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REVISED CITIZENS PARTICIPATION PLAN PURPOSE: The City of Hoover (the “City) has developed and adopted this Citizen Participation Plan (“CPP”) for the purpose of documenting its policies and procedures for providing ample opportunity and encouragement for all citizens and interested parties to participate in the planning, development, implementation and performance review of the City’s Consolidated Action Plan under the Community Development Block Grant Program (“CDBG”). This CPP supersedes all other CPPs that may have been previously adopted by the City. GOAL: The CPP is intended to maximize citizen participation in the City’s CDBG program, with special emphasis being placed on reaching and encouraging participation by persons of low and moderate- income residents of slums and blighted neighborhoods, residents of areas where CDBG funds are proposed to be utilized, residents of public or assisted housing developments, minorities, non-English speaking persons, persons with disabilities, public and regional organizations including any existing housing agencies, and other interested parties. AVAILABILITY: The City will make available to all citizens and interested parties all pertinent information relative to, and provide adequate opportunity to comment on, the City’s proposed CPP Plan, Consolidated Plans, annual Action Plans, annual CAPER report(s), and any Substantial Amendments thereto. Available information shall include, but not be limited to, annual grant entitlement amounts, program income, and the range of activities to be undertaken with such funds, including the estimated amount that will benefit persons of low and moderate income. Summaries of the proposed plans or Substantial Amendments shall be Published, that is, advertised in a block ad of a local newspaper of general circulation within the City of Hoover, outside the legal classified section. Summaries shall include a description of the contents and purpose of the plan, including a list of locations where copies of the entire proposed plan may be examined. During any review period, copies of the entire plans will be available at City Hall and the City Library. At the discretion of the City, summaries, or the entire plans, may also be placed on the City’s website. A reasonable number of free copies of the plans will be provided to citizens and groups that request such copies. To facilitate access to CDBG program information, the City will maintain on file at City Hall, for a period of five years, a copy of all documents related to the CDBG program. Information from the project files shall be available for examination and duplication, on request and by appointment, during regular business hours. In no case shall the City disclose information concerning the financial status of any program participants or project area residents that may be in the project files as required to document program eligibility or benefit. Further, the City shall not disclose any information that may, in the opinion of the Mayor, be deemed to be of a confidential nature. Upon reasonable, advance notice, the City shall make every reasonable effort to facilitate persons with disabilities, including the providing interpreters or language signers, or by providing documents in a suitable format. ---PAGE BREAK--- NOTICES: 1. Notices of all upcoming public hearings will be Published at least once, no less than 14 days prior to the hearing. The City may also elect, at its own discretion, to include such notices on its website. 2. Following a public hearing on the Citizen Participation Plan, or any proposed Action Plans, Consolidated Plans, and/or any Substantial Amendments thereto, notice of the proposed adoption, along with a summary of the plan, shall be Published no less than 30 days prior to submission of the document to HUD. The City may also elect, at its own discretion, to include a copy of or the entire plan on its website. 3. Notice of the proposed CAPER Report shall be Published no less than 15 days prior to submission of the Report to HUD. The City may also elect, at its own discretion, to include a summary or the entire Report on its website. PUBLIC HEARINGS: 1. Public hearings will be held at City Hall, a handicapped accessible facility, either during or immediately following normal business hours. 2. At least two public hearings will be held each year during two different stages of the program year, one of which be held during the development of the Consolidated Plan. Together, the hearings will cover housing and community development needs, proposed activities, and program performance. 3. Public hearings shall be held prior to adoption of the Citizen Participation Plan, Consolidated Plan, annual Action Plan or any Substantial Amendments thereto. The purpose of the public hearings are to solicit citizen input on the plans, including comments and views on community needs and program performance. 4. When provided adequate advance notice, the City will provide an interpreter at all hearings to facilitate the needs of non-English speaking attendees; and/or an individual with sign language skills to aid persons with hearing impediments. 5. Attendees of public hearings will be provided with pertinent information concerning the CDBG program, and will be given ample opportunity to voice comments, suggestions or complaints. SUBSTANTIAL AMENDMENTS: Amendments to the Consolidated Plan or annual Action Plan may be made by Council action at City Council meetings provided the changes are below the threshold level defined in this Citizen Participation Plan for “Substantial Amendments”. A Substantial Amendment is one that meets one or more of the following thresholds: 1. The change proposed entirely eliminates an activity proposed in the original Plan and replaces it with another eligible activity. 2. The change proposed would move 20% or more of one year’s entitlement amount from one approved activity to another approved activity. 3. The change would move the location of an activity so as to alter beneficiaries by 30% of the amount originally proposed. Whenever a Substantial Amendment is proposed, citizens will be provided reasonable advance notice through Publication, with an opportunity to comment on such proposals. The notice will appear at ---PAGE BREAK--- least 14 days prior to a public hearing on the subject. After the public hearing citizens will be given at least 30 days to comment on the proposed change. Notice of the proposed changes will also be Published. ANTI-DISPLACEMENT AND RELOCATION: As described in 24 CFR 570.606(b)(1), the City will replace any occupied and/or vacant occupiable low/moderate-income dwelling units, that the City may cause to be demolished or converted to a use other than as low/moderate-income housing, when such demolition or conversion is a direct result of the City’s CDBG program activities. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: The City’s Assistant Executive Directors has been designated by the City to serve as the Citizen Participation Coordinator (the “Coordinator”). Upon request, the Coordinator will provide technical assistance to group representatives of low- and moderate-income persons seeking to develop proposals for funding assistance under any program covered by the Consolidated Plan. The Coordinator may be contacted during regular business hours at the City of Hoover; 100 Municipal Drive; Hoover, AL 35216; telephone (205) 739-6851; fax (205) 444-7577. WRITTEN COMMENTS / COMPLAINTS: Written comments or complaints shall be forwarded to the Citizen Participation Coordinator or the Mayor for response. The Coordinator or the Mayor shall make every reasonable effort to provide written responses within (15) business days of the receipt of such comments or complaints. The City will consider all comments and views of citizens received in writing, or received during any review period, or received orally at public hearings, in preparing: any Consolidated Plan or a Substantial Amendment thereto or in response to a CAPER report. A summary of all comments or views received, and a summary of all written comments or views NOT accepted along with the reasons for rejection, will be attached to the relative proposed plan or report when the final plan or report is submitted to HUD. This Revised Citizen Participation Plan was approved and adopted by Resolution of the City Council of the City of Hoover on the day of 2007. Tony Petelos, Mayor