The federal money can be used to repair streets and sidewalks in neighborhoods with low income housing.
Northampton Senior Center.NORTHAMPTON – The City Council has signed off on the mayor’s plan to use the city's 2011 Community Development Block Grant money, and there’s nothing to do now but wait to see if Northampton will win the projected amount.
The $686,263 in federal money posted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development is already 16 percent less than the previous year’s allocation, according to Community and Economic Development Coordinator Teri A. Anderson. The city is concerned that this year’s final number might turn out to be even lower. Northampton has come to depend on the annual federal grants for a variety of housing-related needs, including payment of a loan to build the $4 million Senior Center on Conz Street.
Republicans in Congress have targeted the Housing and Urban Development money as part of their plan to trim the federal budget. They were unsuccessful in eliminating those funds this year, but communities remain anxious about the fate of the grants. In the meantime, the federal funds have been shrinking.
As in recent years, the biggest beneficiary in Mayor Mary Clare Higgins’ proposal is the Senior Center, which would absorb $328,101 of the block grant money. Another $137,252 will go towards supplementing the salaries of Anderson and other staff in the Community and Economic Development Office. As has been its practice, Northampton plans to distribute most of the remaining money among human service agencies and organizations dedicated to addressing the housing needs of low income people.
The plan offers $65,000 to Valley Community Development Corporation to make improvements in an apartment complex it owns on New South Street. In exchange, the agency would keep the units affordable for an additional 25 years. On a smaller scale, $6,000 would be used to improve the kitchen at Grace House, a program for women in recovery and their children.
Casa Latina, Big Brothers & Big Sisters and the Center for new Americans are among other organizations that will receive Community Development Block Grant funding. Because of budget constructions, however, no federal money is targeted for public infrastructure improvement in 2011, Anderson said.
The federal money can be used to repair streets and sidewalks in neighborhoods with low income housing. Last year, the city dedicated $92,000 to reconstruct Conz Street, where the Walter Salvo House is located. Those funds have carried over to this year and the project is no tap for this summer. Other carry-over funds will be used to make improvements at the Three County Fairgrounds, Forbes Library and James House, a city-owned building on Gothic Street that has been converted into an adult learning center.