REPORT TO THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION March 14, 2016 FROM: JENNIFER K. CLARK, Director Development and Resource Management Department BY: JOSE TRUJILLO, Manager Housing and Community Development Division SUBJECT ..Title Public Hearing - FY 2017 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Applicant Presentations, and Scoring of Applications by Commissioners ..Body RECOMMENDATIONS Staff recommends the Housing and Community Development Commission (HCDC): 1. Conduct a public hearing for applicant presentations on their request for FY 2017 Community Development Block Grant funding. 2. Review and score applications based on the criteria established in the application packet. 3. Approve staff's submission of the Commission's recommended CDBG projects to the Mayor for consideration. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The City of Fresno is the annual recipient of federal entitlement program funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As a condition of receiving these funds, the City is required to prepare an Annual Action Plan detailing program expenditures and the benefit to low and moderate-income persons. One of the steps in developing the Annual Action Plan is for HCDC to review submitted applications requesting FY 2017 CDBG funding and provide funding recommendations to the Mayor. This item requests that HCDC conduct a public hearing and score the applications to create a CDBG funding recommendation to the Mayor. BACKGROUND On February 5, 2016 The City of Fresno issued a Notice of Funding Availability and invited interested organizations to submit an application for funding under the FY 2016-2017 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program for community projects/programs that benefit low to moderate income residents of Fresno. The NOFA requested applications be submitted for the following types of projects: * Capital improvements to public facilities that benefit low and moderate income residents, such as community centers, homeless facilities, and senior centers. The anticipated amount of available funding in this category is $500,000. * Operating costs of public services that benefit low and moderate income residents, such as at-risk youth programs, homeless services, and homebuyer counseling. The anticipated amount of available funding in this category is $65,000. The deadline for submission of CDBG applications was March 8, 2016 by 5:00p.m. Twelve CDBG applications were accepted by the deadline and are attached as Exhibit A. Commissioners are asked to: 1. Conduct the CDBG application public hearing. 2. Score each application based on the established criteria. 3. Rank the applications based on the established criteria. 4. Return the completed scoring packets at the conclusion of the public hearing. Staff will then compile the information and submit the HCDC's recommendations to the Mayor for consideration. The final CDBG funding decisions are made by the Mayor. Staff will return to HCDC in April with the draft Annual Action Plan which will include the proposed CDBG. ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS N/A LOCAL PREFERENCE N/A FISCAL IMPACT N/A Attachments: Exhibit A - FY 2017 CDBG Applicant List