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Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Consolidated Planning Process (CPP) FY09-13 Proclamation
of the Council of the City of Bowie, Maryland Declaring April 2007
As Fair Housing Month The
City of Bowie Consolidated Annual Performance And Evaluation
Report (2007) Citizen Participation Plan (PDF) Environmental
Review Record (PDF) Annual Action Plan - FY 2007 (PDF) Annual Action Plan - FY 2006 (PDF) Five Year Strategy for Community Development (PDF) The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, (HUD) administers the Community Development Block Grant program that provides annual grants on a formula basis to entitled cities, urban counties, and states in order to:
As an entitlement community, the City of Bowie develops funding priorities that addresses at least one of three National Objectives. CDBG projects must:
The CDBG program allows communities to carry out a wide range of community development activities directed toward revitalizing neighborhoods, economic development, and providing improved community facilities and services. Eligible CDBG activities include but are not limited to:
The City uses CDBG funds to conduct infrastructure reconstruction and improvements, which is a major objective of the Master Plan for the redevelopment of Old Town Bowie. Over the last seventeen years, approximately $2,115,701 have funded infrastructure improvements in order to manage stormwater drainage and improve vehicular and pedestrian mobility in Old Town Bowie. Another million dollars in entitlement funds will be invested into the street improvements for Old Town Bowie over the next five years. The Consolidated Plan To receive its annual CDBG entitlement grant, the City of Bowie developed a Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development. The Consolidated Plan is a process through which a community, with citizen participation, assesses its needs in the areas of housing, homelessness and community development. The Plan also establishes a Five-year Action Strategy and an Action Plan for addressing those needs on an annual basis. The Citizen Participation Plan The Consolidated Plan is designed to be a collaborative process whereby the City establishes a unified vision for community development actions. It offers residents and other stakeholders the opportunity to coordinate neighborhood and community development strategies. Bowie has developed a detailed plan that provides for, and encourages, citizen participation and which emphasizes participation by persons of low- or moderate-income, particularly low- and moderate-income residents from Old Town Bowie. The plan is intended to: provide citizens with reasonable and timely access to local meetings, information, and records related to the grantee's proposed and actual use of funds; provide for public hearings to obtain citizen views and to respond to proposals and questions at all stages of the community development program, including at least the development of needs, the review of proposed activities, and review of program performance; provide for timely written answers to written complaints and grievances; and identify how the needs of non-English speaking residents will be met in the case of public hearings where a significant number of non-English speaking residents can be reasonably expected to participate. The Five Year Action Strategy analyzes housing, human services, and non-housing community development through out the City. It determines the priority needs within each category in a comprehensive and coordinated fashion, and sets forth five year and annual goals to address the unmet community needs. In the areas where the City does not have programs (the City does not have a housing authority, for instance, and its social services does not directly provide for homeless citizens), partnerships with regional organizations have been made to ensure the delivery of comprehensive human services to residents of Bowie. Also, the City makes referrals and provides information on where a given service may be obtained. The City keeps an active Community Development Events Calendar which advertises local events pertaining to these topics. Partnerships include: The Bowie Emergency Aid Fund and Food Pantry provides and coordinates local service providers and faith based efforts to serve low income and/or homeless residents. This organization also coordinates with Prince George's County Homeless Coalition and Human Service Agencies in order to collect uniform client data. Currently, the City does not have specific data on certain special needs populations. The Maryland Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network provides conseling and training assistance to small businesses. Clients of the SBDC work with professional business counselors to start new businesses or to expand their existing businesses. The Annual Action Plan In the Annual Action Plan for Fiscal Year 2004, the City describes the actions that will take place during the next fiscal year to address the priority needs and specific objectives identified by the strategic plan. The Action Plan is submitted annually. All resources to be expended on achieving the strategic goals during that particular program year must be identified. The action plan must describe the geographic areas of the jurisdiction, including areas of minority concentration, in which it will direct assistance during the program year. The Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER) The Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER) reports on CDBG program outcomes and expenditures. The CAPER is due in September and is subject to public participation as defined in the Citizen Participation Plan. The Certifications The Consolidated Plan includes certification that not less than 70% of the CDBG funds received will be used for activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons, and that the City of Bowie will affirmatively further fair housing. If you have any questions regarding any information presented, please contact John Fitzwater, Assistant City Manager at (301) 809-2375, or email him at jfitzwater@cityofbowie.org. |
 Bowie City Hall |
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