On Tuesday, Longmont City Council voted to reallocate 2020 Community Development Block Grant dollars for the eighth time.
According to Molly O’Donnell, housing and community investment division director, the COVID relief dollars have shifted several times due to determining the eligibility of the projects it was assigned to.
The city was awarded $768,364 and has spent $401,424 on the Fresh Start Utility Billing Assistance Program and the OUR Center Rental Assistance program. The utility assistance program served 297 households that were at risk of housing instability due to utility shutoffs.
The Recovery Cafe also received funding to complete design and financial feasibility studies for constructing an addition at Suites Supportive Housing. The project was designed to relocate Recovery Cafe’s headquarters to provide its services at the location for those seeking recovery support.
The project was determined to be infeasible. The study cost $106,486. An additional $66,086 allocated to the project needed to be reallocated.
This amount plus the remainder of unspent dollars now totals $68,527. The city council voted to reallocate the dollars to the Longmont Housing Authority Accessibility Improvements Project. The funds will complete ADA accessibility to multiple low-income households. The improvements could include concrete ramps, handrails, asphalt repairs and parking lot striping.
Councilmember Diane Crist suggested the money be allocated to small businesses.
O'Donnell pointed out that a program to help small businesses with these funds was opened when the funding was awarded. However, since these funds are HUD dollars, it required a detailed and extensive amount of documentation that most business owners found difficult to navigate to meet the qualifications. She said the city awarded dollars to all the businesses that qualified and no more applications came in after that.
