Warren Planning and Community Development Director Bianca Policastro is hosting an informational meeting Thursday afternoon, Oct. 22, in the town hall chamber where the public is welcomed to present proposals seeking grant monies from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development. The gathering begins at 3 p.m.

Policastro will provide information about HUD's Community Development Block Grant program, commonly referred to by the acronym CDBG.

At the October 13 meeting of the town council, the director mentioned the next round of CDBG grants are about to be made available. The funding is directed by HUD to the State of Rhode Island.

Policastro said the state anticipates receiving about $5.7 million in funding for so-called "non-entitlement communities" with about $5.4 million up for annual competition amongst municipalities here.

As defined by HUD, "non-entitlement areas include those units of general local government which do not receive CDBG funds directly from HUD. Non-entitlement areas are cities with populations of less than 50,000 (except cities that are designated principal cities of Metropolitan Statistical Areas), and counties with populations of less than 200,000."

CDBG grants, she explained, "offers a high level of flexibility in choosing program activities, but most activities have to benefit low-and moderate-income individuals or meet the needs of a community as a whole. The regulations make funding, or making projects fit the funding, sometimes difficult."

There are four primary funding categories — public service, public facility or infrastructure improvements, economic development and affordable housing. 

Again as prescribed by HUD, each application must also meet the following objectives:  benefit low- and moderate-income persons, prevention or elimination of slums or blight, or address community development needs having a particular urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community for which other funding is not available. Note, a need is considered urgent if it poses a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community and has arisen in the past 18 months.

After the October 22 presentation, Policastro said a PowerPoint file and a recording of the meeting will be made available on the town's website, https://www.townofwarren-ri.gov.

Further questions and comments from the public will be accepted until 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26. That same evening, the director will present her findings to the planning board, which meets in the chamber at 6:30 p.m.

Policastro is expecting the board to vote on the matter and a formal application will submitted to HUD no later than 3 p.m. on November 10. The town, she noted, is allowed to apply for three projects under public facilities/infrastructure criteria and one for public service.

"If there is a non-profit in Warren who thinks that they have a project, a social service project, or public service project, that fits the needs of community development block grants, they should reach out to me, and we can submit up to one application," the director added.

From the town's perspective, Policastro told the council there are two projects that she considers to have the "most fundable opportunities: matching funds for the EPA grant that Warren already received for the improvements and facility upgrades to the wastewater management treatment plant and monies for improvements to be made at its so-called "destination park," Burr's Hill.