Print this page

Public Meeting Minutes - November 25, 2019

PUBLIC HEARING MINUTES– CITY OF FULTON
MONDAY – NOVEMBER 25, 2019 – 5:30 P.M.

 

Mayor Ottens opened the meeting at 5:30 PM and turned the meeting over to Dan Pepin with CFPS.

Mr. Pepin with CFPS passed around a sign in sheet and then read the following.
The City of Fulton is holding a Public Hearing to obtain citizens’ views on the submission of a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application from the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO) for roadway and sidewalk improvements. This public hearing is a requirement of the grant program and is the first of two Citizen Participation Public Hearings. Specific program and project information is discussed below.

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program is funded by Title I of the Federal Housing & Community Development Act of 1974, as amended. Administered nationally through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Act combined eight existing categorical programs into a single block grant program. Through this program, funds are available to assist Illinois communities meet their greatest economic and community development needs, with an emphasis upon helping persons of low-to-moderate income.

To ensure the State’s CDBG program meets the intent of the Federal Housing & Community Development Act, Congress has required the program meet at least one of the following three national objectives: benefiting low-to-moderate income persons; aiding in the prevention or elimination of slums and blight; or meeting other community development needs that pose a serious and immediate threat to the health and welfare of the community.

To complement these federally-mandated objectives, DCEO has established the following specific objectives for the CDBG program: Strengthening community economic development through the creation of jobs, stimulation of private investment and strengthening the tax base; Improvement of public infrastructure and elimination of conditions which are detrimental to health, safety and public welfare; and, Conservation and expansion of the state’s housing stock in order to provide a decent home and a suitable living environment for persons of low-to-moderate income and the developmentally disabled.

Additionally, in order to clear the 2013 HUD Monitoring Finding concerning Revolving Loan Funds (RLF), DCEO has determined the appropriate course of action was to close the RLF program, and to work with communities who have RLFs to provide flexibility in liquidating the remaining funds. For communities with RLF funds, they will have non-competitive access to CDBG grants for up to two projects totaling the amount of their RLF closeout account. Such projects must benefit at least one of the above three national objectives.

Each year, the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity establishes funds for each of their CDBG program categories. This year, the state’s allocation is estimated at $28,944,705. A breakdown of each program category’s funding allotment is as follows: Economic Development - $4,000,000, maximum grant amount is $1,000,000; Public Infrastructure - $15,000,000, maximum Construction grant amount is $500,000; Housing Rehabilitation - $6,500,000, maximum grant amount is $500,000; and Disaster Response - $2,000,000, maximum grant amount is $500,000; Approximately $100,000 is set aside for State administration.

Communities with RLF funds will receive the full balance of the locally held RLF fund as indicated on the community’s final RLF report. In addition to the standard DCEO CDBG programs, a RLF closeout account can be used for the following special purposes: Street Improvements, including street drains, storm drains, curb and gutter work, installation of street lights or signs; Sidewalk improvements, including installation of trash receptacles, trees, benches or lighting as part of a streetscape project; and Rehabilitation of publicly or privately owned commercial/industrial improvements to the exterior of a commercial building or to the correction of code violations.

The City conducted a targeted income survey in 2015, in 2019 the City extended the targeted income survey to include additional households in the proposed project area. The targeted income survey documented an overall 75.47% low-to-moderate income benefit to residents. The City’s proposed grant application project includes roadway and sidewalk improvements in a targeted area of town.

No displacement is anticipated as a result of this project.

Below is a list of public infrastructure, community and economic development-type projects the City has recently completed and/or awarded:

• Acquired a new Jet-Vac truck and 1 Ton truck/snowplow for the Public Works department
• Added a new Chevy Tahoe to the Police department
• Awarded two major street project – Park Drive and 1st Avenue Park Drive is the main road through our baseball facilities. 1st Avenue will include repairs and the addition of Vee Curb for 10 blocks of the street.
• Purchased new park playground equipment
• Converted on City Hall to cloud-based computing and replaced all servers and local storage

 

The City’s proposed CDBG Revolving Loan fund application is for approximately 1980 l.f. of road resurface and paving along 8th from 14th Avenue to 20th Avenue and sidewalk replacement. The existing roadway is deteriorating has very poor drainage which resulted in pavement failures. The reason to remove and replace sidewalks is so the existing sidewalk will match the new concrete curb and to improve ADA accessibility.

Fulton had a Community Development Revolving Loan Fund that was established in 1998 and recently closed in January 2019. Throughout the life of the RLF, the City entered into several loan agreements. All of the City’s loans were current at the time of closeout.

The proposed project is estimated to cost roughly $748,450.00, and the City is applying to DCEO for a CDBG RLF grant in the amount $323,516.58, which represents 100% of the City’s RLF funds. Project activities undertaken with the CDBG RLF funds entails construction costs. The amount of CDBG funds proposed to be used for construction that will benefit low-to-moderate income persons is roughly $240,000.00

The public may access Fulton’s Community Development Block Grant application by contacting the City Hall at 815-772-7657 to arrange a time. A complete copy of the grant application will be available at City Hall after December 9, 2019.

There were no questions or comments.

The Public Hearing was closed at 5:45 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Tammy Garibay, Deputy Clerk

Published in Public Meeting Minutes