LYNN — The Lynn City Council unanimously approved the FY27 One Year Action Plan submitted by the Community Development Department and the Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development (LHAND) on Tuesday. The approval came after ample discussion about the details surrounding the actual funding in the plan. 

This Action Plan is part of the Five-Year Strategy for Housing and Community Development developed by Lynn to ensure the most effective use and prioritization of federally funded grants, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Consolidated Plan Executive Summary for Lynn. 

These grants include funding for the Community Development Block Grant, which focuses on awarding grants to eligible communities for housing, infrastructure, revitalization, economic development, or public social services; the HOME Investment Partnership Grant, which provides funding for nonprofit and for-profit developers to aid in rental housing production, procurement, and preservation; and the Emergency Solutions Grant, which assists households experiencing homelessness or those at risk of homelessness. 

During the City Council meeting, the project operations director of the Community Development Department, Shirley Kelly, shared that this action plan identifies projects and activities. and the proper allocation of grant funds for only 2027’s fiscal year. 

Before the meeting, the council was given a large document breaking down the allocations for each project and activity, with a separate budget sheet summarizing the action plan. Ward 5 City Councilor Cardeliz Paez requested future updates directly to the council members from the Community Development Department on all discussions about those projects, so they’re aware of what is being provided to residents, and how much funding has been spent on each project. 

“It does impact a lot of our constituents, and we just want to make sure that it aligns with what we’re seeing on the ground as well,” Paez said. 

In answer to Paez’s concern, Councilor At-Large Brian LaPierre, former member of the Citizen Advisory Board, which aims to enhance communication about community needs, shared that each councilor has a representative assigned to them on the board who can discuss processes and allocations of funds. 

“Conversations like that are helpful to make sure you can look at who’s applying for what, and you can see the actual request for proposal… but you can at least get a sense from your rep by having a conversation with them as to what the intent of the block grant is going towards,” LaPierre said. 

Ward 7 City Councilor Jordan T. Avery shared that he joined his first Citizen Advisory Board meeting a couple weeks ago and got to experience that communication firsthand. 

“Keep up the great work,” Avery said to Kelly. “I know my rep is Audrey Jimenez, who has a background in nonprofit, and she always keeps me updated, so keep up the great work.” 

Following a secondary question from Paez about keeping the grant allocations accountable, Kelly shared that HUD requires an annual report at the end of every year to ensure the money that was said to be allocated somewhere was properly used. 

“There’s monitoring controls in place to make sure that what folks say that they’re doing, they are doing,” Kelly said.