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FY 2022 Year 39 CAPER CAPER 1 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-05 - Goals and Outcomes Progress the jurisdiction has made in carrying out its strategic plan and its action plan. 91.520(a) This could be an overview that includes major initiatives and highlights that were proposed and executed throughout the program year. The City of Northampton's CDBG Program carried out its 39th year of operation from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. The City is pleased to submit this Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER). Through several subrecipient grantee activities, Northampton residents with low- and moderate-incomes benefited from services that contributed to their health and wellbeing. The City purchased the former First Baptist Church at 298 Main Street for the Community Resiliency Hub. This $3.17 million purchase of a 14,500 sq. ft. space was planned for several CDBG program years and was the culmination of several departments and City partners working together over many months to find a suitable building. The R.K. Finn Ryan Road Elementary School finished the installation of the Aeorglider, which is an inclusive play structure in the playground. This piece of equipment will allow for children of all abilities to play and interact together. This project was not finished until after the program year was completed, so the City expects a full report next year. The Forbes Library Bathroom Wheelchair Access Improvements have been started, but this project has experienced delays due to unforeseen design challenges. This is an original stone building from the 1800’s which was not built for accessibility or having to accommodate modern ventilation. The City expects this project to be complete before the conclusion of the current program year. Valley CDC purchased the former nursing home on Bridge Road, and renamed it as Prospect Place. This structure will become affordable housing for 60 low-income households and is close to several amenities such as shopping, conservation areas, and a bus route. This adaptive reuse project will need to be rehabilitated, as it has sat vacant, but it will add a significant amount of affordable housing units to the City. The City is a proud sponsor of affordable housing projects like Prospect Place and is happy to partner with Valley CDC on another great project at 196 Cooke Ave. The abandoned Moose Lodge at 196 Cooke Ave. was successfully remediated of hazardous materials and demolished. One half of the parcel will now become four single-family housing units for first-time homebuyers through Habitat for Humanity, and the other half will become a parking lot to serve the conservation area of Broad Brook Greenway. The four Habitat homes will be free of fossil fuels for heating and will be made solar and Electric Vehicle (EV) ready. CAPER 2 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) The housing rehabilitation program was successful in helping two homes over the program year. This was the first year with Community Action as the new housing rehabilitation vendor, so the beginning of the program year was getting all of the documents and procedures dialed in. Once the program was live, Community Action had a list of eligible clients and was busy getting scopes of work ready and receiving bids from contractors. The nine public service projects continued to do good work in the community, helping people attain English fluency, helping folks look for and get stable jobs, developing youth leadership, preventing homelessness, and obtaining nutritious fresh and prepared food. ServiceNet’s passed the responsibility of administering the two emergency shelters, Grove Street Inn and the Interfaith Winter Shelter, to another provider. The City’s contract with them ended prior to the end of the program year. The new shelter services provider, Clinical & Support Options (CSO) is not a CDBG recipient from the City. The Microenterprise Technical Assistance program did not fully draw down its funding during the program year, but it is expected to finish during the current program year. Comparison of the proposed versus actual outcomes for each outcome measure submitted with the consolidated plan and explain, if applicable, why progress was not made toward meeting goals and objectives. 91.520(g) Categories, priority levels, funding sources and amounts, outcomes/objectives, goal outcome indicators, units of measure, targets, actual outcomes/outputs, and percentage completed for each of the grantee’s program year goals. Goal Category Source / Amount Indicator Unit of Measure Expected – Strategic Plan Actual – Strategic Plan Percent Complete Expected – Program Year Actual – Program Year Percent Complete Economic Development & Income Maximization Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ Facade treatment/business building rehabilitation Business 0 2 0 2 Economic Development & Income Maximization Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ Jobs created/retained Jobs 50 0 0.00% CAPER 3 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Economic Development & Income Maximization Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ Businesses assisted Businesses Assisted 50 69 138.00% 65 69 106.15% Improve Public Facilities & Infrastructure Non-Homeless Special Needs Public Facilities and Infrastructure CDBG: $ Public Facility or Infrastructure Activities other than Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Persons Assisted 6450 802 12.43% 2753 802 29.13% Improve Public Facilities & Infrastructure Non-Homeless Special Needs Public Facilities and Infrastructure CDBG: $ Public Facility or Infrastructure Activities for Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Households Assisted 48 0 0.00% Preserve Affordable Housing, Tenancy Help & Rehab Affordable Housing Non-Homeless Special Needs CDBG: $ Rental units constructed Household Housing Unit 25 0 0.00% 60 0 0.00% Preserve Affordable Housing, Tenancy Help & Rehab Affordable Housing Non-Homeless Special Needs CDBG: $ Rental units rehabilitated Household Housing Unit 35 2 5.71% 0 0 Preserve Affordable Housing, Tenancy Help & Rehab Affordable Housing Non-Homeless Special Needs CDBG: $ Homeowner Housing Added Household Housing Unit 12 0 0.00% 0 0 CAPER 4 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Preserve Affordable Housing, Tenancy Help & Rehab Affordable Housing Non-Homeless Special Needs CDBG: $ Homeowner Housing Rehabilitated Household Housing Unit 15 2 13.33% 5 2 40.00% Preserve Affordable Housing, Tenancy Help & Rehab Affordable Housing Non-Homeless Special Needs CDBG: $ Direct Financial Assistance to Homebuyers Households Assisted 15 0 0.00% Preserve Affordable Housing, Tenancy Help & Rehab Affordable Housing Non-Homeless Special Needs CDBG: $ Housing for Homeless added Household Housing Unit 0 2 0 0 Preserve Affordable Housing, Tenancy Help & Rehab Affordable Housing Non-Homeless Special Needs CDBG: $ Housing for People with HIV/AIDS added Household Housing Unit 0 0 0 0 Preserve Affordable Housing, Tenancy Help & Rehab Affordable Housing Non-Homeless Special Needs CDBG: $ Buildings Demolished Buildings 1 1 100.00% CAPER 5 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Public Services Affordable Housing Homeless Non-Homeless Special Needs Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ Public service activities other than Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Persons Assisted 1900 2432 128.00% 2241 2432 108.52% Public Services Affordable Housing Homeless Non-Homeless Special Needs Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ Public service activities for Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Households Assisted 75 0 0.00% Public Services Affordable Housing Homeless Non-Homeless Special Needs Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ Homeless Person Overnight Shelter Persons Assisted 1000 116 11.60% 185 116 62.70% CAPER 6 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Public Services Affordable Housing Homeless Non-Homeless Special Needs Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ Overnight/Emergency Shelter/Transitional Housing Beds added Beds 25 54 216.00% 0 0 Public Services Affordable Housing Homeless Non-Homeless Special Needs Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ Homelessness Prevention Persons Assisted 500 82 16.40% 20 82 410.00% Public Services Affordable Housing Homeless Non-Homeless Special Needs Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ Jobs created/retained Jobs 150 0 0.00% CAPER 7 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Removal of Slums and Blight Affordable Housing Non-Housing Community Development Public Facilities CDBG: $ Buildings Demolished Buildings 1 1 100.00% 1 1 100.00% Table 1 - Accomplishments – Program Year & Strategic Plan to Date Assess how the jurisdiction’s use of funds, particularly CDBG, addresses the priorities and specific objectives identified in the plan, giving special attention to the highest priority activities identified. In Table 1, of the 2022 Program Year accomplishments, three of the City's actual accomplishment indicators exceeded or met the expected goal numbers in the Action Plan, while four indicators fell short of the goal numbers. The “Public Facility or Infrastructure Activities other than Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit” did not meet its goal because the projects cannot report on accomplishments until the projects are fully operational. This often happens when multi-year projects, such as housing, cannot fully report until the