WESTFIELD- The Office of Community Development is seeking input from Westfield residents and those who work in the city for its Five-Year Consolidated Plan.
A 10-question survey was posted on the city website to help city officials dictate how they will allocate the funds from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) as well as the federal HOME Program funds from 2020 to 2024.
“This is something we do every five years. We are looking for community input,” said Acting Mayor Ralph J. Figy. “This is their chance to help shape the direction that the city takes in the next five years.”
Hard copies of the survey will be available at the Senior Center, the Greater Westfield Boys and Girls Club, and the Westfield Athenaeum. The survey asks multiple choice questions such as: “What public services programs are most needed in Westfield?” and “What are the economic development needs of the city?”
The outreach program being performed by the city is required of all of the US DEpartment of Housing and Urban Development entitlement communities every five years. The idea behind the required program is that it ensures that municipalities are addressing the specific needs of the community.
The national CDBG program was signed into federal law in 1974 to provide a source of federal funding to households and neighborhoods of low to moderate incomes.
The City of Westfield was the recipient of $360,885 in grant funds to be allocated to a range of similar programs. Some of the funds from that grant were used to repair the sidewalks on Washington Street, the Westfield Housing Improvement Program and the recently established Microenterprise Grant Program were also allocated funds from the grant.
The survey will be available to the public until Dec. 20.
Anyone with questions regarding the CDBG program and the survey itself are encouraged to contact Community Development Director Peter Miller at (413) 572-6240 or at [email protected].
