Lorain County likely to get $648,000 in federal CDBG funding for 2025 (UPDATED)

This story was updated to fix a typographical error in the first paragraph. Lorain County is expected to receive $648,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds through the Ohio Department of Development this year to spend on projects to help low- and middle-income residents in 2026 and 2027. Of that, $150,000 must be used for projects in North Ridgeville, with the remaining $498,000 to be used for projects in Amherst, Oberlin, Sheffield Lake and unincorporated areas such as townships. Once administrative fees and North Ridgeville's $150,000 come out of the total grant funding, there's enough left to fund two of six requests the county received, Community Housing Coordinator Garvin Carrington-Matthews said during a public hearing Tuesday. Carrington-Matthews told the county commissioners that six applications for funding were submitted, and the board could only choose up to three after his office published its recommendations and the public had a chance to review them. Another hearing will take place May 23, clerk of the board Theresa Upton said. He said the county's Community Development Department would recommend commissioners fund Sheffield Lake's $250,000 request to help pay for a portion of sewer line improvement and street paving on East Drive — a project estimated to cost a total of $738,000, he said. Neighborhood Alliance in Lorain asked for $50,000 toward the $160,000 courtyard playground area project at its Haven Center emergency shelter on East 30th Street in Lorain. North Ridgeville, which automatically receives $150,000 out of the county's $648,000 share because of its population and the percentage of low- to moderate-income or LMI residents, will use that funding toward its $469,000 water line replacement project on Aurensen Road, Noll and Behm drives. The final two applications came from Neighborhood Alliance, which sought just over $97,000 for its Meals on Wheels program, and a $150,000 request from Oberlin to help fund its proposed Park Street Park splash pad. Carrington-Matthews said the county Community Development Department would recommend Oberlin try to get funding from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for that project. The county supported Meals on Wheels with CDBG funding in prior years. Commissioner Jeff Riddell, a Republican, said he wanted more information on who would benefit from Meals on Wheels program, which is more "temporal," while a water line replacement is a more-permanent fix to a specific problem, he said. "I'm trying to justify why we want to do beyond 'That's what we've always done,' I'm trying to justify why we want to continue with the Meals on Wheels part of it," Riddell said. Administrative fees total 20 percent of the overall grant, or $129,000 out of the $648,000 CDBG grant. Of that, a percentage has to be spent on fair housing projects, Carrington-Matthews said. Funding provided in 2025 will be used for activity in 2026 and 2027. The county will find out later this year exactly how much money it and its partners will get. Under U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rules, CDBG projects have to benefit LMI areas, help reduce slums and blighted areas or meet an "urgent need." Cities and counties like Lorain County that are considered "non-entitlement communities" under HUD standards are eligible to apply for funding every two years. Lorain County received $570,000 in federal CDBG funding in 2023. It leveraged that into another $1.4 million worth of projects, county officials said. As "entitlement communities" with populations over 50,000, Lorain and Elyria are eligible to apply for their own CDBG funds. The county also is eligible to get $1.6 million for its Community Housing Impact and Preservation, or CHIP program, from the state to finance housing rehabilitation and repair work, rehab and repair loans, for rental assistance and to support new construction in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. The county has historically use the money for repairs and renovations for LMI homeowners, Carrington-Matthews said. To learn more about how to apply for CHIP funding, call (877) 836-3206.