Council adopts amended Exhibit A setting priorities for CDBG projects, removes Francis Collins pool

The Gulfport City Council adopted an amended Exhibit A to a resolution listing Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) projects, narrowed a streetscape entry and removed the Francis Collins swimming pool project, the council announced at a special-call meeting. The voice vote approving the amended list concluded after a brief recess to renumber and reprioritize items.

Council members debated which projects should be highest priority before unanimous or near-unanimous voice approval of the amended Exhibit A. A committee member representing Ward 3 moved the amendment to replace certain Soria City street segments with Pratt Avenue and Thornton Avenue, add Turkey Creek (Rippie Road) streetscape improvements, and reorganize the street, parks and facilities lists by local priority. The chair restated the motion and confirmed a second, announced by the chair as Miss Hines; the council approved the amendment by voice vote. The transcript does not include a roll-call tally.

City staff cautioned that the listed projects represent a pooled allocation of CDBG funds drawn from program years 2019 through 2025 and that each proposed project will still need an eligibility determination. Staff (identified in the transcript as Nicole) explained the standard CDBG test—typically that a project’s service area be at least 51% low-to-moderate-income—and said updated GIS mapping and Census data would be used to screen projects before final selection. Staff also noted that assigning specific program years to projects could require a substantial amendment to the CDBG plan and recommended keeping candidates on the list so they can be evaluated.

As read into the record by Carissa, the revised street and infrastructure list included (in the new numbering): Gulfport Central Middle and West Elementary safe-routes project; Turkey Creek (Rippie Road) streetscape; Lewis Avenue between 17th Street and West Railroad; a narrowed Soria City streetscape limited to Pratt and Thornton avenues (as amended); a 28th Street overlay; and a sidewalk extension to the Golden sports complex. The parks and facilities list was similarly renumbered. Members confirmed the removal of the Francis Collins pool project and said the roughly $130,000 previously allocated to that pool would be split among other park projects.

The council discussed specific dollar figures aloud while renumbering: Carissa read amounts that increased Gadsden Pointe Park to approximately $443,333 and placed Golden revitalization at roughly $368,000. Those figures were read during discussion and include some on-the-record rounding as members reconciled the list; the transcript’s spoken amounts were clarified aloud but no final, signed budget table appears in the record provided. The chair and members agreed to a short recess to allow informal renumbering and returned to approve the amended Exhibit A by voice vote.

Next steps described in the meeting: staff will perform the eligibility analyses using updated GIS and Census service-area work, and projects that pass the CDBG tests will move forward through the city’s procurement and implementation processes. The council adjourned to its next regularly scheduled meeting unless specially called.