Grand Forks community development grants for 2025 will focus on homelessness prevention, assistance – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS – The Grand Forks City Council reviewed its budget proposal for the 2025 Community Development Block Grant and Community Services Grant programs during its Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night.

The City Council annually reviews and approves how the city will allocate funds for these operating and capital grants. This year has less money overall than last year, about $455,000 less, with most of the decreases coming from the Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG, money the city receives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. the United States.

“Staff recommends that the Community Advisory Committee and City Council consider an emphasis on relative project readiness to ensure timely completion of projects,” said Community Development Manager Collin Hanson. “We’ve had a challenge with that in recent years.”

The problem has been particularly acute with CDBG funds as the amount available has been larger than normal.

This is due to the sale of the Corporate Centers, which were financed by the program; when they were sold,

the money went back into the CDBG program. A larger amount available within the program, combined with project delays, meant the city did not meet the timely spending requirement set by HUD. Failure to meet that requirement could mean future problems with what the city receives from HUD.

“Right now, I think we’re under a microscope,” City Manager Todd Feland said. “We have to give it to organizations that can actually execute it and not just expect to be able to do it.”

Another change this year was increasing the amount awarded through the Community Services Grants program for operating grants. The maximum amount was increased from $30,000 to $50,000. This year’s applications will prioritize homeless prevention and assistance. The advice too

receive updates on its next five-year consolidated action plan at its meeting next week,

According to Hanson. Plus, staff, Community Advisory Committee and City Council agree more than they think

It was last year when everyone had different budget recommendations.

During the meeting, the council also discussed an amendment to

the RAISE grant consulting contract.

The grant application for rebuilding American infrastructure with sustainability and equity,

which would help fund environmental planning and documentation for any new Red River crossings within the Grand Forks metropolitan area,

is led by East Grand Forks with the partnership of Grand Forks, Grand Forks County and Polk County. The last application was unsuccessful and East Grand Forks would like support to reapply and potentially be more competitive.

The Grand Forks City Council voted 3-2 to advance approval to next week. In their dissents, council members Tricia Lunski and Ken Vein disagreed with the council’s earlier action to limit its support to just one bridge on Merrifield Road.

“We can’t afford to go all the way from Point Bridge to Merrifield Road and not have an interurban bridge,” Vein said. “I don’t feel inclined to want to move forward if the fact is that we are not going to proceed to look for something else besides this because it does not solve the problem of the interurban bridge.”

In 2023 and early 2024, the council was divided over discussions over the interurban bridge and location on the Grand Forks side of the river. Additionally, East Grand Forks and Grand Forks leaders have

they did not agree on the location and no formal location was named in the current planning documentation.

Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Metropolitan Planning Organization Executive Director Stephanie Halford has recommended that the interurban bridge could never be completely removed from the historic record.

“You will never be able to eliminate it completely because it was presented in committees. It has been presented in different forums. It has been in public input meetings (and)

We have received feedback,” Halford told the Herald in 2023.

“(If crossed out), what do (the comments) refer to? “I wouldn’t be surprised if transportation departments wanted an updated presentation because the document would feel different.”

The grant helps pay for costs that would have to be made regardless of the location of the bridge. A bridge at Merrifield Road would also mean the project would likely have to be led by Polk County or Grand Forks County, since the location is outside the city limits.

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