Affordable housing, ADA accessibility improvements, and facility renovations for local nonprofits are among some of the anticipated uses in Naperville for this year’s allocation of community development block grant (CDBG) funds from the federal government.
After holding a pair of public hearings, the city council on Tuesday, Feb. 4, approved a pair of documents that set the stage for CDBG funding priorities in 2025 and beyond. One of the hearings pertained to a consolidated CDBG plan for 2025-2029, while the other hearing was specific to an action plan for this year’s funding allocations.
Where this year’s CDBG funds could be applied
According to city documents, the 2025 CDBG funds in Naperville could be applied toward a number of specific purposes, depending on the actual dollar amount allocated this year, which is still pending. The list of projects and benefactors under consideration includes:
- Bridge Communities — apartment unit rehabilitation
- DuPage Pads — contributions toward permanent housing supportive program
- Fry Family YMCA — accessible playground enhancements and bathroom renovations to improve ADA accessibility
- Little Friends — roof renovation for Naperville Community Integrated Living Arrangement housing for adults with disabilities
- Loaves & Fishes Community Services — emergency assistance program
- Naperville Elderly Homes — energy efficiency and reliable heat and hot water system replacement
- Northern Illinois Food Bank — parking lot asphalt milling and resurfacing
- Rebuilding Together Aurora — continued funding for single-family home rehabilitation program
- Turning Pointe Autism Foundation — canopy addition to a building entrance
- UCP Seguin — privacy and safety fence project
In a memo, Miranda Barfuss, community grants coordinator, outlined how the list of programs and recipients was assembled.
“To distribute program year 2025 CDBG funding, the city held a call for projects and opened applications for funding,” Barfuss wrote, noting the timeline was from Sept. 12 to Oct. 25, 2024. “All applications were evaluated and scored by a multi-disciplinary team.”
Participants in the evaluation process included the Human Rights and Fair Housing Commission, the Accessible Community Task Force, the Senior Task Force, and staff from the city’s community services department.
HUD administers program
The federal CDBG funds are ultimately funneled to Naperville through the DuPage County Consortium.
As a participant in the program, the city is responsible for developing a consolidated plan once every five years, and an action plan each program year, based on terms the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development outlines.
“The consolidated plan summaries Naperville’s housing and non-housing community development needs and provides a strategic plan for how CDBG funds will be spent over the next five years to meet these needs,” Barfuss said.
As for the more immediate document, Barfuss added, “The annual action plan describes how funds will be spent during the specific program year and how the expenditure contributes to meeting the overall goals of the consolidated plan.”
Council gives unanimous support to community development block grant plans
No one spoke for or against Naperville’s five-year CDBG plan or the one for this particular calendar year at the Feb. 4 meeting. The council ultimately voted in support of the plans in motion after a brief round of discussion.
Councilman Josh McBroom had several logistical questions about the program and its implementation.
“The allocations look admirable,” McBroom said. “The $535,000 that we’re receiving — nothing’s free. As a city, do we feel that there’s strings attached, other than we have to create a plan every year. Are there other levers that HUD has over us for taking this money?”
City Manager Doug Krieger, in response, said there are specificities that do need to be followed with the federal funds.
“There are a number of restrictions, with respect to the use,” Krieger said. “We can’t use it for whatever we like, but it has been a very effective program in the past.”
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