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Last Updated 2/7/07

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Left-over Funds Funneled Into New Community Betterment Projects
Construction of skateboarding park for local youth one of three Council-approved endeavors

By Allison Jean Eaton
Bulletin Staff Writer

Following a public hearing to gather citizen comments, the Compton City Council Jan. 23 approved a resolution changing how the city plans to spend certain federal funds left over from previous fiscal years.

A total of $631,780 in federal monies left over from cancelled or scaled-back projects will be reallocated into three current ones: building a new skate park, cleaning up the city’s vacant lots and replacing deteriorating and water-damaged roofs at certain parks and recreation facilities.

The actual amendments are to the city’s 2006-07 Annual Action Plan of the Consolidated Plan. The plans, which outline how funds dispersed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will be put to good use here, are mandated by the federal entity.
Planning and Economic Development Director Joseph Lim said the city is essentially taking unused Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from previous fiscal years and reprogramming them into this year’s budget.

“A variety of projects have been proposed to be cancelled because they are no longer needed or all of the funds were not expended entirely for the project,” Lim said.

The Action Plan is a more detailed overview of a single fiscal year, while the Consolidated Plan spans five. The annual plan outlines how the city will spend CDBG, Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) and HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME) monies, which are granted yearly.

The change approved two weeks ago only pertains to the city’s CDBG allotments, according to the staff report. CDBG funds can only be used for specific projects that meet three criteria. They must benefit low- and moderate-income persons, prevent or eliminate slums or blight or address community development needs having a particular urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community for which other funding is not available.

Lim said the public hearing and a vote by the Council were required by HUD because the amendments being made are “substantial.”

“It’s substantial if the amount [being reallocated] is more than 10 percent of what the project originally was budgeted for,” he explained.

The largest chunk of the money, $331,780, will be used for the re-roofing of public park facilities. A total of $150,000 will be used to establish a skate park at Wilson Park. Another $150,000 will go to the Vacant Lot Beautification Program.

The three projects meet the needs outlined in the current year’s Action Plan, and no citizens spoke in support of or against them during the public hearing.

And it appears the skate park project is already kicking into gear. The Council that same night approved a resolution to the city’s budget to accept and appropriate $10,000 from the Tony Hawk Foundation to assist in building the Wilson Skate Park.

Tony Hawk is a world-renowned professional skateboarder from California who was the first to perform many dangerous tricks.