North Cook News

Village of Arlington Heights Committee-of-the-Whole met June 10

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

I. CALL TO ORDER 

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 

President Hayes congratulated newly appointed State Representative Grasse. Trustee Grasse (Representative Grasse) thanked President Hayes and said she looked forward to serving the community in this new capacity. 

III. ROLL CALL 

President Hayes and the following Trustees responded to roll: Baldino, Dunnington, Schwingbeck, Bertucci, Tinaglia, Grasse, LaBedz and Shirley. 

Also present were: Diana Mikula, Charles Witherington-Perkins, Nora Boyer and Becky Hume. 

IV. NEW BUSINESS 

A. Public Hearing - 2024 Draft Annual Action Plan & 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan Amendments 

Trustee Baldino moved to open the Public Hearing. Trustee LaBedz seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 

Charles Witherington-Perkins stated this is the first of two public hearings. After tonight the Plan will go to a 30-day public comment period and then there will be a second Public Hearing in July. At that point the Board would take action on adopting the recommendations and we would forward these plans to the approved budget. This particular Plan is the on the Federal Fiscal year cycle which begins October 1st. 

Public Service Requests 

Nora Boyer walked through each of the individual requests for the CDBG

Budget, part of the Annual Action Plan. The applications are for the 2024- 2025 program. Full applications were in the meeting packets. There were no applications from agencies that were not funded during the current year.

Construction Project Requests 

The Village consolidates some requests under an umbrella for group-home renovations and administers them through the Housing Commission. Currently this year there is $115,000 in the group-home renovation program for those projects which are being done by Clearbrook, Little City, Glenkirk and Shelter Inc. For next year, the request for the umbrella group home renovation program is $170,000. The Housing Commission has also requested renewal of the Single-Family Rehabilitation Program. The Public Infrastructure project is coordinated between the Planning Department and the Engineering Division for street resurfacing in low and moderate-income group areas that are approved by HUD for CDBG funding. The final request is for CDBG Administration which is a capped amount of 20% of the available funds. 

Mr. Perkins said one agency from last year did not re-submit this year. The Children at Play (CAP) program was funded last year through the General Fund, not CDBG monies. This allows for staff’s recommendations to fully fund and/or increase some funding to the other agencies. The CAP program is a joint agreement between the Village, the Park District and the three elementary school districts to provide before and after school care for children. Originally it was 100% funded from CDBG and then gradually it became 50/50 until last year when it became fully funded from the General Fund. 

HUD has asked us to try to increase the amount of grants to agencies and not have so many small ones, so this actually helps us meet and get towards that goal. The CDBG Budget and funding program is not meant to be a social service funding program, it is supposed to be a brick-and-mortar program and so has strict restrictions on the use of CDBG funds for public

service activities. We can only use 15% of the program income on public service activities so that is a maximum of about $51,300. We increased the construction amounts a little bit because we know construction costs are increasing. There is a higher need in the group homes under single family rehab program this year. 

Ms. Boyer explained there is a Five-Year Consolidated Plan and then there are Annual Action Plans under that Five-Year Plan for each of the five years. The proposed substantial amendments would amend the Five-Year Plan which was written in 2019. At that time, there was a possibility of a small rental rehab program and a modest economic development project that could be funded by CDBG funds. These did not end up happening. In addition, the Village received a grant in the CDBG-COVID funds for economic development and in the last few years there's been and the emphasis on inclusionary housing. The rental preservation project did not come forward either. The proposed amendments are to remove that economic development and rental preservation from the Consolidated Plan so it reflects what actually occurred. The second Public Hearing is scheduled for July 15th. 

Trustee Tinaglia suggested including the Library in the CAP program. It seems like a natural fit and that they would want to participate. 

President Hayes said as far as he knew, the Library had not been asked to participate in the CAP program for programming or funding. The Park District, School Districts and Village have been supporting this program for about the last 30 years. Mr. Perkins agreed saying historically it's been the Park District providing the staff, the schools providing the facilities and the Village providing the funding for the scholarships which this year has jumped significantly, and we anticipate that it could go even higher as District 25 is now providing full year full day kindergarten. 

Trustee Tinaglia suggested maybe it would be worth a dialogue with the Library Board because there is a captive audience of young people. Maybe they could find a way to participate, and learn what a wonderful library we have. 

Trustee Bertucci thinks it's a good allocation and complimented staff for presenting a good mix and a good blend of all these organizations. 

Trustee Grasse asked why Northwest Compass asked for $30,000 as their request was significantly higher than some of the other agencies' requests (although other agencies asked for more than they received as well). Mr. Perkins said historically they have requested a large amount. 

Sonia Ivanov, Executive Director of NW Compass, explained they requested this amount because they are trying to get a 25% match incentive, otherwise they won't even be able to support the housing program that they have. Housing options in the area have increased in price. They provide housing assistance and counseling to families.

President Hayes thanked the agencies for the work they do in assisting Arlington Heights and our community. 

Trustee Tinaglia moved to close the Public Hearing. Trustee Schwingbeck seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 

V. OTHER BUSINESS 

VI. PUBLIC COMMENTS 

VII. ADJOURNMENT 

Trustee LaBedz moved to adjourn at 7:31 p.m. Trustee Bertucci seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 

https://arlingtonheights.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/DisplayAgendaPDF.ashx?MinutesMeetingID=1788