Nov 12, 2005 By Amy Karpinsky 3 min read

Following a second rejection, Fayette County Housing Authority Executive Director Thomas L. Harkless hopes that the third time will be a charm for approval of a $20 million federal HOPE VI grant to help renovate the Bierer Wood Acres public housing project. But whether the authority board will continue to push for funding for the mixed income project remains to be seen.

Earlier this month, Harkless received a letter from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development notifying the authority that the revitalization grant for the South Union Township site was not selected for funding. A letter from HUD General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing Paula O. Blunt explained, “The Department received many more applications than we were able to fund.” A total of 29 requests for funding from throughout the country, were received, and HUD selected seven.

The most recent rejection marks the second time the FCHA’s federal grant application was turned down by HUD. After the application was approved for submission by the authority, it was initially rejected because it failed to meet a basic cost control standard requirement.

After that first rejection, consultant Ralph A. Falbo of Falbo-Pennrose agreed to resubmit the application at no cost to the authority.

Unlike the last time the application was rejected, Harkless said this time a rating sheet was included. The authority received 98 out of 129 possible points on the application. The lowest ratings came in the “leveraging” section, where the authority received seven out of 16 points. The authority also received 16 out of 29 points in the “soundness of approach” section.

Harkless said the next step will be for the authority board members and the consultant to sit down and see how the application can be improved to get the maximum rating factor. He said he is hoping that the board will want to again submit the application. Harkless said that typically applications such as this take three to five attempts before they are approved.

However, Harkless said he really doesn’t know if Falbo will continue to submit the application without compensation. The authority paid Falbo $65,000 prior to the first grant submission.

The plan, approved in January by the authority, calls for utilizing the $20 million federal HOPE VI grant to begin the development. The plan is to match the federal funds with $18.5 million in state-issued tax credits. The renovation plan includes construction of 152 new units, including 86 elderly units and 66 family units at the site, all rentals. It also calls for 16 duplex-style homes for private ownership. Those units may be sold to individuals who meet the income requirements. A family of four having an annual income of $52,600 could qualify to purchase from the developer a home valued at $100,000.

Harkless said he, the staff and board are probably all disappointed that the project did not receive funding, but he would like to find out in what areas the application can be improved. “I think any time an agency can get a grant for $20 million to use as leverage for $30 million, everybody is a winner,” he said. Harkless

Harkless said he would support going after the funding as long as money is available to do so.

Two other Pennsylvania authorities, in Easton and Williamsport, sought funding and were unsuccessful. Sites in Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oregon and Virginia received funding, which totaled $136,895,528.

Harkless said he hopes to soon receive the scores of all the applications to compare how the authority fared among the other 28 applicants.