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SW0501-AG050426AGENI).X REQUEST FORM COl'FELL DEPT: l{ngineering DATE: April 26, 2005 I'[EM #: 14 IIIEM CAPI'ION: P[JBI lC ItEARIN(i to rcceixc input on possible projects for a Communib I)cvctopmcnt Block Grant (CDB(i) fl'{mn I)allas County GOAI4S): Motic'm t© ciose Pdbhc Hearing M - York S - Suhy o Dbbl Bal, Vote - 7-0 ossa EX[(ITIXES[M1MARY: Thc City cfi-Coppcll is eligible, on Octobct l, to rcc¢i',c $68,932 m FY 2005 C[1t3G funding from Dallas County. In addition, the city has 5%447.68 remaining fi'om a previously completed p~qjcct that can be rcallocatcd This public hcaNng is to rccch'c input regaMing possible projects that may be funded through this progran% prior to rcachin~ a final rice[sion on what prolcct to undc~akc 5, taft' x~ ill be available to aris',', er ally qucstlolls at thc Council meeting. I-IN &N('I &l, COMME~'I S: COPPELL MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Kenneth M. Griffin, P.E., Director of Engineering/Public Works DATE: April 26, 2005 REF: Public Hearing to receive input on possible projects for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from Dallas County. The City of Coppell is eligible, on October 1, to receive $68,932 in FY 2005 CDBG funding from Dallas County. In addition, the city has $3,447.68 remaining from a previously completed project that can be realIocated. This Public Hearing is to receive input regarding possible pr~iects that may be funded through this program, prior to reaching a final decision on what project to undertake. After tile Public Hearing, staff has until May 10, 2005 to submit a list of polential projects to Dallas County. The final detailed information of thc selected projects are due on June 3, 2005. The city ]las utilized CDBG funding in recent years to renovate portions o£the Senior Citizen's Center and to construct fire protection improvements in the Golden Triangle Mobile Home Park. CDBG ftmded projects must meet one of the three following national objectives: 1) eliminate blight; 2) eliminate a community-threatening condition; and 3) principally benefit low/moderate income people. The eligibility requirements associated with each of the objectives significantly limit tine city's choice of projects to ftmd. Projects that address Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations arc an option for the city since they are generally assumed to meet one of thc three national objectives. Staff is reviewing several types o~' projects that may meet the requirements of the CDBG fi~nding. However, no projects will be fidly evaluated until staff has received input from the citizens, via the Public Hearing. DALLAS' COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT February 14~ 2005 Mr. Jim Witt City Manager City of Coppell P.O. Box 9478 Coppell, TX 75019 Dear Mr. Witt: Please be advised that, on October 1, the C~ty of Coppel will be able to receive $68,932 in FY2005 CDBG funding from Dallas County. In addition, the City also has $3,447.68 remaining from the completed restroom project that can be reallocated. If the City would like to utilize its new FY2005 funding and reallocate existing funds, please complete the enclosed forms which explain what activities will be tmdertaken and how many people will be assisted, and return them to Kim Nobles, Community Development Administrator, at 411 Elm Street, Third Floor, Dallas, Texas 75202 by 4:00 pm., Friday, June 3. Please note that if we do not receive this information by this date, then we will assume that your City is not interested in utilizing this new funding, and it will be reallocated to the other cities in the County's CDBG program. This year's allocation process is generally identical to those from previous years. In considering how to utilize your City's CDBG funds, please carefully select your projects- I f you have previously begun providing funding for a project that still needs additional money, we strongly encourage you to use your FY2005 allocation to complete this project before using it to fund new activities. Similarly, rather than allocating your funding among a wide variety of projects, please concentrate your funding on one or two projects that will have a much greater impact. Also, we have increasingly had a number of cities that initially select projects, then change the projects a short time after they have been submitted to HUD. Because changing projects makes it very difficult for the program to complete its projects on-schedule (which can jeopardize the amount of CDBG funding that the County receives from HUD), the County will now only consider changing projects when there are either extenuating circumstances or when the change will allow CDBG funds to be expended more rapidly. As before, cities that anticipate using their CDBG allocation must hold at least one public heating before reaching a final decision on what projects to undertake. So as to assist the City in publicizing any public heating that it might hold, we will publish a newspaper notice for those hearings that will be held between April 5 and May 5. This notice will include the times, dates, and locations for all known public hearings. 411 Elm Street, 3'~ Floor, Room 313 Dallas, Texas 75202-3301 Telephone: (214) 653-7601 Dallas County Administration Building e-maih doessberg@dallascounty.org Telecopier: (214} 653-6517 To be included in this notice please contact Kim Nobles at (214) 653-6368 by March 25, 2005. We are available to assist your City in anyway that we can during this allocation process. If we can either answer any questions that you might have or review any possible projects that are under consideration, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Rick Loessberg Director of Planning & Development enclosures INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION DEADLINE: (2) (3) Cities may use their CDBG funds to undertake a wide variety of activities (e.g. - reconstructing roads, installing water lines, building playgrounds, demolishing substandard structures, making buildings ADA-accessible, etc.) as long as the project meets one of the three following national objectives: eliminate blight eliminate a community-threatening condition