Planning Commission to Hold Special Meeting Friday

(KNSI) – The St. Cloud Planning Commission will hold a special meeting Friday afternoon on this year’s Community Development Block Grant allocations.

Funds come from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, but how they are spent are left to individual communities. St. Cloud’s plan identifies four primary goals, listed in order as increasing the supply of affordable rental homes, preserving existing affordable housing by stabilizing lower-income neighborhoods, providing support to emergency homeless shelters, and upgrading infrastructure that could spur development.

The planning commission will weigh applications from 16 different organizations and government entities. The requests total nearly $1.9 million with about $570,000 available after considering the cost to administer the program. City staff is recommending that money go towards eight of the projects.

If the planning commission agrees, the St. Cloud Housing and Redevelopment Authority would receive the most at $215,000. It would be used for deferred loans for low and moderate income families to finance rehabilitation projects on their homes. Place of Hope stands to get $169,000 to make HVAC and plumbing upgrades to its main campus on 9th Avenue North.

OIF Dream Center needs new siding for the living quarters at its campus. It takes in young men suffering from addiction or recently incarcerated and helps reintroduce them to society. Staff recommends $50,000 for the project.

Place of Hope could secure a second award worth $70,000 for emergency shelters during winter to help get the homeless out of the cold. Tri-CAP Project Connect and the Lutheran Social Services St. Cloud Area Crisis Nursery would also receive funds of about $10,000 for their respective projects.

The session is slated for Friday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. inside the board room adjacent from council chambers at city hall.

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