City’s allocations for services and projects. The Consolidated Plan and Action Plan were made available from July 24, 2017 to August 7, 2017.
The Community Participation Plan also requires the City to hold one public hearing to allow anyone interesting in the process an opportunity to share his or her opinion regarding the types of programs and services described in the Consolidated and Action Plans. A public hearing will be held on August 9th during the regularly scheduled City Council meeting.
FISCAL IMPACT:
For Fiscal Year 2017, the City’s entitlement award is $533,801. Under HUD guidelines, the City must budget no more than twenty percent (20%) for administrative expenses and no more than fifteen percent (15%) for public and social services. The remaining sixty-five percent (65%) will be allocated to making public improvements and other public services benefitting low-and moderate income residents in the City.
The amounts below illustrate how CDBG funds will be encumbered for the fiscal year:
|
FY 2017 ADMINISTRATIVE ALLOWANCE |
CDBG |
|
Program Administration |
$68,810 |
|
Program Planning: Con Plan/Action Plan |
$19,950 |
|
Inland Fair Housing and Mediation Board (IFHMB) |
$18,000 |
|
TOTAL FUNDING AVAILABLE: |
$106,760 |
|
|
|
|
FY 2017 PUBLIC SERVICES ALLOWANCE |
CDBG |
|
Senior Services: CC Senior Center |
$18,500 |
|
Homeless Services: Path of Life Ministries |
$51,500 |
|
Disability Services: Angel View |
$10,070 |
|
TOTAL ALLOCATIONS: |
$80,070 |
|
|
|
|
FY 2017 PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT ALLOWANCE |
CDBG |
|
South City Sidewalk Improvements |
$346,971 |
|
TOTAL ALLOCATIONS: |
$346,971 |
ATTACHMENTS:
FY 2017-2021 Consolidated Plan/Annual Action Plan