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The Community Development Departments of the City of Knoxville and Knox County are seeking input from community leaders and the general public at a community meeting on Monday, Dec. 14.
“We are asking citizens to identify community and human needs throughout Knoxville and Knox County, particularly for low- and moderate-income individuals and neighborhoods,” noted Becky Wade, the city’s community development administrator.
Next year, the two Community Development Departments are required to submit a Consolidated Plan (“Con Plan”) outlining how they expect to spend Federal funds and the dollars Federal funds leverage over the next five years (2010 – 2015).
To address the identified needs, the Con Plan sets the priorities for the way Community Development Block Grant and other federal funds are spent on a wide variety of programs such as homeless services and shelters, housing for low- and moderate-income individuals, health care, blighted properties, infrastructure improvements, workforce development and education, economic development, and neighborhood stabilization.
“This is the first time both the City and County have approached this process in a coordinated fashion. By seeking input and sharing ideas in concert, we can each be more strategic with and focused on our priorities,” said Grant Rosenberg, Director of Knox County Neighborhoods and Community Development.
The general public is invited to participate in a community-wide meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 14, at the Cansler YMCA, located at the corner of East Fifth Avenue and Jessamine Street on the edge of the Parkridge neighborhood.
At the meeting, representatives from the City and County will make a brief presentation about the Con Plan process and timeline. The bulk of the meeting will be devoted to hearing from those in attendance and gathering a detailed list of human needs and community concerns.
Input from the general public is part of a process which will assess needs and establish priorities, objectives, and performance benchmarks for the 2010-2015 Con Plans for both the City and the County.
