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 (PY) of the Five-Year Consolidated Plan (FYs 2020-2024). 

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, which is used to assist in the development of affordable housing projects in the region.  The guidelines for these formula grant programs outline three basic goals:

1. Decent housing,
2. Suitable living environment and
3. Expanded economic opportunities. 

The City of Sparks has prepared an Annual Action Plan (AAP) as part of the federal application process for CDBG funds.  The AAP includes information provided by the City of Reno with CDBG and HOME Partnership dollars (the City of Reno is the Lead Agency for the WCHC, and the City of Sparks and Washoe County are Participating Jurisdictions).  The AAP also identifies the process through which the jurisdictions allocate and distribute funding, along with information regarding other funding resources available for those programs.

Attached of the “Final Draft” of the Five-Year Consolidated Plan (FY’s 2020-2024), AAP for FY 2020-2021, and an updated Citizen Participation Plan (Exhibit 2).  These documents are collectively referred to as the “Final Draft” until such time that HUD approves the submittal.

HUD has notified the City of Sparks that the CDBG allocation for FY 2020-2021 will be $684,439.

Additionally, in accordance with the CDBG Application process, HUD requires consultation and a public comment period with the served community. The 30-day public comment period began April 8, 2020 with advertisement of the CP and AAP in the Reno Gazette Journal and concluded on May 11, 2020 at the commencement of the City Council meeting, at which time any public comments were accumulated and incorporated into the “Final Draft” of the AAP. In addition, a community meeting soliciting public comment was held via Zoom due to COVID 19 concerns on April 22, 2020.

The attached Five-Year Consolidated Plan was originally scheduled to be submitted to HUD by May 15, 2020 for Fiscal Years 2020-2024.  However, as a result of the COVID-19 emergency, and the allocation of supplemental funding in the Corona Virus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the deadline for submittal of the Consolidated Plan and Annual Action Plan has been extended by HUD to August 15, 2020.

The Five-Year CP and AAP FY 2020-2021 serves as the application for CDBG Entitlement Communities such as the City of Sparks.  The CDBG 2020-2021 AAP outlines the activities the City of Sparks plans to commence in PY One (FY 2020-2021) of the City’s 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan.  The AAP leverages CDBG funding to address housing needs, public services and homelessness prevention under the objectives of a suitable living environment and decent housing.  The 2020/2021 AAP allocates $684,439 in new CDBG entitlement funds as follows.

Proposed activities to be funded from new CDBG Allocation for FY 2020/2021:

+          Up to $25,000 to support Fair Housing activities.  The City of Sparks and the City of Reno combine resources (i. e. $25,000/each) to obtain the professional services of Silver State Fair Housing Council for implementation of the ‘Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing’ (AFFH) as required by HUD.

+          UP to $19,000 for support of Northern Nevada Continuum of Care (NNCoC) activities, to end homelessness as required by HUD.

+          Up to $154,070.80 for support of Planning and Administration activities, which includes the salary of staff involved in preparation and implementation of the planning grant.

+          Up to $90,064.05 for support of the Community Assistance Center activities (Men’s Homeless Shelter) as well as the planned Northern Nevada Adult Mental Services (NNAMHS) Campus for women, children, family and seniors.

+          Up to $90,000 for support of the Housing Rehabilitation Administration activities to support implementation of the planning grant.

+          Up to $236,304.15 of new grant funding for support of Pedestrian Improvements activities of curb, paving, and sidewalk replacement of typical Pedestrian Improvement.  The area of D Street and north to Oddie Boulevard is the defined area of Pedestrian Improvement for FY 2020/2021 (see Exhibit – 02).

+          Up to $50,000 of new grant funds to support the implementation of Single-Family Housing Rehabilitation Deferred Loan Program activities,

+          Up to $20,000 for implementation of the Housing Rehabilitation Emergency Repair Grant Program.  The activities consist of rectifying health, life and safety issue of qualifying homeowners.

Each project presented within the AAP meets the community’s needs as presented in the proposed five-year Consolidated Plan.

As noted in the Agenda Item Brief, City staff has identified COVID-19 -related eligible activities for which the City’s regular CDBG allocation may be used as possible alternatives to those recommended in the attached Annual Action Plan. These include:

1.  Adding or increasing public service activities, including increased levels of funding for public service activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as to isolate COVID-19 positive or COVID-19 positive suspected individuals and to shelter homeless persons based on social distancing guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Washoe County Health District. Another possibility is the provision of services to enable income-qualified households facing pandemic-related income disruptions to retain their rental housing.

2.  Buildings and improvements, including public facilities, to isolate COVID-19 positive or COVID-19 positive suspected individuals and to shelter homeless persons based on social distancing guidelines. This could include, for example, improving an alternative facility to supplement the Community Assistance Center after shelter operations cease at the Reno Events Center or to provide temporary housing (e.g., Edison trailers).

3.  Emergency rental housing assistance to low- and moderate-income households who have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the “closing” of the economy. Should the Council desire to provide such assistance, staff recommends that the Council direct staff to identify an appropriate and willing third-party agency to receive and distribute rental assistance funds.

4.  Grants or loans to businesses to create jobs related to products or services needed to respond to the pandemic (e.g., manufacturing medical supplies) or retain jobs held by low- and moderate-income persons that would be lost due to social distancing requirements. Should the Council desire to provide business assistance, staff recommends that the Council direct staff to identify an appropriate and willing third-party agency to receive and distribute the funds.

Staff recommends that the City Council approve submittal of the Five-Year Consolidated Plan for federal fiscal years 2020-24 and the FY 2020 Annual Action Plan, as presented in the draft AAP, for federal fiscal year 2020 to HUD. Should the City Council decide to add one or more of  the alternative activities to the AAP, the Council should provide specific direction to staff regarding the alternative activity(ies) to include in the AAP, the amount of funding to allocate for said activity(ies), and the corresponding activities in the draft AAP to be eliminated or funded at a reduced level.

1. Approve submittal of the Five-Year Consolidated Plan for fiscal years 2020-2024 and Annual Action Plan (AAP) for fiscal year 2020-2021 as presented by staff.
2. Direct the City Manager to reduce or increase the allocations for one or more of the activities in the AAP.
3. Direct the City Manager to add and/or eliminate activities in the AAP.

I move to approve the Five-Year Consolidated Plan for fiscal years 2020-2024 and Annual Action Plan for fiscal year 2020-2021, for Community Development Block Grant and Washoe County HOME Consortium funding, for submission to the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.