AMHERST — With the town in line to receive $825,000 in Community Development Block Grant money again in 2020, a mandated public process is beginning.
The CDBG Advisory Committee is holding a public hearing Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Town Room at Town Hall, where it will hear comments about community priorities, said Senior Planner Nathaniel Malloy.
The community priorities will identify social services, non-social services such as housing and public infrastructure, and the target areas and neighborhoods where money should be spent.
This is a required part of the process after the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development designated the town as a mini-entitlement community. The grant money will support housing, community development projects, and social service activities that benefit low- and moderate-income citizens.
Amherst’s block grant this year is divided between the ongoing work of building a multiuse path on East Hadley Road, a siding project at Watson Farms apartments and the predevelopment costs for Valley Community Development Corp.’s planned 28 single-room affordable housing project on Northampton Road, as well as financial support for a food pantry, youth mentoring, adult literacy, immigrant services and family stabilization services.