units are fully occupied. The “Rental units constructed” did not meet its goal because the project was to acquire the building (Prospect Place), which occurred, but the activity cannot be reported until people are living in the building. The Housing Rehab program completed two out of five housing units. There are currently four housing projects in process and many more on the waitlist. The “Homeless Person Overnight Shelter” did not meet its goal because the shelter provider’s contract with the state expired three quarters of the way through the program year. There were no shelter beds added during this program year. There was $60,000 set aside for the removal of slums and blight at the former Moose Lodge (Cooke Ave.) was a critical piece to accomplish this year, so that construction of the City parking lot could be completed, and Habitat for Humanity could start on its housing construction. The actual number of jobs created/retained under the Economic Development accomplishments was zero when our expected strategic goal was 50. Due to the City configuring national objectives for Economic Development activities as LMC, which does not ask for jobs retained or created. CAPER 8 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Last year, we updated the National Objective for microenterprise assistance activity to LMCMC and saw new fields for job creation/retention. The direct financial down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers had an expected strategic outcome of 15 over the 5-Year Consolidated Plan, which we will not fulfill since the subrecipient moved to a much larger funding source in the previous program year. The homebuyers were having a hard time competing with wealthier homebuyers, who can afford to pay over asking price with cash. Many potential applicants dropped out of the grant process or did not succeed in securing a home. The Strategic Plan lists 500 expected for the Homelessness Prevention indicator under the Public Services, but Community Legal Aid helped 8 households and 17 individuals with their homelessness prevention program, so there is a mismatch in the goals and the outcome. This is likely because there was a misconfiguration in the activity setup. The expected goal for jobs created/retained in Public Services was set up as 150 in the Con Plan, but it is not an appropriate indicator since public services focus on providing essential needs and helping secure employment, not create new jobs or retain existing jobs. Although we identified some of these miconfigurations last year, we did not change them because doing so would throw off other objectives. CAPER 9 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-10 - Racial and Ethnic composition of families assisted Describe the families assisted (including the racial and ethnic status of families assisted). 91.520(a) CDBG White 3,943 Black or African American 538 Asian 107 American Indian or American Native 17 Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0 Total 4,605 Hispanic 1,326 Not Hispanic 3,279 Table 2 – Table of assistance to racial and ethnic populations by source of funds Narrative Hispanic households (about 20% of Northampton’s total households) benefitted from CDBG. The majority race category in our community is White. The high cost of housing has definitely been identified as one barrier to people choosing to move here. The analysis of impediments to fair housing also examined other factors including local choice at the housing authority, which further excludes people who do not already live in Northampton. CAPER 10 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-15 - Resources and Investments 91.520(a) Identify the resources made available Source of Funds Source Resources Made Available Amount Expended During Program Year CDBG public - federal 892,030 Table 3 - Resources Made Available Narrative The resources made available column includes $643,411.00 in 2022 CDBG allocation, $189,989.30 in carryover from the previous program year, $41,298.57 in program income. An additional $522,470.52 in CDBG-CV allocation was also made available, which was a remainder from the 2020 COVID disbursement. The total amount expended during the program year was $1,397,141.28, which includes the $643,382.89 in 2022 CDBG, carryover, program income, and $522.470.52 in CDBG-CV. Per CDBG regulations, program income is given priority on spending, then prior year resources, before the current CDBG allocation. Of the CDBG-CV money that was spent, $450,113.19 was spent on the Community Resiliency Hub acquisition and $72,357.33 was spent between Emergency Food Pantry, Community Kitchen, and COVID Small Business Grants. There is a remainder from the CDBG-CV allocation of $1,733.77 that will be used for Planning & Administration in the next program year. The "other" category for available resources is composed of several other sources, including the Community Preservation Act (CPA) which was used towards affordable housing, housing for the homeless, and down-payments assistance funds. Identify the geographic distribution and location of investments Target Area Planned Percentage of Allocation Actual Percentage of Allocation Narrative Description Table 4 – Identify the geographic distribution and location of investments Narrative The City has not designated any HUD defined target areas. All public service activities, as well as the Housing Rehab program, First Time Homebuyer program and Micro-Business assistance programs are available to all income eligible Northampton residents across the City. The City will target CDBG funds toward LMI households and individuals. CAPER 11 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Leveraging Explain how federal funds leveraged additional resources (private, state and local funds), including a description of how matching requirements were satisfied, as well as how any publicly owned land or property located within the jurisdiction that were used to address the needs identified in the plan. CDBG allocations for public service agencies are very small amounts compared to their overall budgets. The awards range from $9,000 - $15,000. The City’s support with CDBG funds is to leverage other funding awards such as Community Preservation Act funding and other grants from the state and private organizations. For the current program year (2023-2024), the City asked for public service agencies to request higher minimum amounts so that there would be more benefit to the agencies for applying. The City recognizes the administrative cost of applying and reporting and wants to reward agencies for asking for more money. Valley CDC leveraged $285,000 in CDBG, $664,068 in Community Preservation Act (CPA), and $50,000 short-term rental fees. This money helped leverage an additional $27 million in state funding for acquisition and rehabilitation in order to create affordable housing. For all housing projects, the City will use a combination of funding sources as needed, from Community Preservation Act, MassWorks (state), Housing Choice Grant (state), and fees from short-term rentals (local) to acquire land and structures, install infrastructure (e.g., water, storm water, sewer, electrical), cover soft costs (e.g., engineering, surveys), and prepare the parcels ahead of disposition to an affordable housing developer. There are several Massachusetts specific grants from MassHousing and the Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities (EOHLC, formerly DHCD) that incentivize the creation of affordable housing, housing near transit, and higher density housing. CAPER 12 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-20 - Affordable Housing 91.520(b) Evaluation of the jurisdiction's progress in providing affordable housing, including the number and types of families served, the number of extremely low-income, low-income, moderate-income, and middle-income persons served. One-Year Goal Actual Number of Homeless households to be provided affordable housing units 0 0 Number of Non-Homeless households to be provided affordable housing units 60 0 Number of Special-Needs households to be provided affordable housing units 0 0 Total 60 0 Table 5 – Number of Households One-Year Goal Actual Number of households supported through Rental Assistance 0 0 Number of households supported through The Production of New Units 0 0 Number of households supported through Rehab of Existing Units 5 2 Number of households supported through Acquisition of Existing Units 60 0 Total 65 2 Table 6 – Number of Households Supported Discuss the difference between goals and outcomes and problems encountered in meeting these goals. The housing rehabilitation program was successful in helping two homes over the program year. This was the first year with Community Action as a new housing rehabilitation vendor, so the beginning of the program year was getting all of the documents and procedures established. Once the program was live, Community Action had a list of eligible clients and was busy getting the scopes of work ready and receiving bids from contractors. CAPER 13 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) In total, there are four projects that will not be reporting accomplishments. They are either not completed (e.g. Forbes Library Accessibility) or they are ‘complete’, but they cannot report on accomplishments until the beneficiaries are being actualized (e.g. Prospect Place Acquisition). The projects not reporting accomplishments are: Forbes Library Bathroom ADA Improvements, Community Resilience Hub, Ryan Road Elementary Playground Accessibility, and the Prospect Place Acquisition. Since some people may