Clearlake council authorizes $1.5 million CDBG application for code enforcement and recovery work

The Clearlake City Council on Feb. 29 unanimously authorized staff to apply for up to $1,500,000 from the 2023–24 state Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Mitigation, Resilient Planning and Public Services Program to support code enforcement and related recovery work.

City Manager described the grant as a continuation of disaster-recovery funding the city has used in recent years and said the city is eligible based on prior incidents, including the 2017 sulfur fire and countywide allocations after the 2018 Mendocino Complex fire. The manager said prior awards from the program supported road rehabilitation on Lakeshore and San Joaquin, and provided funding for Oak Valley Villas and a development on Eighteenth Avenue (transcript: "acrylic apartments").

"So, it's competitive, but with a much smaller pool," the City Manager said, describing the fund as a limited second round intended to allocate remaining awards. Staff told council that the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is updating its application software, delaying the regular application round and making this separate mitigation round an important opportunity; awards are being made on a rolling basis.

There were no council questions or public objections recorded during discussion. Council Member Kramer moved to approve Resolution 2024-8; Council Member Purdock seconded. The deputy clerk announced the motion passed by a unanimous vote of the council.

Next steps: staff will submit the application and monitor the rolling award process. The council did not set additional conditions or specify a revised project scope during the meeting.