The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) recently announced the award of $6,552,869 in Small Cities Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) to non-entitlement municipalities and counties in New Jersey. Municipalities in Cumberland and other southern New Jersey counties got the bulk of the awards.
The county itself received $400,000 to provide ADA-compliant improvements at the Cumberland County Fairgrounds.
Upper Deerfield Township took home the largest portion of the county’s municipalities, getting $400,000 to rehabilitate approximately 12 low-income housing units using $200,000 in Small Cities CDBG funds and $200,000 in ARP funds to address lead-based paint hazards; plus another $400,000 to extend public water and sewer utilities to the Phase 1 area of the Hildreth Tract neighborhood.
Deerfield Township was almost as fortunate, receiving $400,000 to rehabilitate approximately 12 low-income, owner-occupied housing units using $200,000 in Small Cities CDBG funds and $200,000 in ARP funds to address lead-based paint hazards; plus $385,777 to remove architectural barriers at the township municipal building and senior center as a Phase 1 project to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Downe, Fairfield, and Hopewell townships also received the $400,000 to rehabilitate approximately 12 low-income housing units using $200,000 in Small Cities CDBG funds and $200,000 in ARP funds to address lead-based paint hazards.
The 22 grants are going to 17 local government entities in eight counties. DCA’s Division of Housing and Community Resources receives, distributes, and administers these federal grant funds for the State of New Jersey.
Funding for the Small Cities CDBG Program is provided by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Community Development Block Grant Program. This year, the CDBG program celebrates 50 years of supporting communities since its enactment by Congress in 1974.
“These federal grants, which DCA administers on behalf of the State, help smaller-sized towns improve public facilities, rehabilitate housing, and make much-needed infrastructure improvements,” said DCA Commissioner Jacquelyn A. Suárez. “We’re happy to positively impact families of limited financial means by improving their well-being through such projects.”
Awards in this year’s application cycle provide funding for important projects that include improvements at parks, recreation facilities, and municipal buildings to make them more accessible to disabled persons in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); upgrades to sewer mains and sewer manholes; expansion of public water and sewer utilities; and rehabilitation of housing for low- and moderate-income residents. Also, an additional $1.4 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding was included for several housing rehabilitation projects in this year’s application cycle to address lead-based paint hazards.
Municipalities and counties receiving Small Cities grants design their own projects and funding priorities. These locally developed projects are required to meet at least one of the three federal national objectives that include:
• Activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons;
• Assistance in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight; or
• Urgent community development needs due to existing conditions that pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community where other financial resources are not available to meet such needs.
More information about the Small Cities CDBG Program can be found at nj.gov/dca/dhcr/offices/cdbg.shtml
