GREENFIELD — The Franklin Regional Council of Governments will conduct an infrastructure inventory around Deerfield Street, Main Street and parts of Chapman Street as the city aims to renew its Slum and Blight designation through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

The state’s Community Development Block Grant program, which is backed by federal Housing and Urban Development funds, provides additional money to communities containing a “Slum and Blight” district, or an area in need of significant repairs or hazardous waste cleanup.

As the Slum and Blight designation lasts 10 years and is set to expire in Greenfield in 2026, Community and Economic Development Director Amy Cahillane said the city is applying to renew its designation by the April 14 deadline.

“It typically makes it easier for targeted areas of sidewalk or infrastructure, like water mains and sewer mains. Right now, our Slum and Blight overlaps with our commercial core, and some of that would qualify under CDBG,” Cahillane explained. “We’re basically creating a target area for revitalization efforts — in particular, infrastructure improvements.”

The city, Cahillane said, typically receives roughly $825,000 in CDBG funds annually, 25% of which can be used to fund social service projects. She said the rest of the funds are expected to be used for infrastructure projects, such as sidewalk repair and housing rehabilitation.

At a public hearing on Friday, Community Development Administrator Anna Oltman presented the city’s proposed $850,000 CDBG budget for fiscal year 2025. Of that, $227,000 will go to housing rehabilitation, $207,375 will go to sidewalk improvements, $245,625 will go to administration and $170,000 will go to a range of public social services, including Community Legal Aid, the Center for Self-Reliance Food Pantry, Salvation Army, Stone Soup Cafe and the Wildflower Alliance.

Oltman said the department’s priorities for this grant cycle are housing, water, sewage and drainage infrastructure, addressing slum and blight conditions, local economic revitalization, food security and elder services. The Community and Economic Development will be accepting comments on this year’s proposal until April 3 to wrap up the grant application and submit it to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities by April 14.

Oltman said after the April 3 deadline, comments will still be welcome. The department would like revolving feedback and suggestions for future year CDBG projects. Additionally, Cahillane will join FRCOG Housing and Livability Program Manager Megan Rhodes and other involved officials for a public hearing April 7 to announce the Slum and Blight inventory project.

“FRCOG staff will be going and assessing every property, looking for general disrepair. We’ll also be looking at other factors, such as vacancy, abandonment of properties, if there’s been frequent turnover of properties, or general low property values — those are all markers of what they call a substandard, blighted or decadent area,” Rhodes said in an interview Thursday. “If 25% of those parcels or more meet those criteria, then the area can be designated as slum and blighted.”

Rhodes added that FRCOG will also hire an engineer to examine the area’s underground infrastructure, such as its sewer and water lines, along with streets, sidewalks and other public infrastructure. She said the district can also be considered for the Slum and Blight designation if its infrastructure is in a severe enough state of disrepair.

Given that the CDBG program is backed by federal funds, Cahillane said it is unclear whether the city will continue to benefit from them in the future amid the Department of Government Efficiency’s cuts to federally funded programs. However, she said that funds from the current cycle are already in the state’s hands, and should be available to municipalities.

“The $825,000 that we are applying for for this upcoming grant cycle is already at the state and so we’re feeling very confident about those funds,” Cahillane noted. “I don’t know what the future would look like — if HUD gets frozen, those are dollars that would get frozen, but we’re OK for this upcoming year.”

FRCOG’s inventory of the region will begin in April and continue into the fall, Rhodes said. She echoed Cahillane’s previous remarks that although she does not particularly like referring to areas of the community as “slum and blight,” the designation is ultimately beneficial to the city.

“That is not a term of our choosing. It is a federal and state designation, not one we would choose to use, but what it does do is it makes the area eligible for funding,” Rhodes explained. “It’s a good opportunity for the city to get additional funding to upgrade as infrastructure.”

The department is expecting the state to award the CDBG funds in October 2025 and the projects to be completed by March 2027.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.