utilize more than one public service program, they may get counted multiple times across different activities. For example, someone living in a shelter is probably attending the MANNA meals, or someone using the tenancy protection program may also be attending the Literacy Project classes. This was especially true during the pandemic. We have seen an increase in safety-net programs such as the emergency food pantry and the soup kitchen. The number of people experiencing homelessness includes people served at the year-round Grove Street Inn and the Interfaith Winter Shelter but does not include the unsheltered population. Some of those clients are not considered homeless. Discuss how these outcomes will impact future annual action plans. The City will consider using more conservative goal outcome indicators for some of its projects in the future as several did not meet its expectations. Some of this may be due partly to the direct effects of the pandemic and the indirect effects such as more funding available from alternate sources. The City will also look into how it configures the Goal Outcome Indicators in IDIS during the next Consolidated Plan as several GOI did not align with how the projects were reported at the activity level. The ongoing pandemic has demonstrated the need for increased shelter capacity and the need for rental assistance. The shelter capacity has increased in the region overall, but at the same time, each shelter had to house less people due to pandemic restrictions. There are also several affordable housing projects in the development pipeline with the affordable housing developers that the City uses. These projects often use multiple sources of money and the City will look toward where it can best utilize CDBG to bring about affordable housing. The property for the Community Resilience Hub has been acquired and staff is busy working to hire an architect for its rehabilitation. Include the number of extremely low-income, low-income, and moderate-income persons served by each activity where information on income by family size is required to determine the eligibility of the activity. Number of Households Served CDBG Actual HOME Actual Extremely Low-income 0 0 Low-income 0 0 Moderate-income 2 0 Total 2 0 Table 7 – Number of Households Served CAPER 14 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Narrative Information In total 2 households benefited from CDBG project funding this past year with the housing rehabilitation program. CAPER 15 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-25 - Homeless and Other Special Needs 91.220(d, e); 91.320(d, e); 91.520(c) Evaluate the jurisdiction’s progress in meeting its specific objectives for reducing and ending homelessness through: Reaching out to homeless persons (especially unsheltered persons) and assessing their individual needs The City continued to work closely with Eliot Community Homeless Services. Their Outreach Coordinator and Street Outreach Clinician attended monthly meetings of the Next Step Collaborative and regularly reported on the needs and numbers of people living outside. The City also works with the outreach worker from MANNA soup kitchen to engage with homeless persons. The City used its homeless encampment notification protocol for addressing encampments, either through cleanup measures or warning people camping in flood zones. The City’s plan to create a Community Resilience Hub in downtown that houses several public service agencies is a perfect fit for assessing and serving the needs of the unhoused. It will be close to public transportation, shelters, and will be co-located with other services. This ‘living room’ model may prove exceptionally beneficial to homeless persons. These have both become essential as the pandemic forced more people onto the streets. The City has purchased the building and is excited to move forward with its rehabilitation. The encampment protocol was to identify, notify, assess, and take the appropriate action (services, post notice, etc.). The Health and Human Services Dept., Eliot, CSO, Tapestry Health, and other partners often join the outreach effort as the inhabitants' needs are identified. People are directed towards services where possible. They were also given ample warning if they needed to relocate for safety reasons (e.g., camping in a flood plain) to avoid loss of personal items. The number of people living outside has stayed steady from the last program year. Successful models operating in other parts of the country are when outreach workers can immediately house homeless people into houses. This is made difficult during the pandemic, from the increased need and from shelters being required to operate at reduced capacity. Street outreach is hugely successful when units are immediately available. The City will continue to advocate regionally to create a robust homeless shelter network, share best practices, and build suitable housing arrangements for those who are homeless. Throughout the pandemic, the Mayor has advocated for dynamic housing options at the state level and has taken bold action to stand up the Division of Community Care (DCC) within the Department of Health & Human Services. The DCC will offer person centered & trauma informed care in efforts to provide emotional support, advocacy, & resource connections for people seeking services. The DCC team will respond to calls to support people in the city of Northampton who are experiencing houselessness, emotional distress, difficulty with meeting basic needs, substance use, navigating conflicts, and other related situations. CAPER 16 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Addressing the emergency shelter and transitional housing needs of homeless persons The Division of Community Care will take away some of the current emergency calls to the police department and respond in a trauma informed way. This division just had its open house and have begun to field calls from the emergency responders. Many of the people who will be using those services are unhoused and this will keep them out of the police records, just for having a bad day. The DCC has been a part of the ongoing Community Resilience Hub conversation. Relevant service providers throughout the City met weekly to discuss Coordinated Entry and periodically identify the most vulnerable of their clients and worked hard to find housing placements for them. The Community Development Planner has observed some of these meetings to understand what role the City plays in the process. The City continued to support both shelters for individuals with CDBG funding and other public services that help those that are homeless. The Community Development Planner facilitated the Next Step Collaborative, a monthly gathering of housing and shelter service providers and regularly attends the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness monthly meetings. At these meetings, local leaders and service providers discussed policies that needed supporting and how to best utilize new sizable federal money available. The DCC will take over facilitating the Next Step Collaborative meetings as their office is closer to the work of helping people in crisis and/or experiencing homelessness. The Three County Consortium of Care (CoC) is composed of service agencies from Berkshire, Franklin, and Hampshire Counties and is primarily rural in nature. The Three County CoC administers the Coordinated Entry system. However, there is often not enough housing to get people into a unit. The City will continue to investigate creating housing first units, continue its funding for Single Room Occupancy (SRO) support and shelter, fund the building of more affordable rental units, and maintain a healthy housing stock through housing rehab. The need for housing on all levels has been exacerbated by the flight to more rural areas like Northampton during the pandemic. The CoC is truly a regional collaboration with people from Clinical Support Options (CSO), Friends of Hampshire Homeless, Our Lady of the Valley parish, and Soldier On when it is operational. Many shelter providers must apply for multiple funding applications, soliciting private donations, and securing volunteer support in order to provide their services. This creates extra overhead for the staff that is not directly helping their clients. Tapestry Health Systems, Eliot Homeless Services, CSO, the Northampton Police Department, Forbes Library, Friends of Hampshire County Homeless, and MANNA have all worked together for several years to identify, engage, and serve those people most at risk in Northampton. Helping low-income individuals and families avoid becoming homeless, especially extremely low-income individuals and families and those who are: likely to become homeless after being discharged from publicly funded institutions and systems of care (such as health care facilities, mental health facilities, foster care and other youth facilities, and corrections programs and institutions); and, receiving assistance from public or private agencies that CAPER 17 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) address housing, health, social services, employment, education, or youth needs Social workers from the local hospital attend Next Step Collaborative meetings to network with housing and shelter providers to avoid discharging patients into homelessness. The Department of Mental Health (DMH) uses the Sergeant Housing SRO on Bridge Street to house some of its clients. Soldier On picks up and transports veterans being discharged from the Hampshire County House of Corrections who chose to go to Soldier On and did not