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City Council Meeting Minutes May 19, 2020 <br />Michael Ostrowski, Assistant Director of Planning and Development Services, <br />provided a presentation on the 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan Substantial <br />Amendment to add Economic Development and add the Community <br />Development Block Grant Coronavirus allocation. <br />The federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires <br />the creation of a Consolidated <br />Plan that sets strategic priorities and goals for next five years of HUD grant <br />funding, identifies types of <br />activities the City will fund, and acts as the foundation for, future one-year <br />Action Plans. Staff is recommending <br />two amendments to the 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan because this plan governs <br />the use of funds through the <br />current program year 2019-2020. One of the proposed amendments is to add <br />the Community Development Block Grant -Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) <br />allocation of $425,261 to the 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan. This amendment <br />provides the ability to consider project and program requests for CDBG-CV <br />funds as an amendment to the 2019-2020 CDBG Entitlement Action Plan, <br />enabling immediate use of the funds. <br />The other proposed amendments is to add Economic Development as a <br />funding category so that projects and <br />programs may be considered in this category in response to the COVID-19 <br />pandemic. The categories of <br />activities identified in the original 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan were: <br />Affordable Housing <br />Public Services <br />Public Facilities/Infrastructure/Transportation <br />Clearance Activities <br />Program Administration <br />The proposed amendment would mean that projects and programs can be <br />considered for CDBG-CV funding in any of the above categories as well as <br />Economic Development, as long as the use is in response to impacts of the <br />COVID-19 pandemic. The guidance issued by HUD to date for CDBG-CV <br />includes waiving the 15% cap on funds used for Public Services, and allowing <br />for a minimum five day public comment period for the changes to the <br />2019-2020 CDBG Entitlement Action Plan, instead of the usual minimum of 30 <br />days. A public hearing is required prior to commencement of the comment <br />period. <br />Mayor Hughson opened the Public Hearing at 10:33 p.m. There being no <br />speakers, the Mayor closed the Public Hearing at 10:33 p.m. <br />City of San Marcos Page 18 <br />