NOTICES
DEPARTMENT OF
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
2001 Action Plan; Summary Notice
[30 Pa.B. 5027] The Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) proposes to adopt the Commonwealth's Action Plan for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2001 and the Program Year that starts on January 1, 2001. The 2001 Action Plan is an update of the Commonwealth's Consolidated Plan for FFY 2000-2004. The Action Plan discussed herein is the first annual update of the Consolidated Plan for FFY 2000-2004 submitted by the Commonwealth.
The 2001 Action Plan (Plan) updates documents previously submitted to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These documents include the non-housing community development plan and any changes that DCED may have implemented concerning the three programs administered by the Department. The programs administered by DCED are the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the Home Investment Partnerships (HOME), and the Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) programs. The Department of Health administers the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program.
This summary is designed to provide an opportunity to citizens, local governmental officials and interested organizations of the Commonwealth to comment about the Action Plan. Written comments should be submitted to Aldona Kartorie, Center for Community Building, Department of Community and Economic Development, Room 509 Forum Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120. Written comments must be received by October 18, 2000 in order to be included as testimony or by November 1, 2000, to be included in the Action Plan.
The public hearing has been scheduled as follows:
October 19, 2000
Ramada Plaza Hotel On-The-Square
Washington Room, 1st Floor
20 Public Square
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 18701
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.* Note: The public meeting may be shortened if there is minimal response.
Anyone who wants to speak must call to schedule a time to give oral testimony at the hearing. The hearing will be shortened if there is no one to testify or if there is minimal response. Please contact Aldona Kartorie at (717) 720-7409 to schedule your oral testimony no later then October 17, 2000.
Anyone who has a disability and wishes to attend the public meeting should contact Aldona Kartorie, Room 509 Forum Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120, (717) 720-7409, to discuss how the Department of Community and Economic Development can accommodate his/her needs. Text telephone calls can be placed through the Pennsylvania Relay System at (800) 654-5984. Calls will be relayed to the Department's number listed above.
Purpose
The Commonwealth's 2001 Action Plan is the first update to the Five Year Consolidated Plan for FFY 2000-2004. This Action Plan will describe how the programs will be administered in 2001. HUD must approve this Plan in order for the Commonwealth and organizations within the State to receive funding under most HUD housing and community development programs. Applicants for funding from Federal Housing programs must obtain certification that their Proposed use of HUD assistance will be consistent with the applicable Plan for the area. The Consolidated Plan creates a unified strategy for housing and community development programs as well as the necessary linkages for building successful neighborhoods and communities.
The Plan will have a major impact on the types, location and number of affordable housing units generated and preserved in the Commonwealth as well as the infrastructure and public facilities, services and other economic and community development initiatives that Pennsylvania communities will undertake.
Content
The Consolidated Plan for FFY 2000-2001 was recently amended. In the Program Description, Section 1 (C) 1, it stated that the Commonwealth may use up to 1% of its Fiscal Year 2000 CDBG administrative funds to provide technical assistance. That statement was amended to read that the State proposes to use up to 1% of its CDBG administrative funds from prior years grants also, to provide technical assistance.
The 1% of administrative funds, in addition to training, as amended in the Plan, will also be used to provide technical assistance grants. The overall purpose of the program is to provide grants to general units of local government and to for-profit and to nonprofit entities that can demonstrate capacity to fulfill a technical assistance need for the Community Development Block Grant Program. The Department has developed a set of guidelines to govern the use of these funds. The guidelines are available by contacting the DCED, Center for Community Building, Room 502 Forum Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120 or can be found on the internet at www.dced.state.pa.us by clicking on ''Improving Your Community'' and clicking on ''Housing and Infrastructure.''
Finally, the Plan is further amended to remove the Small Communities Planning Grant Assistance Program. The Department's Center for Local Government Services has received a State allocation in the amount of $3,600,000 to provide planning assistance grants and technical assistance for eligible applicants.
Public Review
The Consolidated Plan is available for public comment now through November 1, 2000 at the locations listed below:
1. County Offices
2. DCED Regional Offices:
Southeast Regional Office, 908 State Office Building, Broad and Spring Garden Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19130, (215) 560-2256.
Northeast Regional Office, 201 Samters Building, 101 Penn Avenue, Scranton, PA 18503, (717) 963-4571.
Northcentral and Southcentral Regional Offices, 576 Forum Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120, (717) 787-7247.
Southwest Regional Office, 413 State Office Building, 300 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, (412) 565-5002.
Northwest Regional Office, 212 Lovell Place Apartments, Erie, PA 16503, (814) 871-4241.
3. Pennsylvania's 27 District Libraries:
B. F. Jones Memorial Library, Aliquippa
Allentown Public Library, Allentown
Centre County Library, Bellefonte
Bethlehem Area Public Library, Bethlehem
Conococheague District Library, Chambersburg
Clarion District Library, Clarion
Bucks County Free Library, Doylestown
Easton Area Public Library, Easton
Erie County Library, Erie
Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg
Cambria County Library, Johnstown
Lancaster County Library, Lancaster
Delaware County Library, Brookhaven
Monessen Public Library, Monessen
New Castle Public Library, New Castle
Montgomery County-Norristown Public Library,
Norristown
Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh
Pottsville Free Public Library, Pottsville
Reading Public Library, Reading
Scranton Public Library, Scranton
Warren Public Library, Warren
Citizen's Library, Washington
Chester County Library, Exton
Osterhout Free Library, Wilkes-Barre
James V. Brown Library, Williamsport
Martin Memorial Library, York4. Audio Cassette copies of the Consolidated Plan can be obtained by contacting the Tri-County Branch of the Pennsylvania Association of the Blind: Patricia Summers, Coordinator, Harrisburg Area Radio reading Services, 1800 North Second Street, Harrisburg, PA 17102, (717) 238-2531.
5. On the Internet at www.dced.pa.us click on ''Improving Your Community,'' click on ''Housing and Infrastructure.''
The Plan will be made available again at these same locations following HUD approval.
SAMUEL A. MCCULLOUGH,
Secretary
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 00-1669. Filed for public inspection September 29, 2000, 9:00 a.m.]
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.