have other housing options. Access to an affordable housing opportunity in Northampton is life changing for those that are afforded the opportunity. Safe, decent, and affordable housing is a health/mental health intervention in and of itself. Individuals who are stably housed have better outcomes over time, i.e. reduction in inpatient hospitalizations, reduction in the use of crisis services, and forensics engagements as compared to those experiencing housing instability. Secondly, the affordable housing providers are more sensitive to the needs and challenges of DMH’s housing participants which are not often found in the general landlord community. These housing providers are willing to work with service providers around the shared goal of maintaining the housing while at the same time holding people accountable for their behavior and expecting them to abide by the normal tenancy requirements. Since the vast majority of DMH clients cannot afford to own and maintain a car, the proximity to transit, services, shopping and recreation are important for them so it is a real bonus having these housing units located right in the heart of the downtown corridor. One of the challenges with some DMH clients in Northampton is the use of the Metro Fair Market Rent, which ties vouchers to the Springfield Metropolitan area, which has a lower average rent than Northampton. This means a voucher that cannot fully support leases in Northampton. This causes people to move out of the City and farther from their support services. Helping homeless persons (especially chronically homeless individuals and families, families with children, veterans and their families, and unaccompanied youth) make the transition to permanent housing and independent living, including shortening the period of time that individuals and families experience homelessness, facilitating access for homeless individuals and families to affordable housing units, and preventing individuals and families who were recently homeless from becoming homeless again The Division of Community Care will serve as the first responders to people in a non-violent crisis and can help deescalate the issue, helping people take the next step toward finding housing. There are other street outreach teams, the Northampton Police Department, and other providers regularly refer people to assistance at the various locations and time in the City that services are provided. With the purchase of the building for the Community Resilience Hub, the services that will be provided there are coming into focus. Many residents are still going to MANNA Community Kitchen for showers, laundry, and food. MANNA has dramatically increased its services in the last two years and is acting as a mini resilience hub, where the team is learning what works best to serve the homeless. They regularly CAPER 18 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) work with the team at Community Action Pioneer Valley, who will be running the hub once it is operational in the next two years. Also, the Northampton Housing Authority received a limited number of Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV), which can be used by non-elderly disabled people, including chronically homeless people. These vouchers will help people leave the emergency shelter system or get off of the streets. Homeless service providers in the region see homelessness as a regional problem and work together on solutions, such as coordinating at the City’s Next Step Collaborative meetings. These monthly meetings are a way for providers to freely share their needs as homelessness service providers and work collaboratively to solve them. The City continued to support the Community Legal Aid (CLA) Homelessness Prevention Program to keep people sustainably housed. Homelessness prevention is a high priority activity area for the City, especially since pandemic era protections have stopped. Once a household loses its rental subsidy, it is very difficult for them to re-secure housing stability. CLA provides free legal assistance to families and individuals with low incomes facing eviction in Housing Court. With mediation efforts, the majority of tenancies are preserved. With more than half of the households presenting in Housing Court already residing in rent assisted units, the issues revolve around life skills, financial literacy, and increasing their wages. Additionally, the City uses both CDBG and non-CDBG funding sources to create affordable housing, either set aside for people experiencing homelessness or for those that are low-income. The more housing that is created, the less pressure there is on the rental and home buying market for people to move into. CAPER 19 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-30 - Public Housing 91.220(h); 91.320(j) Actions taken to address the needs of public housing There were no CDBG funded projects at the Northampton Housing Authority during this program year. Although a member of the Northampton Housing Partnerships on board of directors for the housing authority, keeping an ear out for projects, no projects were requested this last program year. The NHA continued to receive HUD Mainstream Vouchers and additional Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV), which can be used by non-elderly disabled people, including chronically homeless people. These vouchers will help people to leave the emergency shelter system or get off of the streets. The NHA will utilize the Coordinated Entry list, and preference will be given to those highest on the list. NHA leadership regularly meets with the Three Country Continuum of Care and other Housing Agencies to discuss the Coordinated Entry list. Actions taken to encourage public housing residents to become more involved in management and participate in homeownership The Northampton Housing Authority's Board of Directors has always had tenant representation. The NHA has worked hard to involve more of its residents in planning projects and keeping a resident as a member of the board. Two tenants at NHA properties are on the Northampton Housing Partnership, which advocates for affordable and fair housing in the City. One CDBG funded project, Hampshire Heights Playground was a community-inspired project designed to coordinate with the community. Additionally, the NHA has accepted one of its residents' to serve a 3-5 year term on the NHA Board of Directors. A former NHA tenant, who is Hispanic, is now a member of the board. Actions taken to provide assistance to troubled PHAs The Northampton Housing Authority is not designated as troubled. The Analysis of Impediments (AI) to Fair Housing did conclude that the Housing Authority's local preference (for tenant selection) is a deterrent to housing mobility from other parts of the region into Northampton. CAPER 20 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-35 - Other Actions 91.220(j)-(k); 91.320(i)-(j) Actions taken to remove or ameliorate the negative effects of public policies that serve as barriers to affordable housing such as land use controls, tax policies affecting land, zoning ordinances, building codes, fees and charges, growth limitations, and policies affecting the return on residential investment. 91.220 (j); 91.320 (i) The Analysis of Impediments (AI) Report from 2019 identified several policies that are affecting the ability of people to find suitable housing in Northampton. One item was the broker fees that are borne by people applying for market-rate rental housing. This is allowed under current regulations, but the Northampton Housing Partnership has advocated with the City Council to make this practice illegal. A home-rule petition to the state was introduced to the state in 2022 and the City is still awaiting the state legislature’s approval. While the Housing Partnership had previous conversations with the NHA regarding the Metro FMR, the conversation has not progressed in a meaningful way. This still means that the vouchers that are given out are often not enough to fully support leases in Northampton, so people move outside of the City- once they get a voucher, if they even end up using it. The Community Development Planner did a more extensive analysis of using the Small Area FMR in 2023, interviewing leadership at other housing authorities and looking at the data, but did not see a practical path forward at the time. There are too many administrative burdens to get through. The high cost of housing was also identified as a barrier. While the Housing Partnership does not create affordable housing, they can and have done meaningful advocacy work towards that goal. They have advocated for and done the initial analysis for the City to adopt the real-estate transfer fee law. Once passed, this transfer fee would generate income from the sale of real-estate for the production of affordable housing. This bill was also introduced in 2022 and is awaiting approval by the state legislature. Additionally, the City is working to get four City-owned parcels development ready, by using a Housing Choice state grant to install sanitary sewer, treat stormwater, create designs, and prepare the sites for disposition. From these sites, the City expects at minimum 28 affordable units. The AI Report did note that the City is doing everything it should to promote mixed-use, affordable housing, and increase housing choice. The City is encouraging higher density development by promoting infill, permitting small lot residential development, encouraging mixed-use developments by allowing housing in all districts and industrial districts, permitting live/work units. It is working to increase housing