principally benefit low/moderate income people In order to meet the blight elimination objective, a city must formally designate the geographic area in which the blight elimination activity will occur as "blighted." The elimination of a community-threatening condition occurs when a city seeks, for instance, to rebuild a water tower that was destroyed by a tornado, the city certifies that it does not have funds of its own to rebuild the water tower, and the condition occurred within the last year. Projects that principally benefit Iow/moderate income people are those where at least 51% of the people that directly benefit or directly receive assistance from the project are of low/moderate income. Please note that planning studies and ADA accommodations are generally automatically assumed to meet one of the three national objectives. HUD regulations prevent the use of CDBG funds for routine maintenance and operations, for improvements to thoroughfares, and for improvements to city halls. It is also not possible to place funds in contingency or in unallocated reserve. These regulations also limit the extent to which CDBG can be used for planning studies (a total of up to $72,546 may be allocated for planning studies by all of the participating cities) and for public services (it is not possible to fund any public services with the FY2005 CDBG award). Please note that ifa city's proposed activity is ineligible, then it will be asked to revise the activity. While the County no longer operates a housing rehab program, it does operate another program that demolishes owner-occupied low/moderate income homes that are too dilapidated to be rehabilitated and replaces them with new homes that are constructed on the same lot. Approximately $700,000 will be available for use in the CDBG program's fourteen-city service area for the fiscal year that will begin on October 1. The maximum amount of assistance that the County will provide for one house is $70,000. If your city would like to ensure that funding will specifically be available for its residents or if your city's building regulations will require a house in excess of $70,000 to be built, then it is possible to set aside some or all of your city's FY2005 CDBG award for only eligible people who live within your city. (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) All CDBG entitlement counties like Dallas County must meet a HUD-imposed spending requirement every JOy 31. Failure to meet this requirement can result in the County having to forfeit CDBG funding. So that the County will be able to consistently meet HUD's annual spending requirement, all projects (other than those that are code enforcement- related) must have budgets of at least $30,000. Also, cities need to carefully limit the number of projects for which they wish to allocate CDBG funding. In particular, cities need to first allocate all or a significant majority of their FY2005 CDBG funding to those currently existing, but under-funded/uncompleted, projects before allocating funding for any new projects. Cities that seek to undertake many different projects or that do not provide completion funding for already existing projects will be asked to revise their proposals. Cities may reallocate unexpended CDBG funds from previous years and combine them with FY2005 funds. If this is done, please note on the Project/Activity Application how much money from the new allocation and from previous awards is being used and for what purpose. Maps with delineated boundaries of the service area for each project/activity must be attached if the project/activity is not city-wide. For capital improvement projects, the map must show the specific location of the project. The service area boundaries for CDBG projects must be determined as follows: FOR WATER/SEWER PROJECTS: Those properties that directly tie into the water/sewer line. FOR RESIDENTIAL ROAD PROJECTS: Those properties that directly abut the improved road. FOR FLOOD CONTROL PROJECTS: protected by the improvements. The portion of the city that will be FOR PARKS/COMMUNITY CENTERS: The portion of the city that is served by the park/center. If the park/center will be the only facility of its type within the city, then its service area will be city-wide regardless of where it is located. FOR CODE PROGRAMS: The portion of the city that is served by the program. Please note that unless the council formally designates a portion of its city as being blighted, the program must serve an area where the majority of the residents are low/moderate income. FOR STUDIES: The portion of the city that is covered by the study. To deteimine the number of people that will be assisted by a project, 2000 census data can be used if the boundaries of the service area coincide exactly with a census tract/block group; a copy of such data for the County's CDBG service area is attached. If the boundaries do not exactly coincide with census information, then the attached survey must be used and at least a 75% response rate must be obtained if there are more than 50 homes in the project area (if 2 (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) there are less than 50 homes, then an 85% response rate must be obtained). Previous surveys may be used if they are no more than three years old. If surveys are used to determine the number of people that will be assisted by a project, a survey tabulation form, along with copies of each completed citizen survey form, must be returned with each associated Project/Activity Application. Projects must be conducted in and serve the County's unincorporated area or any of the fourteen cities that participate in the County's program. According to the 2000 census, the percentage of the population of each participating city that was low/moderate income is as follows: Balch Springs 59.4% Wilmer 64.3% Cockrell Hill 72.2% Glenn Heights 40.4% Cedar Hill 29.9% Duncanville 37.5% Sachse 20.4% Seagoville 51.7% Hutchins 63.6% Lancaster 46.2% Rowlett 20.2% Farmers Branch 38.7% Coppell 11.9% The maximum income that a household can have and be considered as low/moderate income is currently: Size of Household Income Limit 1 $ 37,25O 2 $ 42,550 3 $ 47,900 4 $ 53,20O 5 $ 57,450 6 $ 61,700 7 $ 65,950 8+ $ 