Board OKs advertising grant action plan

NORRISTOWN » The Montgomery County Commissioners authorized the advertisement of the Department of Housing and Economic Development’s 2017 annual action plan that describes a series of grant allocations for community and affordable housing development.

It includes nearly $6 million in potential grant money for projects across the county.

There are four grant programs included in this plan. Three are federal grants provided to Montgomery County by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and one is a local county grant.

The three federal grants are the community development block grant, which funds community improvement projects in areas with a significant portion of people of low or moderate income. The primary grantees are municipalities or nonprofit organizations that provide public services to this income group. The second federal grant is the emergency solutions grant, which provides services for people who are homeless. The grantees are nonprofit organizations. The final federal grant is the home investment partnerships program, which provides projects that build affordable housing throughout the county. The primary grantees are nonprofit developers, according to Emma Hertz, program office administrator for housing and community development.

The fourth grant included in the annual action plan is the county grant, which is the affordable housing trust fund. It provides projects that further the availability of affordable housing throughout the community, she said.

In total for the community development block grant program, Hertz said the office received just shy of $5 million in requests and it is recommending approximately $3 million in projects. For the emergency solutions grant, the office received $475,000 in requests and the office is recommending approximately $264,000 in projects. For the home program, the office received approximately $2.7 million requests and is recommending approximately $969,000 in projects. Finally, for the affordable housing trust fund, the office received approximately $2 million in requests and is recommending approximately $1.7 million in projects.

Among the recommended municipal applications for the community development block grant are:

• $64,339 recommended to Ambler Borough for the municipal building public restrooms — the project will remove architectural barriers through rehabilitation, reconfiguration and construction of three public area restrooms located in common area of the Ambler Borough Hall municipal complex for the benefit of the elderly and severely disabled persons.

• $134,335 recommended to Lansdale Borough for the East Third Street storm

sewer improvement project phase 1 — reconstruction of the roadway, concrete sidewalks and curbs including Americans with Disabilities Act compliant curb ramps, installation of storm sewer pipe and inlets and replacement of utilities as necessary on East Third Street between Ridge and North Chestnut streets.

• $200,000 to Pottstown Borough for the Rickets Community Center Building rehabilitation, which includes removing and replacing the existing roof and HVAC units, installing rain gutters and soffits; and regrading the exterior of the rear of the building.

Among the recommended nonprofit applications for community development block grants are:

• $110,000 recommended to the Salvation Army of Norristown for emergency shelter operations a the Norristown Family Residence. The request is for staff costs and employee benefits.

• $140,000 recommended to the Salvation Army of Pottstown for emergency shelter operations for the Lessig Booth Family residence. The request is for staff, employee benefits, food and mileage.

Among the recommended public applications for community development block grants are:

• $142,4000 recommended for the YWCA TriCounty for the accessibility rehab of 300 King St. The rehabilitation includes an exterior ramp, accessible restroom, elevator, basement waterproofing, wiring for an adult education computer lab and security.

Among the recommended emergency solutions grant applications are:

• $86,117 recommended for the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities for the rapid re-housing and case management. The funds will support the rapid re-housing rental subsidies and case management services to homeless individuals and families referred through the Your Way Home program after a prescreening process to confirm homelessness.

Among the recommended home investment partnerships program are:

• $375,000 recommended to Advanced Living for affordable housing developmentnew construction to build units for affordable rental housing for low income county residence.

Lastly, for the affordable housing trust fund, among the recommended projects are:

• $576,804 to Ingerman/ Genesis for the home match project, a historic conversion of the current SOS products building located at 329 and 401 W. Fourth St. in East Greenville. It will be a mixed-income, multi-family rental facility that will create

71 high quality, spacious new apartment units .

The funding is made available collectively to a community through an open and competitive grant application process. The application process began Jan. 31 and closed April 17, 2017.

Once the applications were received, the housing and community development office scored them, she said.

“We use a competitive scoring process to rank the projects and then recommend them for funding,” said Hertz.

Applications are scored for the following criteria:

• Whether they have received prior funding in years past and whether they have unspent funds left in those projects. The county is required to spend a portion of its funding by the midpoint of the fund year and expects applicants to have a similar process in place.

• Scores are also based on alignment with local priorities, including the housing and community development office’s five year consolidated plan, which outline’s the office’s goals for community and housing development.

• Lastly, the housing and community development office reviews outcomes and performance from the prior year to demonstrate that the projects being funded are having measurable impact on the communities that they’re serving.

“One thing to note is that the actual dollar amount of this allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has not been provided to us quite yet,” Hertz said. “However, they have told us that our allocation will remain level from last year, so our recommendations are based on last year’s allocation.”

“So all of those projects together are collectively called the 2017 annual action plan. We’re releasing a draft plan today for the public comment.”

The public comment period starts June 7 and will run for a month ending July 7. During that time, the public can submit comments in writing or through the public hearing on June 28, at 6 p.m. in the Montgomery County Human Services Center, 1430 DeKalb St., Norristown.

The plan will be available online through the county’s website and by request through the office of housing and community development in languages other than English at no cost to the requester.

After the comment period closes, the office will review the comments and submit the final action plan on July 20. Once approved it will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for final approval.