diversity and affordability by allowing accessory dwelling units in all zones and providing density incentives for affordability. The City passed a two-family by right zoning amendment that streamlined the process and decreased the cost for creating two-family houses anywhere in the City as well as zoning that more than doubled the allowable density for affordable housing in all residential zoning districts. The City had previously established two Smart Growth Overlay districts called Massachusetts Chapter CAPER 21 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) 40R districts, which require an affordability component, and expanded one of those districts last year to include a parcel that we have sold to an affordable housing developer. That site was approved and could potentially have up to 23 affordable units. Following recommendations made in earlier AI reports, the City now permits up to six units by right with the site-plan review, has simple standards for larger multi-family structures, requires no traffic mitigation or parking for residential construction downtown, allows mixed-use housing by right with site plan review and doubled - and in some cases tripled - the density allowed in some zones within the urban core. By reducing lot size throughout the City to better reflect existing development patterns, possibilities for 2-3 unit dwellings is increased. Actions taken to address obstacles to meeting underserved needs. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) Housing first units, or units that are meant for people coming directly from homelessness were created during the last program year. Although not funded by CDBG, this older nursing home at 5 Franklin Street was transformed into a 16-unit home for people who are homeless and have critical medical needs. The project has been called transformative. It took collaboration between the neighbors, the funders, medical staff, the City, and even the state government to create this project. The City is investigating how CDBG funds may be used to support this project in the future. AI Report has provided the City with several years of work, such as policies that need to change and new projects. The Community Development Planner has monthly meetings with the Housing Partnership, where they have prioritized the AI Report's action steps and have begun to take steps towards meeting those needs. For instance, addressing the Small Area FMR that the NHA uses and investigating broker fees by private rental agencies. This is a barrier keeping people out of the City with its heavy upfront costs of moving, so a Housing Partnership subcommittee has been meeting to make recommendations to address it. Another act of legislation that is being moved through the state is a ‘real-estate transfer fee’, which would be levied on the sellers/buyer of residential real estate transactions over a certain amount. The details, such as who pays, at what percentage of the sale price, and what home price is eligible is still being investigated by the Housing Partnership. Each city would be able to set their own terms if this policy passes. The Community Development Planner continued with the City’s involvement in the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness, staff support to the Northampton Housing Partnership, and the Next Step Collaborative. All of these meetings work towards meeting the needs of underrepresented and underserved people in our community. Additionally, the ADA Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan identified several barriers to people with disabilities in their access to City buildings, sidewalks, and programs. The ADA/Section 504 Coordinator also serves as the staff person for the Disability Commission and have together identified action steps towards addressing issues from the report. CAPER 22 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Actions taken to reduce lead-based paint hazards. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) While lead-based paint abatement did not progress in a substantial way, the City has housing rehabilitation resources available and will prioritize the remediation of lead if it is found in a home. The rates of lead paint poisoning among children remain low locally, but this can be deceiving. The presence of lead paint is a silent discriminator when landlords refuse to rent to families with young children because they are unwilling to certify that there is no lead paint or are unable to abate their units in compliance with the Massachusetts Lead Paint Notification law. The presence of lead paint can be assumed for every home built before the lead paint ban in 1978, which for Northampton is about 50% of the total housing stock. Once again, this was identified in the AI Report and is considered a barrier to family housing in Northampton. The City's Housing Rehabilitation Program conducted lead paint testing at all homes that had children under six years old. A single-family homeowner can participate in a 15-year deferred payment with 0% interest loan program in which lead paint can be abated if necessary. The upper limit for a project cost was set $60,000 to allow for lead-based paint abatement activities if needed. The Northampton Board of Health continued to keep up the database of units that have been abated and so certified as such. When funds are available, the Valley CDC's Homeownership Center continued to refer people to the State's “Get the Lead Out Program.” Actions taken to reduce the number of poverty-level families. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) The City funds several public services that can help reduce poverty, such as the Literacy Project and Center for New Americans. Both programs teach valuable information and increase the skill level of their students, giving them the confidence to secure better employment. Community Action's Youth Employment Readiness Program helps young individuals and families gain education and employment skills to increase economic empowerment and self-sufficiency. These programs are all CDBG subrecipients. CDBG funds continued to support local small businesses that employ low-income people through micro-enterprise grants. The Northampton Housing Partnership had a few conversations internally about the Northampton Housing Authority and its participation in HUD's Small Area Fair Market Rent. The NHA participating in the SAFMR would likely increase the ability of people with low incomes to use HUD Housing Choice Vouchers in Northampton. Because Northampton is included in the Springfield MSA, fair market rents have been much lower than market-rate rents for decades. Actions taken to develop institutional structure. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) The City continued to have regular monthly meetings of the Northampton Housing Partnership, the Next Step Collaborative, and the Disability Commission. These have helped create that institutional framework of collaboration, but also help implement the action items from the AI and support CDBG funded efforts. Other meetings, such as the Coordinated Entry meetings for the Three County CAPER 23 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Continuum of Care and the Western Mass Network to End Homelessness have helped the Community Development Planner stay current on issues. The action steps and directives from recent studies like the Mayor's Work Group on Panhandling (2019), the Analysis of Impediments (2019) and the ADA Self-Evaluation/Transition Plan (2020) have kept the City busy with identified tasks to ameliorate some of the issues that residents are facing. Available training for federal grants such as CDBG and state specific planning were taken regularly by members of the Office of Planning & Sustainability. Feedback on the operations and gaps in the system were discussed at various meetings throughout the year by the Community Development Planner, the Community Preservation Committee, the Office of Planning and Sustainability, the Human Rights Commission, the Disability Commission, the Police Department, the Health Department, the Building Department, the Public Works Department, all of whom work together to identify and address community issues. The Mayor, the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Director of Planning & Sustainability, and other departments had met monthly to ensure a coordinated community development strategy. The municipal structure that exists is quite collaborative. The Action Plans formulated by the Analysis of Impediments Update and the Mayor's Work Group on Panhandling call for collaboration between the various entities responsible for implementing a myriad of recommendations to ensure our community is welcoming and accessible to all. The Northampton Housing Partnership has worked strategically with members of the City Council, the Human Rights Commission, and the Northampton Housing Authority to work on the issues identified in the recent studies mentioned. Actions taken to enhance coordination between public and private housing and social service agencies. