Angela Byington, President

Hello, I’d like to introduce myself.  I am Angela Byington and I want to say how honored I am to serve as OCCD President for the 2016-2017 term.  I have spent over seventeen years in the field of Community Development and have been attending OCCD meetings for at least nine of those years.  I have been lucky enough to work for two past presidents, Charlene Mockensturm and Carol Nawrocki, who both stressed the importance of my involvement in OCCD as part of my career.  OCCD helped me tremendously as a young professional learning the, sometimes tedious, grants, regulations, and processes required as part of the multi-faceted profession of Community Development.  Furthermore, the networking that has availed itself to me over the years has been invaluable.  I believe it is vital that OCCD not only reach out to new communities to share what OCCD offer them, but also to continue to encourage our “Young Professionals”.  They are our future and it is important to expose them to as much of the institutional knowledge held by members of this organization as possible and to provide them with opportunities to utilize their fresh and energetic ideas to continue to move OCCD forward and to stay in sync with the needs of communities of today.

OCCD was formed in 1965 with the purpose of helping develop, implement and improve federal, state and local programs for community development as well as helping to develop and improve professional standards and practices across all phases of public administration related to community and economic development.  This purpose is promoted through on-going professional development sessions, regulatory education/training, and sharing of best practices.

Although it is important and certainly a strength of OCCD to continue to have constant relevant training and topics, I’d like to point out what I feel is one of OCCD’s best qualities.  We rally during hard times. I believe the turning point for when I began to see the most value in OCCD, began in 2008 with the turn of the economy and the housing market.  Subsequently, OCCD acted as a forum for all affected communities to come together, not only to figure out how the heck we were supposed to implement stimulus dollars and NSP, but how we could do more with less and how to avoid pitfalls. 

Moving forward, I hope to see OCCD continue to bring valuable training, innovative practices and open discussions that will lead to, not only the betterment of our individual communities, but our region as a whole.

I’d be remiss if I did not thank our relentless OCCD staff, Board and all of our committee members who volunteer their time this great organization.

Have a wonderful year!

David Goodman, Director

It is hard to believe fall is here. Football has started and the Community Development Training Conference is less than two months away. At the conference, our team will provide valuable information on programs and grant administration. I hope you will visit the Ohio Conference of Community Development website to learn more about the sessions.

In the spring, we launched the Abandoned Gas Station Cleanup Program. The program provides communities funding to clean up abandoned gas stations. These are small properties that can be hard to clean up due to their size, but sit in the heart of a community, creating an eyesore. We’ve been working closely with the Ohio EPA and the Department of Commerce, Division of State Fire Marshal Buried Underground Storage Tank Regulation (BUSTR) to clean up these properties. I am happy to report that we awarded more than $1 million to seven communities last month.

 Projects were evaluated on the impact cleanup will have on the environment, the community, and the local economy. Political subdivisions, including county land banks, are eligible for the Abandoned Gas Station Cleanup Program. The non-competitive Fast Track grants are awarded on an on-going basis. Applications will be available on our website.

We know that a skilled workforce is important to our economy. As technology evolves, so does the training needed to keep employees current.  The Incumbent Workforce Training Voucher Program reimburses businesses up to 50 percent of the training costs for their current workforce. Businesses can begin the online application process on September 26, 2016, and will have three weeks to gather the necessary information to complete their application. The online applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and can be submitted beginning at 10:00 a.m. on October 14, 2016. For more information, visit our website.

Finally, I hope you will check out the fun things to see and do this fall across Ohio. You can find out more at ohio.org/fall. Don’t forget to download or order your fall calendar of events.

With your help, we’re continuing to make Ohio a great place to work and raise a family. Thank you, again, for all you do to build and sustain Ohio communities!

Jorgelle R. Lawson, CPD Director

By the time you read this article we will be into another Fiscal Year!!!  2017 is here.  CPD Columbus has added new staff and the Risk Analysis process will be well under way in October in preparation for on-site monitoring visits.

CPD Staff Updates:

The CPD Columbus Field Office welcomes two new employees: Elina Felton and Mark Protch. Elina comes to CPD from the Office of Multi-Family Housing. Elina has extensive experience in managing HUD Multi-Family projects. Mark comes to us from SBA where he was a Lender Relations Specialist/District International Trade Officer. In his position, he was responsible for the marketing of the SBA 7a, 504, Express, PLP, and Veteran’s Advantage as well as coordinating compliance reviews of lending institutions. Please take the opportunity to welcome Elina and Mark to HUD/CPD.

CPD COLUMBUS FIELD OFFICE / NATIONAL PROGRAM UPDATES:

PR03 BOSMAC CDBG Activity Summary Report Correction Completed - Prior Year Draw flag and Source Type columns removed to avoid activities appearing twice in report - As of September 12, 2016, grantees and field offices are able to generate correct PR03 BOSMAC (original) reports, the PR03c-Public Service Activities reports, and the PR03d-Job Creation Activities reports. The updated PR03 BOSMAC (original report) has removed the Prior Year Flag and Source Type columns. This resulted in ensuring every activity is listed only once on the report.

HUD Publishes FY-2017 Fair Market Rents – FY-17 FMR’s available on HUD webpage - HUD recently posted Fiscal Year 2017 Fair-Market Rents (FMR) to the huduser.gov site. A notice was also posted in the Federal Register. The posting shows FMR’s organized by state and then by county to reflect the estimated 40th and 50th percentile rent levels trended to April 1, 2017. The methodology used to calculate FMR’s was the same as last year. The 14 areas in FY-16 that used 50th-percentile FMR’s will continue to do so for FY-17. In addition, Bergen-Passaic, NJ HUD Metro FMR Area and San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA MSA have been added back to the list and Spokane, WA HUD Metro FMR has been added for the first time.

HUD Proposes Changes to Lead-Based Paint Regulations - HUD proposes certain actions be undertaken based on the type of assistance - HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes proposes to amend the lead-based paint regulations by reducing the blood lead level in a child under the age of 6 that triggers an environmental intervention if the child lives in federally-owned or federally-assisted housing constructed before 1978. HUD proposes adopting the revised definition of “elevated blood lead levels” established by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and establishing more comprehensive testing and evaluation procedures for housing where children live. The proposed rule would revise the type of hazard control undertaken when lead-based paint or other hazards are identified. For housing projects with more than one unit, if a lead-based paint hazard is identified in one unit, the proposed rule sets out procedures for addressing other units in which children under the age of 6 live. Comments are due October 31, 2016. The proposed rule can be found at: http://bit.ly/2c7si89.

Please continue to check your e-mails for updates from my office. If there are any changes in e-mail addresses, please let your CPD Rep or Myrna Cokes know as soon as possible. In addition, please provide updated staffing information to our office. This would include changes resulting from elections, office reorganizations, etc.

See you at the meeting.