Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG)

The CDBG program is an annual grant allocated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to entitled cities and counties to develop viable urban communities through activities directed toward revitalizing neighborhoods, increasing economic development, and providing improved community facilities and services.

Entitlement communities, such as Waterbury, are required to develop a five-year Consolidated Plan in addition to individual Annual Plans, which establish funding priorities, goals, and programs that meet the following three National Objectives:

• Grantees must give maximum feasible priority to activities that benefit low-and moderate-income persons.
• Grantees must carry out activities that aid in the prevention or elimination of slums and blight.
• Grantees may fund activities that meet other community development needs if they prove of particular urgency: existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community and other financial resources are not available to meet such needs.

CDBG funds may be used for activities that include, but are not limited to:

• Acquisition of real property;
• Relocation and demolition;
• Construction of public facilities and improvements, such as water and sewer facilities, streets, neighborhood centers, and the conversion of school buildings for eligible purposes;
• Public services, within certain limits;
• Activities relating to energy conservation and renewable energy resources; and
• Provision of assistance to profit-motivated businesses to carry out economic development and job creation/retention activities.

The Citizen Participation Plan is a process used by WDC and the City to solicit input from the general public, service providers, state and local officials, and neighborhood based organizations on setting annual and long term goals as well as allocating funding. The participation plan includes a funding request timeline, 2 public hearings and direct involvement by a Consolidated Plan Coalition and Consolidated Plan Committee. Click here to download the current Citizen Participation Schedule.

Current Activities Include the:

• Funding of 28 Social Services;
• Administration of a Façade Program for the Main Street Waterbury District in Census Tract 3501
• Window and door replacement as well fire pump truck creation at the Baldwin Street Firehouse
• Reconstruction of streets and sidewalks
• Window replacement at Walsh and Wilson schools
• Exterior door replacement at Crosby, Wallace, Wilby and North End schools
• Demolition of six properties: 250 Walnut, 224 Bishop, 17 Wood, 22 Welton and 60 Dikeman
• Boarding up of 34 vacant structures

EMERGENCY SHELTER GRANT (ESG)

The Emergency Shelter Grants program provides homeless persons with basic shelter and essential supportive services. Grantees, which are state governments, large cities like Waterbury, urban counties, and U.S. territories, receive ESG funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and make these funds available to eligible recipients, which can be either local government agencies or private nonprofit organizations.

ESG funds are available for the rehabilitation or remodeling of a building used as a new shelter, operations and maintenance of the facility, essential supportive services (i.e., case management, physical and mental health treatment, substance abuse counseling, childcare, etc.), homeless prevention, and grant administration. ESG also provides short-term homeless prevention assistance to persons at imminent risk of losing their own housing due to eviction, foreclosure, or utility shutoffs.

Grantees, except for state governments, must match ESG grant funds dollar for dollar with locally generated amounts.

Current Activities Include
Funding 5 Social Services

INFORMATION

For more information, please contact Maria Giordano, Programs Specialist at (203) 346-2607 x117 or email giordano@wdconline.org.

Click on the following links for more information on the HUD website:

• Consolidated Plan
• CDBG Program
• ESG Program

BLIGHT INITIATIVE

The Neighborhood Re-Investment Group has taken on a Blight Initiative on behalf of the City of Waterbury. The goal of this initiative is to enhance neighborhood vitality through the removal of debris and overgrown vegetation, securing structurally sound buildings and demolishing those that are not. Cleaner neighborhoods will instill pride and foster reinvestment throughout the City of Waterbury.

The Neighborhood Re-Investment Group works with the City of Waterbury Citizens Service Center in an effort to address blight complaints using reasoning, sound judgment, and the resources provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Neighborhood Initiative programs.

All Complaints are registered with the Citizens Service Center by calling (203) 597-3444.

Cleanup -

When the Neighborhood Re-Investment Group receives complaints not involving private property they are addressed immediately. For complaints made regarding private property, the property owner must first be located before any action is taken. When the property owner is found, the following steps are followed:

• Police Department or WDC issues verbal warning
• Clean-up letter is issued, on-sight or mailed
• Litter ticket is issued with a $100 fine; the ticket may be appealed in writing to the Litter Commission.
• The police department issues a summons with a court date within 7-14 days from time of issuance. A Summons is issued under the City's Litter Ordinance, Chapter 131 of the City's Charter and under the State Statute 7-148. Housing Court occurs each Wednesday at 10:00am at Superior Court, 300 Grand Street.
• The Police Officer and WDC Staff are expected to testify in Housing Court, providing any applicable evidence of littering and/or illegal dumping to the Court.
• If the owner is not found or does not appear in court, a Clean and Lien notice is issued and the owner has 30 days to clean and remove blight. If the owner does not clean the property, the WDC Hot Team, in conjunction with the City of Waterbury, will clean and lien the property for all costs.