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) The City purchased the building for the Community Resilience Hub and has engaged strategically with its partners on the use of the space. As of September 2023, the City is still in the selection phase for the architect to do the rehabilitation, but the programming for the space with its partners is well underway. They are looking at the organizational structure, governance, and support services that would be housed have progressed in a measurable way. Community Action Pioneer Valley will be sponsoring the hub and have been having monthly meetings for over two years now. Many of the same organizations that attend that meeting have worked alongside each other because of their work providing social services or their involvement with the Next Step Collaborative. The Next Step Collaborative meetings are monthly gatherings of local housing and homeless service providers started in 1994. Guests are those who have lived experience, advocates for the homeless, people serving Veterans, people living with HIV/Aids, people in recovery, people living in subsidized housing, people managing subsidized housing, and people providing housing stabilization support services. This group has continued to advocate for getting Housing First units, expanded shelter capacity, and the Community Resilience Hub to get out of the elements and provide services such as CAPER 24 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) storage lockers or consultations with service agencies. Identify actions taken to overcome the effects of any impediments identified in the jurisdictions analysis of impediments to fair housing choice. 91.520(a) The Housing Partnership and Disability Commission worked with the Community Development Planner on the action steps, prioritizing the issues and choosing the most implementable steps. The Housing Partnership and the Disability Commission works as an advisory board to the Mayor. Still, they are also instrumental in influencing public opinion on issues and starting conversations with stakeholders. The Housing Partnership has taken on the real estate transfer fees, banning rental fees, and resurrecting the Municipal Affordable Housing Trust Fund (MAHTF) CAPER 25 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-40 - Monitoring 91.220 and 91.230 Describe the standards and procedures used to monitor activities carried out in furtherance of the plan and used to ensure long-term compliance with requirements of the programs involved, including minority business outreach and the comprehensive planning requirements Quarterly reports are required from all subrecipients and are submitted online. The data in those reports is used for IDIS accomplishment reports and is closely reviewed for progress and compliance with all applicable laws and regulations by both the Grants Administrator and the Community Development Planner. Performance outcomes are outlined in the Scope of Services at the beginning of each program year in the CDBG Agreement or Contract before the issuance of funds. When applicable, contracts also include requirements for submissions of other HUD reports such as Section 3, FFATA information, Department of Labor MBE/WBE reports, and Davis Bacon wage rate compliance certifications, payroll records, and on-site monitoring interviews conducted by the Community Development Planner. During this next program year, the City will be requiring compliance with the Build America, Buy America Act, which requires certain building materials to be made in America. City staff created a risk based assessment tool that was used prior to the creation of a scope of services and the signing of contracts. This has helped create a more data-focused monitoring schedule and has informed the City’s pre-award orientation meetings with the grantees. Site Monitoring was carried out throughout this program year by the Community Development Planner and the Grants Administrator for several public service and housing subrecipients. The CDBG team will be monitoring 100% of its subrecipients during this next program year. During these monitoring visits, the City staff viewed the day-to-day operations of the programs to ensure that they align with national objectives and eligibility requirements, as well as the description provided in the original application. Project directors and financial staff were asked to be present during the meetings to provide information pertinent to CDBG funds and associated activities. If an audit was conducted since the last monitoring visit, that was also reviewed for issues. Smaller projects, such as housing rehab, are completed by sole owner businesses. Larger projects can do the outreach but often do not need to expand their workforce to complete a project. The housing rehab program requires solicitation for contractors, including the statements and actions that women/minority-owned businesses or Section 3 businesses are encouraged to apply. CAPER 26 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Citizen Participation Plan 91.105(d); 91.115(d) Describe the efforts to provide citizens with reasonable notice and an opportunity to comment on performance reports. For the 2022-2023 program year, legal ads were published in the local newspaper for all public hearings and publication of the Draft Plan and Action Plan giving the dates of meetings and times available for review in the office. All documents were also uploaded to the City's website. Residents were encouraged to call or email with comments. Physical meeting is allowed during this current phase of the pandemic, but an online version was also available to allow for hybrid public participation. For this CAPER, the City published an ad in the Daily Hampshire Gazette on September 16th, 2023, with a link to the CAPER and instructions on commenting or receiving a paper copy. The public comment period was open until October 2, 2023 and no comments were received. The City was given a one day extension to file the CAPER (authorization letter attached). CR-45 - CDBG 91.520(c) Specify the nature of, and reasons for, any changes in the jurisdiction’s program objectives and indications of how the jurisdiction would change its programs as a result of its experiences. The majority of activities identified in the Action Plan for the current program year are proceeding without any issues, and the City has not changed any of its objectives. The City has updated some of the timing of the completion of some projects. This program year, the two construction projects that were planned were delayed for either materials or extra design work. These are moving forward and should be complete by the conclusion of the current program year. Most of the public services continued their operations as usual, with no operational losses occurring due to the pandemic. The City does not expect to amend its Consolidated Plan or its other goals as there is only one more year left on the Consolidated Plan. Once again, the City will adjust the goals and outcome indicators to ensure that they are reflective of actual activities for the next program. There were a few instances during this CAPER where the goals and outcome indicators did not pull through the system properly and they had to be manually adjusted Does this Jurisdiction have any open Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) grants? No [BEDI grantees] Describe accomplishments and program outcomes during the last year. CAPER 27 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CAPER 28 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-45 - CDBG 91.520(c) Specify the nature of, and reasons for, any changes in the jurisdiction’s program objectives and indications of how the jurisdiction would change its programs as a result of its experiences. The majority of activities identified in the Action Plan for the current program year are proceeding without any issues, and the City has not changed any of its objectives. The City has updated some of the timing of the completion of some projects. This program year, the two construction projects that were planned were delayed for either materials or extra design work. These are moving forward and should be complete by the conclusion of the current program year. Most of the public services continued their operations as usual, with no operational losses occurring due to the pandemic. The City does not expect to amend its Consolidated Plan or its other goals as there is only one more year left on the Consolidated Plan. Once again, the City will adjust the goals and outcome indicators to ensure that they are reflective of actual activities for the next program. There were a few instances during this CAPER where the goals and outcome indicators did not pull through the system properly and they had to be manually adjusted Does this Jurisdiction have any open Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) grants? No [BEDI grantees] Describe accomplishments and program outcomes during the last year. CAPER 29 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-58 – Section 3 Identify the number of individuals assisted and the types of assistance provided Total Labor Hours CDBG HOME ESG HOPWA HTF Total Number of Activities 0 0 0 0 0 Total Labor Hours 0 Total Section 3 Worker Hours 0 Total Targeted Section 3 Worker Hours 0 Table 8 – Total Labor Hours Qualitative Efforts - Number of Activities by Program CDBG HOME ESG HOPWA HTF Outreach efforts to generate job applicants who are Public Housing Targeted Workers 0 Outreach efforts to generate job applicants who are Other Funding Targeted Workers. 0 Direct, on-the job training (including apprenticeships). 0 Indirect training such as arranging for, contracting for, or paying tuition for, off-site training. 0 Technical assistance to help Section 3 workers compete for jobs (e.g., resume assistance, coaching). 0 Outreach efforts to identify and secure bids from Section 3 business concerns. 0 Technical assistance to help Section 3 business concerns understand and bid on contracts. 0 Division of contracts into smaller jobs to facilitate participation by Section 3 business concerns. 