Alisher Aminov
The Lebanon City Council met Thursday March 24th during their pre-council meeting to conduct a public hearing for the Comprehensive Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER), which details the spending of approximately one million dollars for community development.
Janelle Mendoff, the Community and Economic Development Administrator for Lebanon, presented a summary of the report to the Council for final review before submission.
Mendoff said that Lebanon City is classified as an “Entitlement Community” that receives funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, specifically to “invest in local solutions to addressing housing and community development needs.”
Mendoff said that Lebanon receives funding from HUD directly through the Community Development Block Grant, CBDG, program. The purpose of the CBDG program is to aid in the development of the community by investing in projects to improve the quality of housing, living conditions, and expanded economic opportunities.
An example of a program that is funded through the Community Development Block Grant program is the first-time homebuyer/facade improvement assistance initiative.
Mendoff said that Lebanon is currently two years into a five-year consolidated plan (fiscal years 2020-2024) with HUD, in which the City has an already outlined model they are following with specific yearly objectives.
In the wake of the disruptive effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mendoff said that the City was unable to accomplish all of its anticipated goals for the fiscal year 2021; however, it was able to continue the program and meet some of the objectives initially outlined.
Mendoff said that in the fiscal year 2021, the City of Lebanon received $674,925 in CDBG Entitlement grant funding and an additional $47,611.54 in program income.
Some of the programs that Lebanon City invested in during the 2021 fiscal year were “crime prevention administration, code enforcement, emergency housing reb program and our first-time homebuyer program, and street improvements and water main improvements,” Mendoff said.
Mendoff said that the City received two rounds of additional CDBG funding through the CARES Act in the fiscal year 2020. The City received $391,481 in round one, which assisted 70 businesses in 2020 and an additional 17 businesses in 2021. She said that there is still $40,000 in this fund available for eligible Lebanon City businesses that have not yet received assistance.
Mendoff said that in round three of the CDBG funding, the City received $206,891 that will be used in the fiscal year 2022 to address homelessness needs in the community.
Mendoff said that the City completed the CAPER for the fiscal year 2021, which outlines in detail the goals and accomplishments of the City in 2021 in comparison to the five-year goals initially outlined in the comprehensive proposal.
Mendoff said the CAPER was published on the City’s website, Facebook, and a hardcopy was placed on the front desk in room 208 for people to review. However, she said no one came to the municipal building to review the document.
Author: Amaury Abreu
