Lee County receives HUD entitlement funds as an urban county jurisdiction. Urban counties are required to give incorporated municipalities that do not receive entitlement allocations an opportunity to participate in the CDBG program. Municipalities participate through the execution of Urban County Cooperation Agreements.
The City of Bonita Springs, City of Sanibel, and Town of Fort Myers Beach currently participate in the urban county CDBG program, and may renew their agreements, originally executed in 2004, by executing a joint resolution. The joint resolutions are local documents used to confirm HUD and Lee County requirements and administrative details. The Village of Estero has not previously participated in the urban county CDBG program, but will be executing a new Urban County Cooperation Agreement for the 2020-2022 qualification period.
The current agreements with the City of Bonita Springs, City of Sanibel, and Town of Fort Myers Beach are valid until September 30, 2019, and are set to be renewed unless the Municipalities notified Lee County and HUD of their desire to be excluded. The municipalities were advised of their option to participate via a letter sent on March 22, 2019.
The Town of Fort Myers notified Lee County of their desire to be excluded via email on June 3, 2019. The current Urban County Cooperation Agreement and joint resolutions executed by the Town of Fort Myers will end on September 30, 2019.
In anticipation of the renewal/execution of the Urban County Cooperation Agreement, the municipalities were provided agreements on April 2, 2019, with a June 7, 2019 deadline to review, sign, and return to Lee County Human and Veteran Services. Signed resolutions will be routed to the Board for signature.
A legal opinion from the County Attorney indicating the agreements are valid and will remain in force are required by HUD. The County Attorney’s opinion is attached. The cover letter, required letters to and from municipalities, cooperation agreements, joint resolutions, and legal opinion will be sent to HUD.
Because specific allocation amounts for fiscal years 2020, 2021, or 2022 or not yet known, 2018 amounts are being used for planning purposes. The Village of Estero amount is unknown because they will be participating for the first time in 2020. The 2018 allocation amounts for the currently participating municipalities are as follows:
· City of Bonita Springs - $409,471
· Town of Fort Myers Beach - $40,318 (agreement ends September 30, 2019)
· City of Sanibel - $34,233