The City of Valdosta, Georgia is proposing to apply for funding from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP-2) under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), 2009. This is a competitive grant program and the purpose of these funds is to assist in the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes. The City will submit an application for funding under the NSP-2 program to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by the submission deadline of July 17, 2009.
Funds will be utilized in accordance with program requirements in order to arrest decline in home values in targeted neighborhoods and the reduction or elimination of vacant and abandoned residential property in targeted neighborhoods. All NSP-2 funds must provide benefit to persons whose income does not exceed 120 percent of the area median income. Also, 25 percent of the grant must be used for the purchase and redevelopment of abandoned or foreclosed upon homes or residential properties that will be used to house individuals or families whole incomes do not exceed 50 percent of the area median income. Targeted neighborhoods are those Census Tracts that meet the threshold score mandated by HUD based on the estimated number and percentage of foreclosures and another that combines the estimated foreclosure rate and the vacancy rate. Based on these mandatory criteria, the City of Valdosta has identified four Census Tracts, primarily located within the City’s Designated Revitalization Area (DRA), that meet the mandated criteria as follows: Tract 108.00, Tract 109.00, Tract 110.00 and Tract 113.02. These Census Tracts are comprised of the following DRA neighborhoods: West Side, Hightower, Kill Me Quick, westerly portion of the Central Business District, South Side, Pinevale, Little Miami, Lincoln Park, Ulmer Avenue, Devonwood, Leila Ellis, Tom Town and the westerly portion of the Cypress neighborhood.
The City proposes to apply for $5,000,000 in NSP-2 funding to be utilized in the following eligible categories:
-
Purchase and rehabilitate homes and residential properties that have been abandoned or foreclosed upon, in order to sell, rent, or redevelop such homes and properties, and establish and operate a land bank for homes and residential properties that have been foreclosed upon (propose to impact a minimum of 100 properties): $1,450,000.
-
Redevelop demolished or vacant properties as housing (propose to assist 150 families): $1,550,000.
-
Demolition of blighted structures (propose to demolish 200 structures): $1,500,000.
-
Program administration: $500,000.
Citizens may submit comments regarding the proposed application and proposed used of funds in writing to the City of Valdosta CDBG/Neighborhood Development Office, located in the City Hall Annex, 300 N. Lee Street, Room 103, until 5:00 pm on Wednesday, July 1, 2009. This notice is also posted on Metro Valdosta 17 Government Access Channel and at the South Georgia Regional libraries located at 300 Woodrow Wilson Drive and 527 Griffin Avenue. The information contained in this notice will be made available through Limited English Proficiency (LEP) language assistance services as requested.