MANSFIELD — It doesn’t appear federal money from the 2020 federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program will be used for an affordable rental housing project on the north end or a similar project for senior citizens near OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital.
But unspent funds from previous years could be allocated for those efforts if and when project planners meet federal requirements later this year, according to Tracy Bond, the city’s community development and housing director.
Mansfield City Council’s public affairs committee, during a two-hour meeting Tuesday evening, forwarded its final recommendations for this year’s HOME funds and Community Development Block Grant funds.
Council will likely vote on the recommendations when it meets again April 7.
The committee, consisting of chair Jean Taddie (6th Ward), Jon Van Harlingen (3rd Ward) and Alomar Davenport (4th Ward), met during an online session that was live-streamed on the city’s Facebook page.
All members of council participated in the meeting, the second time in March council met “behind closed doors” due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The North End Community Improvement Collaborative had asked for funds to construct affordable rental housing on the north end. The Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging asked for funding for a Ritter’s Run Senior Community rental properties near Ohio Street.
Bond recommended council not fund either projects, citing inadequate applications.
All three committee members urged Bond to work with the agencies to ensure the applications met federal requirements.
The city has $874,000 in HOME funds not spent from the past few years, though it’s not clear if any of those funds are already allocated for current projects.
Van Harlingen said he was concerned Bond’s office had “not done its due dilligence” in assisting the two organizations with their applications. “Some of these (application problems) are just not that big an issue,” he said.
Taddie said, “There is strong support on council for these projects. I encourage (Bond) to work with these agencies and move this forward as fast as humanly possible.”
The committee voted to recommend that $208,000, the bulk of the city’s $277,949 in 2020 HOME funds, be set aside for citywide full housing rehabilitation efforts.
In terms of CDBG funds, in terms of brick and mortar spending, the committee recommended $125,000 for the West End Target Area, $102,700 for citywide emergency home repairs, $220,600 for citywide home improvement projects, $60,000 for a Metropolitan Housing Authority home lead remediation program and $60,000 to replace windows at the Friendly House.
Van Harlingen, Davenport and at-large council member Phil Scott had recommended no 2020 funds for the West End Target area, an area that includes Mansfield St. Peter’s and OhioHealth neighborhoods.
All three council members said they were concerned money allocated for the area last year was still unspent and no firm plan for the development in the area has been proposed.
Bond said she was meeting with the project organizers and their consultant Wednesday and was confident a plan would be developed soon.
Van Harlingen also took issue with funds being set aside for housing projects that doesn’t get spent.
“We really don’t know what the projects are,” he said. “We are just stacking money … it’s a blank check. We have got to put the money somewhere and we have got to use the money.”
In terms of CDBG spending on programs, the committee recommended $30,000 for the Richland County Transit Dial-A-Ride program; $12,800 for the Mansfield Parks & Recreation Department’s summer interns and $2,000 for its summer rec activities; $16,200 for the NECIC’s community garden program; $10,000 for the Catholic Charities HOPE Food Pantry; $22,400 for the Culliver Reading Center’s after-school programming for children; $13,250 to support the the Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Student Achievement Leadership Training program; and $24,500 for the Metropolitan Housing Authority’s emergency monthly housing payments.
