The City of Bristol's 1996 Annual Plan for Housing and Community Development programs and activities covers the time period from July 1, 1996 to June 30, 1997. The Annual Plan is part of the Five-Year Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development which was approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development on August 10, 1995. The Plan will continue to be jointly administered by the Bristol Development Authority and the Bristol Housing Authority, with each organization having its own area of authority. The City will continue to work with non-profits to provide a variety of programs meeting public needs.
The City held a public hearing on March 12, 1996 to hear needs and proposals for CDBG funding. A second public hearing was held on April 1, 1996 to announce proposed use of funds. Because of the uncertainty of our CDBG entitlement amount, recipients were given an estimate only of what we anticipate their funding to be. A few requested reconsideration of the amount given when the budget is finally known.
The City expects to receive a CDBG entitlement for PY96 in the amount of $672,000. It will be reprogramming $79,244 from prior years funding.
The Bristol Housing Authority expects to receive approximately $1,525,463 in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 8 Rental Certificates and approximately $143,172 in Section 8 Rental Vouchers. The Housing Authority was provided with a formula amount on the basis of the proposed FFY Appropriations for $993,714 or the formula amount on the basis of the latest continuing resolution for $469,945. The final decision is contingent on the budget vote. The final 1995-96 budget has been reduced from the original appropriation of $1,523,217 to $1,240,013 after the last annual plan was submitted. The reductions were spread among four of the major federal housing projects, Cambridge Park, Bonnie Acres, J.F. Kennedy Apartments and Gaylord Towers. These reductions effect the long term capitol improvements of public housing.
The St. Vincent DePaul Society receives approximately $32,000 annually from HUD for operating costs for the Elms Transitional Living Center. It received a $902,550 HUD grant for a three-year period for the Transitional Living Center for Women with Children, of which $35,000 is for renovation and the balance for operating and support services. In addition, it receives $40,000 from the State of CT Department of Social Services for the Bristol Emergency Shelter and the Elms Transitional Living Center.
In all of the activities associated with the long term goals, HUD funds will be used to the greatest extent possible to leverage other funds, both public and private, to enlarge or enhance individual projects.
The City has approved the following projects to be funded with Program Year 22 CDBG funds: (For detailed information see Table 3).
| Public Facilities & Improvements | |
|---|---|
| Bristol Association for Retarded Citizens - Repave Driveway | 15,000 |
| St. Vincent DePaul Society of Bristol - Transitional Living | 5,000 |
| Dept. of Aging Services - Dental Clinic | 17,744 |
| |
|
| Acquisition | |
| Greater Bristol Realty - Lake Ave. Opportunity Center | 40,000 |
| |
|
| Public Service | |
| Bristol Recovery Club | 2,000 |
| Prudence Crandall - Bristol Outreach | 9,000 |
| Salvation Army - Soup Kitchen | 7,000 |
| YWCA - Childrens Personal Safety | 6,000 |
| YWCA - Sexual Assault Crisis | 8,000 |
| St. Vincent DePaul Society - Operating Expenses | 3,000 |
| The Storehouse | 2,500 |
| Zion - Meals for the Needy | 9,000 |
| Bristol Hospital - HIV/AIDS Support Service | 3,000 |
| Nutmeg Big Brothers/Big Sisters | 2,300 |
| Family Center - Extended Care Specialist | 3,000 |
| Boys' Club, Family Center, Y - Extended Care Subsidies | 30,000 |
| Bristol Boys & Girls Club - Summer Care Subsidies | 5,000 |
| Bristol Boys & Girls Club - Outreach Program | 5,500 |
| Wheeler Clinic - Cambridge Park Youth | 5,500 |
| |
|
| Economic Development | |
| MicroEnterprise Fund | 15,000 |
| |
|
| Rehabilitation and Preservation | |
| Commercial Rehab (Enterprise Zone) | 75,000 |
| Residential Rehab | 196,800 |
| Support Staff (for rehab & projects) | 117,256 |
| BCO - Energy Conservation/Home Safety Audit | 5,000 |
| Planning & Administration | 134,400 |
| |
|
| Unprogrammed Funds | 29,244 |
| |
|
| TOTAL | $ 751,244 |
The City, through CDBG funds, will provide assistance to St. Vincent DePaul to rehabilitate their facility for a transitional living center for 10 women with children. Additional CDBG funds will be allocated for operating expenses at the Homeless Shelter and Elms Transitional Living Center. Through St. Vincent DePaul skill development is provided to clients to help them achieve permanent, independent living and housing.
The City will continue to make housing more affordable through its residential rehabilitation program and rental subsidies. Also with its new economic development approaches for job and job training, will work towards keeping low-income individuals and families from becoming homeless.
Needs of persons who are not homeless but require supportive services will continue to be
addressed through various non-profits.
