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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNS - Grant - Orange County Community Development Block Grant Program – FY 2010 Scattered Site Housing Rehabilitation Program - $400,000ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: October 5, 2010 Action Agenda Item No. (p ' (~, SUBJECT: Orange County Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program - FY 2010 Scattered Site Housin Rehabilitation Pro ram - $400,000 DEPARTMENT: Housing, Human Rights, and PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) Yes Community Development ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Tara L. Fikes, 919-245-2490 PURPOSE: To conduct a public hearing and authorize the submission of an application to the N.C. Department of Commerce for Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program funds for the FY 2010 Scattered Site Housing Rehabilitation Program in the amount of $400, 000. BACKGROUND: The County was recently notified by the N.C. Department of Commerce - Division of Community Assistance of the award of $400,000 in Scattered Site Housing Rehabilitation funds under the FY 2010 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. These grants are no longer competitive, and each interested county in North Carolina is scheduled to receive an allocation every three years to provide housing rehabilitation funds for the county and the municipalities within the county. Orange County received $400,000 in housing rehabilitation funds in 2001, 2004 and 2007. These grant funds must be used to repair substandard housing occupied by low-income families in the Towns of Carrboro and Hillsborough as well as the unincorporated areas of Orange County. These funds may .not be used in the Town of Chapel Hill since the town receives Community Development Block Grant funding directly from HUD. In prior years, these funds have repaired approximately 36 dwelling units in the County. Families with incomes at or below 50% of area median income that own and occupy deteriorated housing are eligible to participate in the program. For the purpose of this program, deteriorated housing are dwelling units that that have existing housing code violations including houses that lack indoor plumbing. In order to receive this funding, the County must conduct two public hearings. The first hearing provides an opportunity to obtain public comments prior to developing an application for these funds and another hearing after the application is completed but prior to submission to the N.C. Department of Commerce. After initial public comment is received, an application document will be prepared with input from the Carrboro and Hillsborough members of the HOME Program Review Committee. A 2 second public hearing will be planned for November 4, 2010 for additional public comment and the BOCC will be asked to approve submission of the application by November 15, 2010. FINANCIAL IMPACT: Application for these funds represents an additional $400,000 available for affordable housing initiatives in the County. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board receive public comments as information and authorize the staff to proceed with application development.