Adopted by the Brown County Board
on October 17, 2012
SECTION E:
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
CITIZENS PARTICIPATION PLAN
Northeastern Wisconsin Housing Consortium
PURPOSE
In order for the Community Development program to operate effectively and to address the needs of the citizens of the Northeastern Wisconsin Housing Consortium counties, the entire population must be kept informed. The decision-making process must be open and consistent with state and federal regulations. To accomplish this, the following plan will be followed:
PROGRAM OVERSIGHT
- The Community Development Program is administered by the Northeastern Wisconsin Housing Consortium Committee by the authority of the Brown County Board and Brown County Executive. The Northeastern Wisconsin Housing Consortium Committee will also serve in the capacity of the Citizen Participation Committee.
- To insure responsiveness to the needs of its citizens, the Northeastern Wisconsin Housing Consortium Committee shall provide for and encourage citizen participation. Particular emphasis shall be given to participation by persons of low- and moderate-income (LMI) who are residents of blighted areas of the Northeastern Wisconsin Housing Consortium counties.
PROGRAM OVERSIGHT
- A Citizen Participation Committee (CPC) shall be established. The CPC shall be responsible for coordinating and overseeing all required elements of this Citizen Participation Plan.
- The CPC shall consist of at least 10 members, with one member per consortium county appointed by the respective County Executive or County Board Chair. The membership of the CPC shall be composed of persons representative of the community’s demographics. This committee must include at least one LMI person. The committee members should also include representatives from the local government, real estate, banking, and labor communities. All members must be residents of the Northeastern Wisconsin Housing Consortium counties.
- Official notice of hearings will be by public notice in Brown County’s designated official newspaper at least two weeks preceding the hearing. In addition, the public notice shall be posted at each participating county’s primary administrative building and any other public place likely to reach LMI persons. These notices will include time, place, and date of meeting, as well as a brief agenda.
- For projects concentrated in a specific area or neighborhood, in addition to the above notification, notices shall be posted at locations of public gathering with the target area or neighborhood.
- All notifications of meetings and available assistance will be worded in such a way as to encourage LMI participation.
Public hearings shall be held to obtain citizen views and to enable residents to respond to proposals at all stages of the community development program, including the development of needs, the review of proposed activities, and the review of program performance. Hearings shall be held after adequate notice, at times and locations convenient to potential or actual beneficiaries, and with accommodations for the physically challenged, and, if needed, for non-English speaking persons.
- The first hearing will receive citizen views and provide an explanation of: a. Community development needs, objectives, and strategies. b. The CDBG program including goals, objectives, application process, amount of funds available, timetable, and eligible activities.
- The first hearing also will receive citizen views and provide a summary of proposed activities, including an explanation of how the activities address community development needs and objectives.
- The second hearing will receive citizen views and provide a review of the performance of the funded activities.
- The first public hearing shall be held prior to the submission of the application for funds. The second public hearing shall be held during the implementation of the program.
PROGRAM INFORMATION / FILES/ ASSISTANCE
- Technical assistance will be provided to any citizen who requests information about program requirements. Assistance with the application process will be provided by Brown County. A Brown County program representative will meet with citizens on request.
- Brown County will maintain, at the agency location designated to administer the program, a record of all citizen participation efforts including minutes of meetings, newspaper clippings, and copies of notices and brochures.
- Citizens will be invited to make proposals regarding the application. If suitable proposals are submitted in writing, a written response will be provided within 15 days. Every effort will be made to respond to all proposals prior to the final action on that subject.
- Citizens may petition or request in writing assistance or changes. Brown County staff will respond to all such requests within 15 days after the CPC has met to discuss the request.
- Brown County will handle citizen complaints about the program in a timely manner. Brown County will respond in writing to all written letters of complaint within 15 days after receipt of the complaint. The nature and disposition of verbal complaints will be reported in a complaint log. The first contact for complaints should be made to the Northeastern Wisconsin Housing Committee Program Administrator.
Brown County Planning and Land Services Department
PO Box 23600
Green Bay, WI 54305-3600
- In addition to the above procedure, any citizen wishing to object may complain directly to the Department of Administration, Bureau of Affordable Housing attention to:
PO Box 7970
Madison, WI 53707-7970
NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING RESIDENTS
Brown County will regularly survey the Housing Consortium area to identify non-English speaking persons and will make all special efforts to assure them equal opportunity in the citizen participation process.
