Department of John Kopchik
Contra Director
Conservation and
Costa Ruben Hernandez
Development Deputy Director
County Jason Crapc
30 Muir Road Deputy Directo
Martinez, CA 94553
laureen Tom
Phone:1-925-655-2885 eputy Direct
Deidra Dingman
Deputy Director
CALIFOR
COSTA COURTS Gabriel Lemus
Assistant Deputy Director
April 17, 2023
Shasa Curl, City Manager
City of Richmond
450 Civic Center Plaza, Ste 300
Richmond, CA 94804
RE: Community Development Block Grant Program, Emergency Solutions Grant Program, and HOME Program Cooperation Agreement for FY 2024-2026 Dear Ms. Curl:
The purpose of this letter is to advise you that Contra Costa County ("Urban County") must programs.
I want to invite Richmond's continued participation.
As you know, the City of Richmond has been a longstanding partner with the County's "Urban County" Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and the HOME Investment Partnerships Act (HOME) programs. The current Cooperation Agreement with your City/Town provides for automatic renewal for participation in successive three-year qualification periods.
The County expects to receive approximately $4.5 million in CDBG funds, $400,000 in ESG funds, and $3.3 million in HOME funds in each of the three years covered by the Cooperation Agreement. The funds will continue to be allocated to activities designed to address the community development and housing needs of the entire Urban County, including Richmond.
Notification of Opportunity to be Excluded: Units of general local government in which Counties have authority to carry out essential community development and housing activities without the consent of the local governing body are automatically included in the Urban County
unless they elect to be excluded at the time of qualification or re-qualification. Any County that has such units of general local government must notify each such unit that it may elect to be excluded from the Urban County. As required by law and the Cooperation Agreement, the County is required to notify each city of the following:
1. That if it chooses to remain with the Urban County, it is ineligible to apply for grants inder the Small Cities or State CDBG programs while it is part of the Urban County B. That if it chooses to remain with the Urban County, it is also a participant in the ESG and HOME programs if the Urban County receives HOME and ESG funding; and C. That if it chooses to be excluded from the Urban County, it must notify the County of its intent to terminate the current agreement at the end of the current qualification period by July 7, 2023. The city must then notify both the County and the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of its election to be excluded in writing by July 7, 2023.
Such election to be excluded will be effective for the entire three-year period for which the Urban County qualifies, unless the excluded unit specifically elects to be included in a succeeding year for the remainder of the Urban County's qualification period. If your city elects to be excluded, then it can compete for the Small Cities or State-administered CDBG program.
On the other hand, if your City/Town decides to continue to participate, you do not need to do anything. The current Cooperation Agreement the County has with your City/Town will remain in effect for the next three years. However, if your continued participation requires this item to be considered by your City/Town Council, please submit your Council's approval in time to submit any authorizations to the County by July 26, 2023. This will provide sufficient time for the County to submit all of the required documents to HUD by August 4, 2023.
I look forward to Richmond's continued participation in our joint community development program. If you have any questions regarding this letter or the CDBG or HOME programs, please contact me at (925) 655-2885.
Sincerely,
Cabriel Temus
Assistant Deputy Director
Cc: John Kopchik, Director - Department of Conservation and Development