The City of Sparks is an Entitlement Community under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. As an Entitlement Community, the City receives a direct allocation of CDBG funding each program year. In addition to the CDBG program, the City of Sparks partners with the City of Reno and Washoe County in the Washoe County HOME Consortium (WCHC). Via the WCHC, the three jurisdictions also receive an annual allocation of HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) funding. The guidelines for these formula grant programs outline three basic goals of decent housing, a suitable living environment and expanded economic opportunities.

As part of the annual application process for CDBG funds, an Annual Action Plan is prepared by the City of Sparks, with information provided by the City of Reno for the WCHC, describing the proposed activities to be funded with CDBG and HOME dollars (City of Reno is the lead agency of WCHC). The Annual Action Plan also identifies the process through which the jurisdictions, along with Washoe County, allocate and distribute funding, along with information regarding other funding resources available for those programs.

HUD has informed the City of Sparks that for federal fiscal year 2014/15 the City has been allocated $631,705 in new CDBG funding. In addition, this Action Plan provides for carry-over or reprogramming approximately $397,697 in unspent funds from the current and previous program years. Attached is a draft copy of the FY 2014/15 Annual Action Plan. The public comment period began on April 10th with the advertisement of the Annual Action Plan and concludes on May 12th, at which time all comments will be compiled and incorporated into the Annual Action Plan, as required. The Annual Action Plan (AAP) will be submitted on May 15, 2014 to HUD for review and approval. Additional copies of the Annual Action Plan may be obtained and public comments submitted to the Housing Specialist, George T. Graham, at 431 Prater Way, Sparks, NV 89431 or via email to ggraham@cityofsparks.us.

The Action Plan serves as the application for CDBG Entitlement Communities such as the City of Sparks. The 2014/15 Annual Action Plan outlines the activities the City of Sparks plans to undertake in Program Year 5 (FY 2014/15) of the City’s Consolidated Plan for the 2010-2014 period, leveraging CDBG funding to address housing needs, public services and homelessness prevention under the objectives of a suitable living environment and decent housing.

The 2014/15 Annual Action Plan allocates a total of $1,029,402, which is comprised of $631,705 in new CDBG entitlement funding plus $397,697 in unspent funds from previous years that will be reprogrammed and used to fund previously approved activities.

Activities to be funded from New CDBG Allocation for FY 2014/15:

• $15,000 to support Fair Housing activities,

• $9,700 for Continuum of Care (CoC) activities,

• $91,800 for Planning and Administration activities,

• $94,755.75 for Community Assistance Center activities (homeless shelter),

• $55,968 for Housing Rehabilitation Administration,

• $130,000 for Housing Rehabilitation Deferred Loan activities,

• $27,500 for Housing Rehabilitation Emergency Repair Grant activities

Activity to be funded with a combination of new and reprogrammed funds:

• $604,678 for Pedestrian Improvements in a project area whose boundaries are Pyramid Way on the west, Prater Way to the north, 6th Street to the east and Victorian Avenue on the south. Also included in the Pedestrian Improvements is Marion Way (including Cul-de-sac) which is boarded by Prater Way to the north and adjacent east to Dilworth Middle School. Of this amount, approximately $206,981 is new funding and $397,697 is from previous years.

The Washoe County HOME Consortium’s (WCHC) proposed projects includes a new construction 45-unit affordable senior citizen rental apartment development “Lincoln Way Apartments” at the intersection of 4th Street and Lincoln Way in Sparks. This project is intended to serve households with incomes at or below 40 percent of the area median income. Each project presented within the Action Plan meets the community’s needs as presented in the five year Consolidated Plan. To date, city staff has not received any public comment on the Consolidated Plan and/or Annual Action Plan.

Alternatives to all or part of the staff recommendation include:

1. Reducing or increasing the allocations for one or more of the activities.

2. Eliminating one or more activities.

I move to approve the proposed project funding allocations and to submit the Program Year 5, Fiscal Year 2014/15 Annual Action Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.