In 2005 there were: 7 Clean and Lien projects where approximately 50 tons of debris and overgrown vegetation were removed; 1,095 street visits, which filled 760 thirty gallon bags of litter and removed over 100 tons of debris; and approximately 40 tons of brush were cleared.

Securing -

Staff from the Neighborhood Re-Investment Group identifies vacant properties that seem structurally sound, but not secured. In these cases, the Building Inspector sends the property owner an Order to secure the building. If the owner does not comply in a timely fashion (within 72 hours) the Mayor will issue a letter for WDC to proceed with limited securing of the property, and the police department issues a summons to the owner to appear in Housing Court.

In 2005 there were 34 vacant structures secured.

Demolition -

Staff from the Neighborhood Re-Investment Group identifies vacant properties that seem structurally unsound, or sound but beyond rehabilitation. Those properties that are in danger of collapse are considered an Emergency Demolition, as determined by the Building Official or the Director of Health. Emergency Demolitions are completed using a list of demolition contractors pre-approved by the City's Purchasing Director. For those properties that are not in danger of collapse, the following steps are taken:

• Work with the City to prioritize list of properties in order of safety, density and future plans for the property
• Notify owners as to their responsibility to demolish the properties.
• If owners prove their inability to pay for these costs, then they are asked to sign a release for demolition. If owners are not located, refuse to sign a release, or are able to afford the demolition but choose not to, the Building Official or Health Director may condemn the properties. The City may also take the property through eminent domain.
• Properties are sent out to bid and awarded by the City's Director of Purchasing. They are then demolished by that contract through our office. Liens are placed on the properties unless eminent domain is used, in which case the City will assure the proper reuse of those properties.

In 2005 there were two rounds of demolition started on a total of 5 properties.

Information -

For more information, please contact Michael Gilmore, Re-Investment Specialist, at (203) 346-2607 x111 or email gilmore@wdconline.org.

NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION ZONE (NRZ) SUPPORT

The Neighborhood Re-Investment Group supports local Neighborhood Revitalization Zone (NRZ) organizations, which aim to preserve and improve the quality of life in Waterbury's residential neighborhoods. The group works with established NRZs to implement their short-term and long-term initiatives through technical support and hands-on partnerships in the writing of grants, the planning of fund-raising activities, and development of community programs. The Group also works with and encourages neighborhood associations to engage in long-range planning and visioning for their neighborhood under the guidelines of the State of Connecticut Statutes for Neighborhood Revitalization Zones.

Residents who are working hard to improve their neighborhoods and become involved in the future of their communities need support services to guide them through the important first steps in becoming an active, functioning, and successful organization. The Neighborhood & Education Liaison is available to citizens looking to learn how to form a grass-roots community organization in their neighborhood, or how to begin and complete the formal NRZ process and to become a non-profit association.

In 2005, the Neighborhood Re-Investment Group worked actively with the long-established WOW (Walnut-Orange-Walsh) NRZ on supporting programs offered at its Community Learning Center, which was recently built with Urban Action funds. The WDC is co-sponsoring a youth educational program aimed at guiding young adults in their career and education choices. Five grants have been written to support the WOW Center's after-school programs, operational costs and community gardening efforts in a local vacant lot. WOW-NRZ has received two of these grants and another is pending. One grant has been written for the St. Margaret's /Willow-Plaza NRZ for neighborhood activities. The WDC expects to work extensively with the Willow-Plaza group on future grants supporting operations and programs at the neighborhood community center, presently under construction. The Neighborhood Re-Investment Group has also worked with the Waterbury Litter and Beautification Commission and Main Street Waterbury on two grants, which each group has received.

For more information on the technical support and services offered, please contact Kathy McNamara, Neighborhood and Education Liaison, at 203-346-2607 ext. 115 or email mcnamara@wdconline.org.