CHESS Committee Meeting – August 18, 2026

This meeting of the Community Development, Housing, Education, Social Services, State & Commerce (CHESS) Committee addressed Stamford's persistent non-compliance with HUD's timeliness requirements for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, along with related de-obligation and re-allocation proposals. After extensive discussion, the committee recommitted Item #1 to steering, approved Item #2 as amended, and postponed Item #3 to a special meeting pending receipt of additional information.

Discussion Items

• Item #1: CHESS32.021 – Review of Non-Compliance with CDBG Timeliness Requirements
  • Moira Sawch (CDBG Administrator) and Anita Carpenter (Grants Officer) presented that Stamford has failed HUD's timeliness standard (unspent balance exceeding 1.5 times annual entitlement) for five consecutive years. Key causes include a legal department backlog (52 awards totaling ~$2.8 million awaiting agreements) and a newly discovered ~$1.16 million in legacy funds from prior to 2017. An outside consultant (CEW) helped identify the legacy funds, and the administration is working with outside counsel to clear the backlog. The city submitted a corrective action plan to HUD in anticipation of a September review.
  • Committee members requested an updated project status spreadsheet, a legal department report on the value of outside counsel, and regular quarterly reporting on progress. The item was recommitted to steering.
• Item #2: CHESS32.022 – De-obligation of Unspent Prior Year CDBG Public Improvement Funding
  • Anita Carpenter corrected the proposed amount from ~$1,250,000 to exactly $1,163,690.05. The committee approved an amendment to that amount and then approved the item as amended.
• Item #3: CHESS32.023 – Re-allocation of $1,000,000 to a New Public Improvement Project (Nathan Wider Community Center Sprinkler System)
  • Bridget Fox (Chief of Staff) presented the proposal: $1 million for a building-wide code-compliant fire sprinkler system at the Nathan Wider Community Center, a city-owned building. She noted the project is shovel-ready, meets HUD requirements (low-income neighborhood), and can be completed by end of 2026, helping demonstrate good-faith spending to HUD.
  • Several committee members expressed discomfort approving without the same level of detail required from external applicants (breakdown of budget, HUD compliance justification, timeline, why this project over other options). After debate, a motion to postpone consideration definitely to a special committee meeting (before the September 8 board meeting) passed 3-1-3 (Sylvestre, Gross, McKeown in favor; Walston opposed; Pollack, Goldberg, Yeager abstaining).

Key Outcomes

• Item #1: Motion to recommit to steering passed 8-0-0. (Pollack, Sylvestre, Goldberg, Gross, McKeown, Price, Walston, Yeager in favor).
• Item #2: Motion to amend the amount to $1,163,690.05 passed 8-0-0. Motion to approve as amended passed 8-0-0.
• Item #3: Motion to postpone definitely to a special committee meeting passed 3-1-3 (Sylvestre, Gross, McKeown in favor; Walston opposed; Pollack, Goldberg, Yeager abstaining). The committee requested that the administration provide by August 25: a detailed budget breakdown, HUD compliance justification, expenditure timeline, rationale for selecting the sprinkler project over alternatives, and the number of low-income residents served. Chair Pollack will schedule the special meeting as soon as possible before the September 8 board meeting.