County anticipates $2M in CDB funds

By CARL E. FEATHER - Staff Writer - cfeather@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

February 05, 2009 11:31 pm

— JEFFERSON – A couple of million dollars were on the table Thursday, but only three people came to the courthouse to find out how to get a cut of it.
The money is Ashtabula County’s share of 2009 Community Development Block Grants. The federal money flows through the Ohio Department of Development and into the county’s department of community services, which helps governments and businesses apply for the assistance.
Janice Switzer, DCS’ program manager, described the various programs during a hearing. She said the county expects to receive about the same amount it did last year; however, as of Thursday, it is an unfunded program. The combination of a new presidential administration and the stalled economic stimulus package has slowed the process of appropriating money for the grants.
Switzer hopes the details will be known by mid-March. When that happens, the information will be posted on the community services section of Ashtabula County’s Web site (www.co.ashtabula.oh.us).
The grants help fund activities like economic development, community revitalization, public services, infrastructure improvements and housing rehabilitation. Communities receiving money must meet certain economic criteria.
County Board of Commissioners President Peggy Carlo, a former Saybrook Township trustee, says CDBGs are very valuable to townships, especially when there is some match money already in place. A match increases the likelihood of getting a grant but is not always a necessity.
“That’s the beauty of CDBG. There is no match with the (CDBG) formula (grants); it’s at the commissioners’ discretion but not required,” Switzer said.
“We’ve used a lot of formula money in Saybrook,” Carlo said.
Some of the grants, such as the water and sewer program, are extremely competitive, said Switzer. Statewide, there is less than $10 million of those funds.
Typically, the county gets about $2 million annually through CDBG programs. Switzer says some recent projects assisted by CDBG include Rock Creek revitalization, paving of Hall Road in Richmond Township, a bike trail in Geneva State Park and new playgrounds in Williamsfield Township and at Happy Hearts School.
CDBG money also helps generate jobs. The joint economic development district (JEDD) in Harpersfield Township used the CDBG Economic Development Program to bring sewers to the JEDD and create jobs at Nordic Air.
“It’s a lot of expanding of infrastructure to industry,” Switzer said.
The hearing was held to familiarize interested parties with the program, but applications were not handed out because of the funding delay. Switzer said applications will be available for download from the community services page once funding is in place.
A second hearing will be held later this year and Carlo hopes there will be more interest shown from local governments. Commissioner Joseph Moroski said he understands why smaller townships are reluctant to investigate the programs because they typically don’t have the matching funds that are needed to give them a good shot at getting the money they need.
While most of the money discussed Thursday is for local government, up to $500,000 could be available for individuals through the Community Housing Improvement Program. DCS employee Dawn Gates specializes in that program and said it offers down-payment money for first-time home buyers, home-repair money and funding for rehabilitation of owner-occupied and rental properties .