CHESS Committee Special Meeting: Reallocation of $1M CDBG Funds for Lathon Wider Community Center Fire Code Compliance (August 26, 2026)

The CHESS (Community Development, Housing, Education, Social Services, State & Commerce) Committee held a special remote meeting on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, from 6:30 p.m. to 6:59 p.m. The sole agenda item was the approval of reallocating $1,000,000 in prior-year Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) balances to fund a fire and sprinkler code compliance project at the Lathon Wider Community Center. The meeting was called after no action was taken on the item at the August 18, 2026 regular meeting. All committee members were present except Reps. Wirz and Yeager (excused/absent). The committee voted unanimously (7-0-0) to approve the amended motion.

Discussion Items

• Presentation and Rationale: Matt Quiñones, Director of Operations, and Anita Carpenter, Grants Officer, presented the project. The funding will support a building-wide life safety code compliance project, including installation of an automatic fire sprinkler system for the entire 72,000-square-foot community center. The project was previously submitted in the capital budget but cut at the Board of Finance level. This reallocation allows the city to use grant funding instead of city bonding. Quiñones emphasized that the project is critical to unlock other federal grant dollars for recreational space improvements and to demonstrate progress to HUD regarding the city’s timeliness with CDBG expenditures. The city plans to issue an RFP on September 10, 2026, with contractor selection anticipated by December 2026 to February 2027.
• Questions on Timing and HUD Evaluation: Rep. McKeown asked about the threshold for demonstrating compliance with HUD’s timeliness requirements. Carpenter noted that the city will obligate 100% of the legacy funding before the end of the year and spend the bulk by then. Rep. Gross inquired about HUD-imposed deadlines. Carpenter explained that while no firm deadline exists, HUD will evaluate the city’s progress in September 2026 to determine PY52 funding; the goal is to show significant obligation and commitment. Rep. Johnson clarified that the ~$840,000 line item in the cost estimate covers the bulk of materials and work, not just legal or design costs.
• Project Selection Methodology: Rep. Goldberg questioned why this project was chosen over other worthy projects. Quiñones explained that the project met all criteria: it was a previously submitted capital need, fully compliant with CDBG requirements, leveraged additional grant funding, and was “shovel-ready” (able to issue an RFP within 30 days). He also noted that a larger project is more efficient because environmental review costs would consume a disproportionate share of smaller projects. Rep. Johnson asked about legal capacity to execute contracts on the timeline; Carpenter confirmed that the city has overcome earlier hurdles and can move quickly with outside counsel.

Key Outcomes

• Motion to Amend: A motion to amend the agenda item language by striking “Public Improvement Project(s)” and replacing it with “Lathon Wider Community Center Fire and Sprinkler Code Compliance Project” was made, seconded, and approved unanimously by voice vote.
• Final Approval: The main motion as amended—approval of the reallocation of $1,000,000 in prior-year CDBG balances to the Lathon Wider Community Center Fire and Sprinkler Code Compliance Project—was approved by a roll-call vote of 7-0-0 (Co-Chairs Pollack and Sylvestre, Reps. Goldberg, Gross, McKeown, Price, and Walston in favor; no opposition or abstentions).
• Next Steps: The committee’s approval enables the administration to proceed with the RFP and design phase, with the goal of obligating and spending funds before the end of 2026 to demonstrate progress to HUD.