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).  Through 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 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 2016/17 the City has been allocated $624,852 in new CDBG funding.  In addition, this Action Plan provides for carry-over or reprogramming of approximately $495,107 in unspent funds from the current and previous program years.

Attached is a draft copy of the FY 2016/17 Annual Action Plan.  The public comment period began on April 8^th with the advertisement of the Annual Action Plan and concludes on May 9^th, at which time all comments will be compiled and reflected in the Annual Action Plan as appropriate.  The Annual Action Plan (AAP) will be submitted on May 13, 2016 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 2016/17 Annual Action Plan outlines the activities the City of Sparks plans to undertake in Program Year 2 (FY 2016/17) of the City’s Consolidated Plan for the 2015-2019 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 2016/17 Annual Action Plan allocates a total of $1,119,959, which is comprised of $624,852 in new CDBG entitlement funding plus $495,107 in unspent funds from previous years that will be reprogrammed and used to fund previously approved activities, as follows:

Activities to be funded from New CDBG Allocation for FY 2016/17:

• Up to $25,000 to support Fair Housing activities,
• UP to $12,895 for Continuum of Care (CoC) activities,
• Up to $74,232 for Planning and Administration activities,
• Up to $105,293 for Community Assistance Center activities (emergency shelter),
• Up to $88,164 for Housing Rehabilitation Administration activities,
• Up to $179,177 for Pedestrian Improvement activities
• Up to $140,000 for Housing Rehabilitation Deferred Loan activities,
• Up to $0.00 for Emergency Repair Grant Program activities (Note: no new funding to be allocated this years application; approximately $37,784 to be re-programed from previous year allocations).

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

• $674,284 for Pedestrian Improvements in a project area whose boundaries are Prater Way to the north,  15^th Street to the east, Rock Boulevard to the west and D Street on the south.  Of this amount, approximately $179,177 is new grant funding and $495,107 is from previous years.

The Washoe County HOME Consortium’s (WCHC) proposed projects includes funding for construction of a 45-unit affordable senior citizen rental apartment development “Alpine Haven” at the intersection of Oddie Boulevard and Sullivan 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 in the Annual Action Plan (AAP) meets the community's needs as presented in the Five Year Consolidated Plan.  To date; city staff have not recieved any public comment on the 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 2, Fiscal Year 2016/17 Annual Action Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.