Norwich — The City Council scheduled a public hearing for 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 5, to hear comments on plans to allocate $770,000 in expected federal Community Development Block Grant funds to eight city agencies and outside organizations based on recommendations from the grant advisory committee.

The council, which has final say in allocating the grant funds, typically delays action following the public hearing to a future meeting.

The city hopes to receive $685,000 in the next fiscal year in the CDBG program. Added to that total was the $85,000 in unspent funds from this year's grant that had been allocated to the city fire department for a new storage facility. The fire department ended up receiving a state grant to cover the project, however.

For next year, application requests totaled $1.1 million, well above the expected grant total. Community Development Advisory Committee Chairman Les King said the committee pared down recommended allocations based on several factors. The committee fully funded some projects, including $99,000 for police security cameras throughout Taftville, and left out one perennial recipient, the Norwich Housing Authority, which sought $75,000 to upgrade heating systems at Rosewood Manor.

King said the committee decided to “take a year off” from funding housing authority projects, because the city public housing agency has received major funding for roofs and building upgrades consistently for many years. King said the heating upgrade is a worthy project, as it would enable Rosewood Manor residents, who pay their own heating bills, to save money.

For the past three years, the new village park in Taftville has received CDBG funding that converted the abandoned Little League field into a park with a playground, walking path and open field. Village leaders this year requested $95,000, but the committee is recommending $55,000 for the next phase of the project. The money would pay for a second playground for younger children and a buffer border for abutting neighbors to the park. King said the committee asked Taftville officials to prioritize their request and those were the top priorities.

Several other agencies would see their grants reduced through the recommendations, including a nearly $11,000 cut in the Norwich Human Services jobs training program and a $5,000 cut to Human Services' Community Care Team that assists people at risk of becoming homeless.

The East Great Plain Volunteer Fire Department had requested $74,000 to renovate its fire station to open a second-story meeting room for community activities. The renovation would add an automated handicapped chair lift to make the facilities handicapped accessible. King said the committee decided against the East Great Plain project, because it recently funded renovations to the Greeneville Fire Department to create a community meeting room.

King said the grant recommendations are based on the anticipation that the city will receive $685,000 in the coming federal fiscal year, but no confirmation of the amount has come yet.

“We still don't know what we're going to get next year,” King said. “We've never gone this deep into the year without knowing what the grant total is for next year.”

c.bessette@theday.com