The Housing Authority is continuing to search for funding to purchase 254 Lake Avenue as a Community Center for the residents of Dutton Heights, Zbikowski Park and the surrounding neighborhoods. The 1996-97 CDBG budget approved an additional $40,000 funding allocation added to the 1994-95 funding of $30,000 for a total of $70,000 for the purchase/rehabilitation of the site. In its efforts to seek financing for this project, the BHA has met with the Federal Home Loan Bank, Boston, Mass., continues to meet with the Bristol Area Community Banking Committee and is exploring Section 108 funding in order to finance the project.
The BHA was again named a High Performing Agency by HUD, scoring 93.57 on the Public Housing Management Assessment Program. The range of $469,945 to $993,714 is too difficult to establish budgets at this time. The BHA is holding the preparation until stronger indications are provided as to the budget vote. The major projects projected in the five year plan for 1996-97 were based on the prior estimate of $1,417,217. This included:
For supportive activities, the following are new or continued programs:
The BHA continues to fund a Cambridge Park on-site Police Substation through the Federal Public Housing Drug Elimination Grant. Two officers are on regularly scheduled duty during the hours and during times of critical need. The BHA's Director of Security maintains a close coordination of services which include: Crime Watch meetings, Resident Council meetings, etc. During this past year, security and crime has been an issue at Gaylord Towers. The Director of Security has been working with residents to establish "Floor Watch" Program. Based on the success of the Gaylord Towers program and greater communication and caring for fellow residents, the program has been introduced to the residents of J.F. Kennedy Apartments. The floor team captains meet regularly to discuss issues as they relate to the security of the residents. During this past year, security cameras were installed at both J.F.K. and Gaylord increasing the confidence level of residents by having the ability to see who was ringing their door prior to allowing access utilizing prior year Comprehensive Grant Funds. Additionally, BHA installed cameras recording the major entrance doors and security alarms on the remaining doors to discourage unwanted visitors. The Director of Security was instrumental in the selection of the equipment installed. Additionally individual units will have latch guards installed.
A member of the Wheeler Clinic staff, partially funded through the Federal Drug Elimination Grant, provides for the continuation of many other programs to Cambridge park residents such as: Computer Classes for Adults, Youth Council, Kidswatch, Kids in Charge, Youth parents program for Boys and Girls, Midget Football, Arts & Crafts, Food Share Program (Cambridge Park & Bonnie Acres), Community Service Liaison, Ladies Time Out. Recently, the Wheeler Clinic staff, the Boys and Girls Club staff and volunteers had initiated Garden Teams for youths at Cambridge Park.
The Bristol Board of Education provided GED, ESL & Spanish GED at Cambridge Park.
The City, through the Bristol Development Authority, has increased its residential rehabilitation grants for very-low income individuals to 50%, rather than 30%. Our goal is to assist homeowners with needed repairs to their homes to keep a safe, decent and affordable place to live, while providing additional financial assistance to help them reduce or overcome poverty. In the hope of assisting to reduce households with incomes below poverty, we will continue to fund public service programs such as:
The City, in an effort to address underserved needs, will work with private non-profits to address these needs where services are available.
The City has hired a Grants Administrator to seek out available funding for projects that meet the needs of the community.
Affordable housing will be maintained through the continued use of rental subsidies and rehabilitation grants. By adaptive reuse of buildings, the number of affordable units can be increased, thus decreasing the annual income spent by low-income households for housing.
To encourage residential rehabilitation in the Enterprise zone, the BDA is making a special effort to reach owners of qualifying properties for the CDBG Residential Rehabilitation program. Area banks have joined with the BDA to encourage renovations. The banks are providing a "loan sale" to property owners in the Enterprise Zone through September 30, 1996.
The City will continue to evaluate and reduce lead-based paint hazards through its residential rehabilitation program. The City's Rehab Inspector has successfully completed a course and is now a State certified Lead Inspector/Analyst.
The City, through the Bristol Development Authority and Bristol Housing Authority, will continue to coordinate the delivery of programs and services available and offer referral. Meetings will be held with social service providers, public housing tenants, St. Vincent DePaul Society, the Bristol Community Organization and other non-profits to coordinate individual services and strengthen relationships between assisted housing and federal programs.
The City will assure that all affordable housing activities further fair housing and comply with the displacement and relocation plan, as well as compliance with Federal rules concerning housing quality standards, lead base paint, Davis Bacon wages and environmental reviews.
Through periodically scheduled review meetings, the City will monitor its progress towards the goals set in the Consolidated Plan and to insure that all statutory and federal regulatory requirements are being met. The City will maintain complete and accurate program and financial records.
Federal funds for housing are distributed by the Bristol Development Authority and the Bristol Housing Authority. All appropriate forms of verification of spending are submitted by these two agencies to HUD. Monitoring of actual spending will be carried out by annual audit and subsequent reports to HUD.
The monitoring plan will include a review of where funding has been spent and the extent to which funding has increased the opportunities for affordable housing.
The City of Bristol held a 30-day comment period beginning April 1, 1996, at the second public
hearing, and ending May 1, 1996. During that period, no comments were received.
Table
For further information, contact Jayne Savino at (860) 584-7972.