Peachtree Corners City Manager Brian Johnson recommended Tuesday night that Gwinnett County’s largest city join the federal Urban County grant program.
County officials had urged the city to reconsider the decision to refrain from the program because its absence has cost the county about $1.75 million in federal grant money over the past few years. Peachtree Corners is the only one of the county’s 16 cities to not participate.
“My recommendation would be in this particular request, is that you do authorize me to sign this document,” Johnson said to City Council members Tuesday.
The program issues funds from three U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants for programs such as homeownership assistance, homelessness prevention and infrastructure development.
Johnson has previously told the AJC that the city bowed out of the program because no residents had applied for the grants in the two low-income census tracts that qualify for the program.
No decision was made by the city Tuesday night, but one could be forthcoming later this month.
Gwinnett Commissioner Kirkland Carden attended the meeting and said he was content with the city’s discussion.
“The city of Peachtree Corners is entirely separate from Gwinnett County and our governing authority. We’re not here to try to force or shame anything,” Carden said. “We just want to be here to work with them proactively. We would love for them to (join) the program because we service the same residents, and their residents are our residents.”
Johnson said benefits come with joining the program. To start, residents could apply for funding directly from the county, rather than the state, and face less competition for the money, Johnson said.
“There’s certainly benefits. If there wasn’t, I wouldn’t have recommended approval,” Johnson said.
About the Author