70,200 Each city that wishes to utilize its CDBG award must conduct at least one public heating to help identify possible projects. The notice for this public hearing must be posted in accordance with State law. To help promote these public hearings, Dallas County is going to have a notice published in the Dallas Morning News. This notice will include the times, dates, and locations for all known public heatings. To be included in this notice, please contact Kim Nobles at (214) 653-6368 by March 25, 2005. All cities interested in utilizing their FY2005 CDBG allocation must fully complete the attached Project/Activity Application for each project that they wish to fund. Please do not combine several projects in one application, and please do not seek to address some of the application's information requirements by asking the reviewer to refer to a previous year's proposal. In addition, please note the following specific instructions for completing an application: (15) (16) (17) (18) Number of Beneficiaries: The number of people who will benefit from the project; this is usually the people who physically live adjacent to any capital improvement or who live within an area that is being served or studied by the project. % Low/Moderate Income: The percentage of the number of beneficiaries that earn no more than the income limits contained in item (12) of these instructions. Project Description: Description should be adequate enough to determine what is being proposed and why. For capital improvement projects, it must also describe where the project is being located, what its beginning and end points are, and whether easements will need to be acquired. Total Budget: Indicate how much total money, regardless of whether it is CDBG or some other funding and regardless of whether all of the funding is currently available, is needed to complete the project. Projected Start Date: The soonest that projects can begin is October 1, 2005. Projected Completion Date: Please take into consideration the time it will take to hire engineers, to have projects designed, to hire contractors, to have the actual work done, etc. It is critical that the projected start/completion dates are realistic and that ifa city is going to be the primary implementing entity for a project, that the project be undertaken and completed as soon as possible so that the CDBG program will be able to meet HUD's annual spending requirement. Cities that do not substantially meet their proposed schedules without extenuating circumstances may experience a reduction in future funding. Similarly, cities that propose projects that they estimate will not be able to be started and/or completed within a reasonable time may be asked to develop alternative projects. It is important that cities carefully select their projects. There have been mom instances over the past several years of cities changing their projects within several months of the original submission deadline. This not only delays the implementation of a project, but it also complicates the CDBG program's ability to meet HUD's spending requirement. As a result, requests to change projects are not encouraged and will now generally only be considered when there are compelling reasons and/or when the change allows for CDBG funds tobe more readily expended. All Project/Activity Applications must be accompanied with a resolution from the city council that authorizes the submission of the proposed projects/activities. ifa city is not interested in utilizing its award, please notify the County as soon as possible so that this money can be reallocated. (19) (20) (21) (22) All information pertaining to how a city wishes to utilize its CDBG award must be submitted to the County, Attention: Kim Nobles, 411 Elm Street, 3ra Floor, Dallas, Texas 75202, by 4:00 p.m., Friday, June 3, 2005. If such information is not provided by this deadline, then it will be assumed that the entity is not interested in utilizing its award, and this money will be reallocated to the other participating entities. All cities must submit a short list of potential projects before May 10, 2005. Please fax this list to Klm Nobles at (214) 653-6517 or mail to the address above. It is understood that the projects included on this list may not have been yet received by the city council before this date or that a city may not have yet held its required public heating. However, this short list will enable CDBG staff to make an assessment of eligibility as well as other program requirements that may be necessary for the successful completion of that particular project before any formal decisions are made by your city. In the short list please include a cost estimate for the project. Please note that the short list is not intended to replace the full application which is due on June 3, 2005. Cities are strongly encouraged to contact the County and allow it to preliminarily review possible projects before the June 3, 2005 deadline. County staff is available to assist each entity in developing and in reviewing possible projects and to answer any questions that might arise. Please call either Kim Nobles (214/653 -6368), Rachel Brown (214/653-6359), or Rick Loessberg (214/653-7601) for general assistance and questions about project eligibility. For questions that pertain to capital improvement projects, please call Abel Saldana at (214) 653-6240. PUBLIC HEARING April 26, 2005 The City of Coppell will hold a public hearing at 7:00 p.m., April 26, 2005 at Town Center, 255 Parkway Blvd. to gather citizen input on the FY 2005 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) fimding. The City of Coppcll will be able to receive $68,932 from the FY 2005 CDBG funding. Additionally, the City has $3,447.68 remaining from prior completed projects that can also bc reallocated. After the completion of the public hearings, Dallas County and HUD approval, funding would become available October 1, 2005. The public is encouraged to attend and suggcst how these funds can be used in thc City of Coppell. HP LaserJet 3330 [91]® Fax Call Report Job Date Time Type ~?,~ / ~,'20[)0 1227 26PM Sond Identification Duration Pages Result 9723040203 1: 04 2 OK Re: COPPE L ENGINEERING DEt~dRT~IENT E~X COFER StlEET