DeKalb staff seek committee'signoff on 2026 HUD consolidated plan, citing tight July deadline

Chair opened the special call and asked county staff to present the annual update to DeKalb County's 2024'2028 consolidated plan and the 2026 Annual Action Plan. Alan Mitchell, director of the community development department, said the plan is a statutory, federally required submission and must reach HUD's Atlanta office by the end of July for the county to receive funds.

Bowwin Camp, the department's planning manager, summarized the three HUD program lines managed by the county'community development department: the community development block grant (CDBG), the HOME program, and the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG). Camp described the department's mission to "develop viable urban communities that principally benefit low moderate income persons" and reiterated HUD's three basic goals: provide decent housing, a suitable living environment and economic opportunity.

Camp reviewed projects recommended for funding through the 2026 action plan, including a design and engineering request for the DeKalb Atlanta Senior Center (the slide deck listed $500,000 toward design/engineering), Bruce Street historic-ruins preservation, and street-safety improvements in eligible neighborhoods. Staff also noted an annual Section 108 loan payment tied to the East Central Senior Center that remains in the plan.

Tommy Phillips outlined the ESG components and the shelter and prevention awards that were submitted by nonprofit providers. Staff told commissioners that the ESG allocation shown in the presentation was limited compared with requests and that awards reflected the applications submitted. Camp and Phillips emphasized that many public-service awards are competitive and that the county runs an open application and technical-assistance process that begins each February.

Commissioner Robert Patrick asked for clarifications about the coordinated entry/case-management funding and the allocations for local providers, including several Salvation Army line items shown on the slides. County staff said some slide items represent case management or day-center services rather than shelter operations and that some amounts on the ESG charts were split among different shelter and prevention programs.

Staff also said the county uses a statewide Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) for HUD-funded programs and that HUD requires HMIS for data entry and reporting. On street outreach, staff confirmed the amount shown in the HUD/CDBG/ESG piece covers only part of the county's full street-outreach budget; staff said total annual street-outreach activity is funded by multiple sources and runs substantially higher than the HUD allocation shown in the presentation.

After questions about project descriptions and eligibility, the committee voted to recommend approval of agenda item 2026-0948 as presented and to forward the plan for the required HUD submission.

Ending: The committee approved the draft consolidated plan recommendation to ensure timely submission to HUD; staff emphasized they will proceed with the application process for public-service and developer proposals and distribute details to commissioners for constituent inquiry.