Subject to congressional approval, the Town of East Hampton will allocate a total of $125,000 in community development block grants for 2020, the town board agreed last Thursday.
The Community Development Block Grant is a federal Department of Housing and Urban Development program that funds a range of projects, including infrastructure development, affordable housing, and antipoverty programs.
Tom Ruhle, the town’s director of housing, gave recommendations to the board on Nov. 19, which he said had been set following discussions among and between officials of the county and the town’s Department of Housing and Community Development. That followed appeals from representatives of several entities in the town at an October meeting of the board.
Mr. Ruhle said he expected an allocation of $125,000, which would likely not be disbursed for at least a year. Based on that figure, the recommendation was to award $65,000 to the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center, $45,000 to the Windmill I senior citizens apartment complex, $10,000 to the Retreat, which provides shelter and support for victims of domestic abuse, and $5,000 to Maureen’s Haven, a shelter and support service for the homeless.
Allocations are for infrastructure repair. “It’s aging infrastructure from important projects done 20 or 30 years ago,” Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said at the board’s Nov. 19 meeting. “They’re starting to need more capital investment to keep them up where they need to be.”
Organizations, including some that did not receive money, had requested a total of $251,000. “All of the requests are worthy requests,” Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said. “It’s a challenge to decide.”
