The Sierra Vista City Council approved an amendment to its five-year plan to incorporate a third installment of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development valued at $77,209 on Thursday.
“We were notified of our eligibility on June 2 based on our performance of carrying out the first two allocations,” said City of Sierra Vista Director of Community Development Matthew McLachlan during the June 23 meeting. “The $77,209 dollar award brings the total CARES act fund issued by HUD to be $476,457.”
McLachlan said that the more than $77,000 would be assigned to the city’s emergency crisis fund — which includes community outreach, rental and utility assistance, hotel and motel vouchers, and the community connect event at the Ethel Berger Center.
“We’re proposing to add the third allocation to goal three, which is the provision of needed services,” said McLachlan. “We did add the community outreach to cover the monthly Community Connect, one-stop resource event at the Ethel Berger Center — which can serve as a conduit for reaching people in need …”
“We currently plan to partner with a local non-profit organization to assist with the distribution of the funds,” said McLachlan in an email prior to the July 14 meeting. “The amounts allocated to each subset of the emergency crisis fund will be included in the contract. At this point in time, we anticipate that 2/3 or more of the funding will be directed towards rental and utility assistance.”
He said the specifics of how much each subset of the emergency crisis fund will receive from the $77,000 is dependent on the assessed needs.
“How the balance of the funds will be divided will be determined in consultation with the provider, based on an assessment of critical needs,” McLachlan continued. “We anticipate working out an agreement over the next 30-45 days ahead of our anticipated grant approval from HUD.”
He said that the goal is to start distributing the funds in September.
The council also voted unanimously to approve the Community Development Block Grant Funds (CDBG) funds of $252,170 to use towards renovations at Soldiers Creek Park and for the City’s Emergency Home Repair and Disabilities Modification Program.
According to a July 15 press release, the city plans to allocate $227,172 to improvements at Soldiers Creek Park and $25,000 to continue the City’s Emergency Home Repair and Disabilities Modification Program.
“We’ll continue to consult with our non-profit partners to ensure that the funding priorities are aligned with the critical needs of the community,” said McLachlan.
Mayor Pro Tem Rachel Gray submitted her resignation from the city council on July 12, as required by Arizona law, in order to be eligible to run for mayor. During Thursday’s meeting, Sierra Vista Mayor Rick Mueller awarded Gray a certificate of appreciation for her work on the council. Gray, along with the other candidates for city council and mayor, will appear on the November ballot for the general election.
