VIRTUAL PUBLIC HEARING
The State of Vermont's Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will be holding a public hearing to get input from Vermont residents before writing its U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Consolidated Plan Annual Action Plan for 2022. On January 18, 2022, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed legislation amending Vermont’s Open Meeting Law permitting all public meetings to be held electronically only until January 15, 2023. Therefore, there will be no in-person hearing.
If you are interested in attending, you will need to register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6600201596394037773. Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email with log in instructions.
The purpose of the hearing is to listen to residents’ views about the state’s housing, homelessness, public facility and service, and non-housing community development needs, as well as ideas for grant activities the State should consider funding for the next program year (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023). The Department also seeks feedback on how the programs funded by HUD under past plans performed in meeting the State’s goals.
The Plan outlines priorities for the use of approximately $10.5 million in federal funds provided to the State for the Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnership Program, and Emergency Solutions Grant program, and $3 million awarded to the State from the National Housing Trust Fund to develop housing that is affordable to extremely low- and very low- income households. The Plan also serves as Vermont's application to HUD for these funds. The goals of the Plan are to provide decent affordable housing, assure a suitable living environment, and expand economic opportunity for Vermont's citizens.
The hearing will be held on Monday, February 14, 2022, from 3:45 - 4:15 p.m. Accommodations for persons with disabilities and interpreters to meet the needs of non-English speaking persons will be made available upon request. Requests for accommodations should be directed to Arthur Hamlin at (802) 828-3749 or emailed to arthur.hamlin@vermont.gov by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, February 4, 2022. For the hearing impaired please call (TTY#) 1-800-253-0191.
More information is available on the Department’s website at http://accd.vermont.gov/housing.