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Grants Manager for the Community Development Division Stephanie Jennings explained that the Consolidated Plan sought to identify the needs of low - income persons as related to low- income housing, homelessness, and community economic development. She said it also would create a broad strategic plan for how they would use the monies from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) over the next five years. She stated that though the plan was a requirement, it also presented the opportunity to think strategically about how best to meet the needs of this group. She said the plan represented the culmination of more than a year's work and had been developed in collaboration with the City of Springfield, the Human Services Commission, the Housing and Community Services Agency, and many other partners. Staff had worked closely with the Housing Policy Board (HPB) and the CDBG Advisory Committee and the document had come before the council with the full endorsement of both bodies. Ms. Jennings stated that the plan was data - driven and they had conducted outreach to the public to help identify the needs. She said the completed draft had been made available for public comment over the past month. She highlighted some of the data, which indicated an increase in need and homelessness. Councilor Pryor thanked Ms. Jennings and staff for their "incredible work" on the plan. He stated that in addition to being well put together and well- researched, if one looked at page 20 it would give an idea of the number of opportunities, organizations, surveys, committee meetings, and interest groups that were involved in the preparation of the plan. He was pleased with the number of people who had an opportunity to review and participate in it. He believed that this would make the report a document that could be used and not left on the shelf. Mayor Piercy said the work in the plan would help the City with some of its strategic work to meet the needs and goals of the community. City Manager Ruiz echoed Councilor Pryor. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 6:0. 4. ACTION: Approval of 2010111 Funding Allocations for Federal Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnership Programs Ms. Jennings explained that the CDBG and HOME Investment Partnership Programs were related to the Consolidated Plan. She said each year the City developed an action plan and submitted it to HUD and the plan basically told them what the community would do with its CDBG and HOME funds. She related that plans were done in partnership with Springfield. Ms. Jennings stated that staff had worked closely with the CDBG Advisory Committee to develop a recommendation for the use of funds. She said their focus was on the greatest impact and the readiness to receive the funding. She listed the recommended allocations, which included funding for the land banking program for affordable housing, operating funds for nine social service programs, five non - profit capital facility improvements, curb cuts and accessible pedestrian signals, micro - enterprise training, and program administration. Ms. Jennings reported that the HOME recommendation was similar to previous years, with funding for housing development, home ownership assistance, and operating funds for community housing development organizations and administration. She said the housing development funds were made available through a housing Request for Proposals (RFP), the results of which would be brought back to the council in late July, with a decision to be made at that time about which specific projects to support. MINUTES Eugene City Council April 26, 2010 Page 6 Regular Meeting