Athens City Council met Monday to hold a public hearing concerning community development block grant, or CDBG, programs and to hear coinciding ordinances about the annual street paving projects for 2022.
Council President Christine Knisely said the CDBG program’s money comes from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, and is then distributed through the Ohio Development Services Agency Office of Community Development.
Knisely said Athens works with the Hocking Athens Perry Community Action Program, or HAPCAP, and other city workers to apply for program funding such as the allocation program and programs for critical infrastructure.
She said the allocation program has been successful in the past but is now phasing out. A smaller grant will be given this year at about $150,000, and the critical infrastructure grant has up to $500,000 available.
Service Safety Director Andy Stone said the allocation program was non-competitive because it was specific to the population.
“Now that’s going away, we’ll compete against those other programs, or against other communities, in order to try to be successful on some of the other larger programs that CDBG offers,” Stone said.
The body also heard an ordinance that would allow the mayor to apply for the CDBG programs and an ordinance authorizing the street paving and repairs project for program year 2022.