0 Provided or connected residents with assistance in seeking employment including: drafting resumes,preparing for interviews, finding job opportunities, connecting residents to job placement services. 0 Held one or more job fairs. 0 Provided or connected residents with supportive services that can provide direct services or referrals. 0 Provided or connected residents with supportive services that provide one or more of the following: work readiness health screenings, interview clothing, uniforms, test fees, transportation. 0 Assisted residents with finding child care. 0 Assisted residents to apply for, or attend community college or a four year educational institution. 0 Assisted residents to apply for, or attend vocational/technical training. 0 Assisted residents to obtain financial literacy training and/or coaching. 0 Bonding assistance, guaranties, or other efforts to support viable bids from Section 3 business concerns. 0 Provided or connected residents with training on computer use or online technologies. 0 Promoting the use of a business registry designed to create opportunities for disadvantaged and small businesses. 0 Outreach, engagement, or referrals with the state one-stop system, as designed in Section 121(e)(2) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. 0 CAPER 30 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Other. 0 Table 9 – Qualitative Efforts - Number of Activities by Program Narrative For the 2022-2023 program year, there were no Section 3 activities. LIV ING Satur day, Sept ember 1 6, 2023 | DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE C3gazet tenet.com This week’s column is a group effort, with ingredientsfrom a neighbor and a recipefrom my sister. Because ofthe extra help, I have not onebut two dishes to share. To-gether they make a quick andeasy weeknight meal.First, the ingredient, amassive cucumber, camefrom my neighbor’s garden.She remembered I had writ-ten about the loss of our CSAdue to July’s floods, andbrought over a basket oftomatoes, a zucchini and twocucumbers, including a mon-ster that must have weighedabout three pounds.I thought the best use forthe mammoth cuke would bethis cucumber salad that mysister had made during ourfamily ’s annual Fourth of Julyvacation in Maine. So I textedher and convinced her to dropeverything and double-checkthe measurements for me.(As it turns out “ever ything” was a bowl of beet water- melon gazpacho with roasted tofu croutons, which is a recipe for another day.) This salad is a good one to involve small helpers in the kitchen. They can peel the cu- cumber and remove theseeds from each half using asmall spoon once you’vesliced it vertically. And theycan smash the cucumberpieces you’ve cut (hopefullyon the bias) using a rollingpin and a sealed Ziploc bag.The rest of the ingredientsare the usual suspects, likesesame oil, white sugar, soysauce and rice vinegar. Butthere is also a little heat. Usewhat you like, such as some(or all of a) fresh red hot chilepepper, red pepper flakes, orchile crisp. I also use a shakeof white pepper, somethingvery common in Asian cook-ing that I first purchased forhot and sour soup years ago.Use black pepper if that’swhat you have on hand.A girlfriend made thissalad last night using her latesummer/early fall cucumbersand she reported that sheused five small ones, as op-posed to the monster cuke myneighbor gave me. She alsosaid the banging of the cukesin the Ziploc was so loud thatit woke up one of her son’sstuffies, so make sure allstuffies are off the counter.I paired the salad with a super simple noodle dish, al-most an asian pasta car-bonara with egg yolks, soysauce and nori (dried sea-weed). MeeraSodha, therecipe’s author, credits a pop-ular Malaysian spot in Lon-don that serves this for break-fast, although I enjoy it atlunch and dinnertime as wellwhen I’m pressed for time.All in all, here are tworecipes full of flavor and satis-faction that you can make on a weeknight in less than halfan hour. Smashed Cucumber Salad Ingredient s One large cucumber, orthree to five mini (Persian cu-cumbers)2 Tablespoons rice vinegar1 Tablespoon sesame oil1 Tablespoon soy sauce1 teaspoon white sugarOne garlic clove, grated on a microplane Dash of salt and white pep- per As much heat as you want — this includes red chile pep- per, red chile flakes or chile crisp Directions If you are usually a regular cucumber: Peel the cucum-ber, slice it vertically, and re-move the seeds using a smallspoon. Slice cucumber into 1-inch pieces, hopefully on thebias.If you are using small cu-cumbers: slice the cucumbersinto 2 centimeter rounds.Add cucumbers to a Ziplocbag. Seal the bag. Smash witha rolling pin for about 5 sec-onds.Gather all the other ingre-dients and add them to alarge bowl. Whisk everythingtogether. Add smashed cu-cumber. Stir to combine.Ser ve. Breakfast at Shuko’s from East by MeeraSodha Sodha notes “that the best noodles to use here are the plump, partially cooked “st raight to wok” noodles. If you use the dried noodle, you’ll only need 7 oz. and a tablespoon of additional water to loosen when you mix them with the egg yolk and soy.” However, I’ve made this dish with whatever Japanese noodles I’ve had in the house — such as buckwheat soba noodles — and have only had excellent results. This serves two. Ingredients 1.5 x 7 oz packages straight to wok udon noodles 2 large egg yolks 1 Tablespoon soy sauce Optional: 1 sheet of nori, shredded Directions Bring a large pot of waterto a rolling boil, then drop inthe noodles and cook untilthey are al dente. This shouldtake around 3 minutes for the“straight to wok” udons or 4to 7 minutes if you’re usingthe dried type. (Or follow thedirections on the noodle pack-age in your hand.)Meanwhile, in a large mix-ing bowl, mix together theegg yolks and soy sauce.When the noodles are cooked,drain well and immediatelyadd to the egg mixture, mix-ing really well so they arecoated in the sauce. Dividethe noodles between the twobowls, and sprinkle withshredded nori if you like.Serve immediately. Molly Parr lives in Flo-rence with her husband andtwo young daughters. She’sbeen writing her food blog,Cheap Beets, since 2010.Send questions or commentsto molly.parr@gmail.com. Turning a massive cuke into salad with noodles MOLLY PARR THERE IS A SEASON MOLLY PARR Cucumber pieces full of flavor poised on the brink of crushed salad-hood . Briefs: Classical piano, art, and an Emily Dickinson festival in Amherst people from the region, manyof which Shirar created afterspending time observing vol-unteers in the area. In praise of Emily AMHERST — The annualcelebration of The Belle ofAmherst returns startingSept. 25 when the Tell It SlantPoetry Festival brings awealth of readings, work-shops, and other events totown and the internet.The festival’s live events,which take place at the EmilyDickinson Museum, includethe “Spectacular TranslationMachine,” in which partici-pants can take part in an ef-fort to turn Dickinson’s poemsand letters into different lan-guages.Tell It Slant, which runsthrough Oct. 1, also includes awealth of online and hybridevents, including the popular“Poetry Marathon,” for whichaudience members take turnsreading all of Dickinson’s1,789 poems.Other highlights includereadings of her work by poetsfrom around the country suchas Marilyn Nelson and AbigailChabitnoy, a screening of Ap-ple TV+’s “D i c k i n s o n” withcreator Alena Smith, and gen-erative writing workshops.You can register for theevent by visiting emilydickin-sonmuseum.org.Also of note: With the helpof some grant funding, theDickinson Museum has justestablished an online catalogdatabase consisting of morethat 8,000 artifacts related tothe poet and her family, in-cluding fine art, cookware,clothing and textiles, chil-d r e n’s toys, and souvenir ob-jects from travels abroad.It’s the largest and most di-verse assemblage of objectsassociated with Emily Dickin-son and her family to be foundanywhere, according to themuseum, and as such offersnew details about life in 19thcentury Amherst as well asthe writing habits of the fa-mous poet.Museum Director JaneWald says funding from the In-stitute for Museum and Li- brary Services was crucial inallowing the museum “to im-prove our management ofthese thousands of Dickinsonfamily objects.”The collection can be ac-cessed at emilydickinsonmu-seum.catalogaccess.com. More art at UMass AMHERST — The AugustaSavage Gallery at the Univer-sity of MassachusettsAmherst has opened its fallexhibit, “The Miracle Ma-chine,” a group show that’sdesigned to examines themesof “identity, belonging, broth-erhood, and Blackness.”The show includes visualart from several contributors,as well as textual installationsand video by poet and spokenword artist Aaron Joseph St.Louis and a sound installationby musician Kevin Mason.The exhibit leader, painterImo Nse Imeh, a professor ofart and art history at WestfieldState University, says the di-verse perspectives of the con-tributing artists offer “an en-gaging journey through the in-tersections of visual art, story-telling, and soundscapes.”