City gets little input about block grants

May 05, 1999|By DAN KULIN /Staff Writer

A woman with Hagerstown Neighborhood Housing Services was the only resident to speak about the proposed Community Development Block Grant spending during a public hearing on Tuesday.

Teresa Hartle thanked Hagerstown's mayor and City Council members for their support of her organization, which works to boost homeownership in the city's west end.

Neighborhood Housing Services is slated to receive $25,000 from the city, under the city's $3 million proposed Community Development Block Grant budget for the 2000 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The budget funds the City Community Development Department and provides money for numerous private nonprofit organizations operating in the city, including Hartle's.

The grant money comes to the city from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Other organizations expected to receive funding through the program include: The Hagerstown Home Store, $155,726; the city's Single Family Homeownership Program, $777,490; and the Parent/Child Center, $21,000, according to the proposed budget.

Also on Tuesday, Councilwoman Susan Saum-Wicklein reiterated a request for more information on a proposed $150,000 award for the Washington County Hospital for a Prospect Street clinic.

Council members have said they want certain questions answered including who the clinic will serve and whether it will provide free or reduced-rate services, before approving the funding proposal.

A previous suggestion made by Saum-Wicklein that the CDBG contribution to Senior Living Alternatives be increased by $450 was included in Tuesday's revised proposal.

Senior Living Alternatives is a nonprofit board that oversees Holly Place on South Potomac Street in Hagerstown. They are slated to receive $26,000 next fiscal year.

Council members are expected to vote to adopt a budget on May 25.

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