Submitted By
Tammie Grossman, Development Customer Services Director
Reviewed By
AMZ
Agenda Item Title
Title
A Resolution Approving a Memorandum of Understanding Between the Village of Oak Park and Cook County from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for Lead Removal Activities and Authorizing its Execution
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Overview
Overview
The Village entered into a grant agreement with the Cook County Department of Public Health for a Lead Poisoning Prevention Program in 2018 funding by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which expires November 30, 2021. The Cook County Department of Public Health is applying for additional funding from HUD for this program and is requesting the Village to partner on a new grant funding application.
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Recommendation
Recommendation
Approve the Resolution.
Fiscal Impact
The grant will add revenues for staff wages and salaries as well as contracted services for lead testing and hazard controls and will reduce the Village's reliance on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds freeing those funds up for other projects.
Background
The Village of Oak Park has an agreement with the Illinois Department of Public Health to manage childhood lead including managing and maintaining the state of Illinois’ Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Surveillance System (HHLPSS) database; a database that collects and stores childhood blood lead testing data and environmental health investigation data.
For many years, the Village used a substantial allocation from its annual Community Development Block Grant (“CDBG”) entitlement from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist low-income households earning less than 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) in both the control of lead-based paint hazards and the rehabilitation of their homes through a Single-Family Rehabilitation Loan Program (SFR). CDBG-funded housing rehabilitation projects require lead risk assessments and hazard reduction at three different levels of intensity depending on the total cost of the rehabilitation project. The Village caps rehabilitation financing at $24,999 and awards grants for identifying and controlling lead hazards based on that cap. Reduction of lead-based hazards is a goal of the Village’s CDBG program.
In 2015, the Village partnered with the Cook County Health Department to apply for funding from HUD under the Lead Hazard Reduction Grant program to provide federal funds to abate the lead hazards. Since partnering with Cook County, the Village has been able to utilize Lead Grant funding for these activities instead of the Village’s CDBG funding. Most recently, funds from this grant agreement were used to rehabilitate the Sojourn House, which would not have been available otherwise.
The current grant agreement expires on November 30, 2021. Cook County Department of Public Health is applying for a new grant with HUD and is requesting that Village partner in that application process. If Cook County is awarded funds by HUD, the grant agreement will be presented to the Village Board for review and approval at a future meeting.
Alternatives
The Board may opt not to approve the resolution or to recommend revisions to the MOU. Revisions would also require approval by Cook County.
Previous Board Action
On December 7, 2015, the Village Board approved a motion to apply to Cook County for grant funding. On January 19, 2016, the Village Board approved a Resolution Accepting a Cook County Department Of Public Health Lead Poisoning Prevention Grant Award in the Amount of $160,000 and Authorizing the Execution of the Grant Agreement which allowed renewals as new funding is received by Cook County from the Federal Government. On March 19, 2018, the Village Board approved a Resolution approving a renewal of the Grant Agreement in an amount not to exceed $240,000 over a three-year period. On February 1, 2021, the Village Board approved an extension of the grant agreement until November 30, 2021.
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
N/A
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
N/A
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
The grant allows us to cooperate with the federal government and Cook County.