“The chance of play, thechance of mystery, is at theroot of this collaboration,”Imeh said in a statement. “Itis a part of us, it will grow withus, and there is power in that.”Also at UMass, HampdenGallery has opened its newseason with “Selective Mem-ory ” by Scottish artist MorayHillary, a collection of 225miniature paintings that are designed to create a “poeticdialogue” in the space.Some of the paintings de-pict fragments of cityscapes,quiet pathways or undefinedspaces. Others include every-day objects such as a type-writer, a sink, and a shoe, withtheir intimate scale designedto encourage viewers to movein closely. Stirring the Ashes HADLEY — The Porter-Phelps-Huntington HouseMuseum, in partnership withthe nonprofit group AncestralBridges, will honor the mem-ory of six people who were en-slaved at the historic homeand farm in the 18th century.The ceremony, which takesplace Sept. 23 from 2 to 4 p.m.,will include placing commem-orative stones for ZebulonPrutt, Cesar Phelps, Margaret(Peg) Bowen, her daughtersRosanna and Phillis, andgranddaughter Phillis, whowere all enslaved at the farm-stead in the mid- to late 1700s.In addition, there will read-ings of work by FrederickDouglass and the biographiesof the six people by state Rep.Daniel Carey, writer and Har-vard University professor TiyaMiles, and others.Music will be part of theevent, as well as contributionsfrom storytellers OnawumiJean Moss and Shirley Jack-son Whitaker. A visit to partsof the house will also help re-call those who were enslaved.— Compiled by Steve Pfar-re r BRIEF S FROM C1 STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE A ceremony on Sept. 23 will honor six people who were once enslaved at the historic Porter-Phelps-Huntington House in H adley. IMAGE FROM ECA GALLERY WEBSITE “G ra n d m a’s Chair” by painter Julia Shirar IMAGE FROM ELUSIE GALLEY WEBSITE From the “Intimate Worlds” exhibit by Margaret Lloyd. IMAGE COURTESY AUGUSTA SAVAGE GALLERY “A Conversation with Sparrows,” by painter Imo Nse Imeh, is part of a new exhibition, “T he Miracle Machine,” at the Augusta Savage Gallery at UMass Amherst. Lost & Found If you have lost or found an animal, we will run your ad for free. LEGAL NOTICE DEADLINES Monday’s paper.............................................................................Friday at 9am Tuesday’s paper.............................................................................Friday at 3pm Wednesday’s paper....................................................................Monday at Noon Thursday’s paper........................................................................Tuesday at Noon Friday’s paper......................................................................Wednesday at Noon Saturday’s paper......................................................................Thursday at Noon PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. CITY OF NORTHAMPTON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTBLOCK GRANT PROGRAM NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY: The Cityof Northampton's CommunityDevelopment Block Grant(CDBG) Program ConsolidatedAnnual Performance andEvaluation Report (CAPER) willbe available for public reviewand comment on 9/16/2023 onthe Office of Planning &Sustainability website at: https://bit.ly/3p4aGja. Physical copiescan be made available, M-F 8:30a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Comments willbe accepted until the end of theday on 10/2/2023.The CAPER covers the CDBGprogram year July 1, 2022 thruJune 30, 2023. Contact KeithBenoit, CommunityDevelopment Planner, by emailat kbenoit@northamptonma.gov or at(413) 587-1288 to submitcomments or to requestadditional information. Legals Commonwealth ofMassachusettsThe Trial CourtProbate and Family CourtHampshire DivisionINFORMAL PROBATEPUBLICATION NOTICEDocket No. HS23P0564Estate of: Paul SniadachDate of Death:May 31, 2023To all persons interested in theabove captioned estate, byPetition ofPetitioner Jacklyn Sniadach ofFlorence, MAJacklyn Sniadach of Florence,MAhas been informally appointedas the Personal Representativeof the estate to serve withoutsurety on the bond. The estate isbeing administered underinformal procedure by thePersonal Representative underthe Massachusetts UniformProbate Code withoutsupervision by the Court.Inventory and accounts are notrequired to be filed with theCourt, but interested parties areentitled to notice regarding theadministration from thePersonal Representative andcan petition the Court in anymatter relating to the estate,including distribution of assetsand expenses of administration.Interested parties are entitled topetition the Court to instituteformal proceedings and toobtain orders terminating orrestricting the powers ofPersonal Representativesappointed under informalprocedures. A copy of thePetition and Will, if any, can beobtained from the Petitioner. September 16427330 Commonwealth ofMassachusettsThe Trial CourtProbate and Family CourtHampshire DivisionINFORMAL PROBATEPUBLICATION NOTICEDocket No. HS23P0573EAEstate of: Sue EllenBisgaardfrantzenAlso known as: Sue EllenBisgaard-Frantzen, Sue EllenBisgaardDate of Death: July 10 2023To all persons interested in theabove captioned estate, byPetition ofPetitioner Marianne Rowe ofPacific Grove, CAMarianne Rowe of PacificGrove, CAhas been informally appointedas the Personal Representativeof the estate to serve withoutsurety on the bond.The estate is beingadministered under informalprocedure by the PersonalRepresentative under theMassachusetts Uniform ProbateCode without supervision by theCourt. Inventory and accountsare not required to be filed withthe Court, but interested partiesare entitled to notice regardingthe administration from thePersonal Representative andcan petition the Court in anymatter relating to the estate,including distribution of assetsand expenses of administration.Interested parties are entitled topetition the Court to instituteformal proceedings and toobtain orders terminating orrestricting the powers ofPersonal Representativesappointed under informalprocedures. A copy of thePetition and Will, if any, can beobtained from the Petitioner. September 16427312 Legal NoticeThis Ad is pursuant to Ma.General law Ch. 255 Sec. 39A Asof November 1, 2023 thefollowing motor vehicle will befor sale to satisfy a garagekeepers Lein 2016 Ford Escape,Red, 1FMCU9GX3GUC52459,Devon Perrman, 330 ColeAvenue, Williamstown,MassSeptember 9, 16, 23426929 LegalsLegals Legals LEGAL NOTICES Keith Benoit, AICP, Community Development Planner ● (413) 587-1288 ● kbenoit@northamptonma.gov Shirese Franklin CPD Representative 10 Causeway St. Room 535, Boston, MA 02114 September 25, 2023 Hello Shirese, The City of Northampton’s, Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) for the 2022-2023 program year will be submitted past the September 30th deadline. It will be submitted late due to an administrative error - I missed the newspaper’s run date deadline to publish the public notice that the CAPER is available for review and public comment. To ensure that the public has enough time to comment, the City must keep the public comment period open past September 30th. The City will submit its CAPER on Monday October 2nd when City staff returns from the weekend. The City does not expect any other issues with the CAPER or the administration of its CDBG grant. This delay on the CAPER is truly embarrassing and not in conformance with the City’s own CBDG manual (Appendix E, attached). Please let me know if you have any questions, Thank you, Keith Benoit Appendix E Reports Due by Month Reports that CDBG Staff Submits Month City Report On Due Where Staff January Cash on Hand Quarterly Report PR-29 - 1st Quarter: Oct. 1 – Dec. 31 Jan. 30 IDIS GA Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) *Guidance forthcoming February No Reports N/A N/A March Semi-Annual Labor Standards / Davis-Bacon (HUD-4710) March 31 DocuSign to: Jill Martin CDP April Cash on Hand Quarterly Report PR-29 - 2nd Quarter: Jan. 1 – March. 31 April 30 IDIS GA May Financial Summary Report (PR-26) May 1 Con Plan / Action Plan May 15 IDIS Both June No Reports HUD July Cash on Hand Quarterly Report PR-29 - 3rd Quarter: April. 1 – June. 30 July 30 IDIS August Line of Credit Control System Deadline Aug. 29 GA September CAPER Sep. 30 IDIS Both Section 3 - SPEARS Report (with CAPER) Sep. 30 IDIS and HUD website CDP Semi-Annual Labor Standards / Davis-Bacon (HUD-4710) Sep. 30 DocuSign to: Jill Martin CDP Minority Business Enterprise Contract & Subcontract Activity / WBE Report (HUD-2516) Sep. 30 DocuSign to: Jill Martin CDP October Cash on Hand Quarterly Report PR-29 - 4th Quarter: July 1 – Sep. 30 Oct. 30 IDIS GA November No Reports N/A N/A December No Reports HUD Rolling FFATA FSRS U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development MASSACHUSETTS STATE OFFICE, NEW ENGLAND AREA Office of Community Planning and Development Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. Federal Building 10 Causeway Street - Fifth Floor Boston, Massachusetts 02222-1092 Phone (617) 994-8350 CPD website: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning Mr. Keith Benoit Community Development Planner City of Northampton Office of Planning & Sustainability 210 Main St., Second Floor Northampton, MA 01060 Dear Mr. Benoit: SUBJECT: Request for Extension of Submission Deadline for 2022 CAPER We are in receipt of your request for a one-day extension of the deadline for submitting the City of Northampton’s 2022 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER). In accordance with 24 CFR Part 91.520 each jurisdiction that has an approved consolidated plan shall annually review and report on the progress it has made in carrying out its strategic pan and its action plan. The annual performance report is required within 90 days of the city’s program year end date of June 30, 2023. Our understanding is that the city’s is requesting a one-day extension, citing a staff clerical error in publishing the notice for public comments to be received. We acknowledge your intent to submit the CAPER by October 2, 2023. If you have any questions, please contact your CPD Representative, Shirese Franklin at shirese.s.franklin@hud.gov. Sincerely, Robert D. Shumeyko Regional Director Digitally signed by: ROBERT SHUMEYKO Date: 2023.09.26 16: 15:31 -04'00'