Public Comment Period Open On Proposed Amendment On Hammond Action Plan For CDBG Funds

From the City of Hammond:

February 16, 2021

The City of Hammond is amending its PY2019 Annual Action Plan and PY2017-2021 Consolidated Plan to allocate CDBG funds received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in response to the COVID-19 emergency.

In the first round of assistance, HUD has awarded the City supplemental Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding in the amount of $1,257,099 and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funding in the amount of $635,393 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). In the second round of assistance, HUD provided an additional $408,738 in CDBG and $649,003 in ESG.

While HUD has waived some of the program regulations that govern the use of CDBG and ESG Funds when used to respond to COVID, the primary goal of assisting income-eligible persons remains. By amending its PY2019 Annual Action Plan, the City is proposing to utilize the funding to address community needs related to COVID, with a focus on business assistance, housing and homeless assistance.

This change to the existing PY2019 plan is considered a substantial amendment. Under normal circumstances, the City is required to publish the proposed uses of CDBG and ESG funding in an Annual Action Plan and to adopt and follow a Citizen Participation Plan that provides for opportunities for residents to provide comments and input about the proposed uses of funds. Due to the emergency nature of COVID-19, HUD is permitting cities to shorten the public participation process to allocate CDBG and ESG funds to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

The City is seeking comments on the proposed use of CDBG and ESG funds for COVID-19 mitigation purposes. The City will consider all comments received before 5:00 PM on February 26, 2021 before submitting the proposal to HUD. The City will continue to accept comments from the public after its submittal and use public comments to guide and inform possible future amendments.

Click here to access the full press release, including the public comment form and the full text of the amendment.

This press release was produced by the City of Hammond. The views expressed here are the author’s own.