PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE
CITY OF SALISBURY, MARYLAND
PY 2019 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
Notice is hereby given that the City of Salisbury, MD will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 at 5:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Room 301, of the Government Office Building, 125 N. Division Street, Salisbury, MD 21801. The Government Office Building and Council Chambers are accessible to persons with physical disabilities. If special arrangements need to be made to accommodate any resident in order for them to participate in the public hearing, including translation services, please call Ms. Deborah J. Stam, Grants Manager, Finance Department / HCDD, City of Salisbury (410) 341-9550, to make those arrangements, or for persons who may have a hearing impairment, please contact 7-1-1 for TTY/TTD relay.
The purpose of this public hearing is to gather information for the City’s Five-Year Consolidated Plan for PY 2019–2023, the Annual Action Plan for 2019, and to update the City’s Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI), which the City must submit to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program Entitlement Funds.
This hearing will also provide the local non-profit agencies who have applied for CDBG funds the opportunity to make a presentation on their proposed project to the members of the CDBG Review Committee, and field questions from the committee members. Once the project presentations have been made, the Committee will open up the floor to the general public to allow citizens to offer their views on the housing, community and economic development, and fair housing needs in the City of Salisbury.
Based on the PY 2018 CDBG allocation, the City of Salisbury anticipates that it will receive a CDBG entitlement grant of approximately $343,878 for PY 2019. This funding level is contingent upon the final approval of the Federal Budget for FY 2019. The City does not anticipate receiving notification of its funding allocation from HUD until the Spring of 2019. In order to receive those funds, the City of Salisbury must prepare a Five-Year Consolidated Plan and a One-Year Annual Action Plan for the use of the federal funds. At least 70% of the CDBG funds must benefit low- and moderate-income persons living in the City of Salisbury. The City will be preparing its CDBG application and it intends to afford residents, local agencies, and interested parties the opportunity to become involved in the planning process.
The following types of activities may be eligible for funding under the CDBG program: acquisition of property; disposition costs; improvements to public facilities (including the removal of architectural barriers); demolition and environmental clean-up; public services that are new or a quantifiable increase in the level of service; interim assistance; relocation payments for persons displaced as a result of a CDBG activity; rehabilitation of houses; code enforcement; special economic development activities; special activities undertaken by a Community-Based Development Organization (CBDO); home ownership assistance for purchase; planning; environmental reviews; program administration; audit; and other miscellaneous activities.
If the City would undertake an activity that would result in the displacement of families or individuals, then the City would utilize its policy for minimizing such displacement. Furthermore, the City is responsible for replacing all low- and moderate-income housing units that may be demolished or converted as a result of the expenditure of CDBG funds.
The Analysis of Impediments (AI) is a review of impediments to fair housing choice in the public and private sector. HUD defines “fair housing choice” as the ability of persons, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or handicap, of similar income levels to have available to them the same housing choices.
All interested residents are encouraged to attend this public hearing and they will be given the opportunity to present oral or written testimony concerning the needs of the City of Salisbury and the use of CDBG funds to address those needs over the next five (5) years. Written or oral comments may be directed to Deborah J. Stam, Grants Manager, Finance Department / HCDD, City of Salisbury, 207 West Main Street, Suite 102, Salisbury, MD 21801. E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (410) 341-9550.
Deborah Stam – Grants Manager
City of Salisbury, MD