Arcata City Council members directed staff Wednesday to prepare a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program-income application prioritizing a proposed behavioral-health triage center at Mad River Community Hospital. The direction came during a public scoping hearing at the council’s Oct. 7 meeting; it was not a final award of city funds.
CDBG program income is money returned to the city through repaid community loans. City staff said the funds must be used for eligible activities benefiting low- or moderate-income residents, and that an application would return to the council at its Oct. 21 meeting.
Project representative Connie Stewart described a roughly $30 million facility planned for the hospital property. The proposed center would include a 12-bed sobering center, adolescent and adult crisis-stabilization services, and 19 crisis-residential beds, according to the meeting presentation.
Stewart said $25.469 million had been raised or identified toward the project, including $5.5 million attributed to assistance from state Sen. McGuire. That figure was presented as funding raised or identified; the meeting record does not establish that all of it is secured.
The project team requested the full $1 million in available city program income. Stewart said the money would help pay fees, a privacy bay and accessibility-related facility upgrades, and said her project planning assumes the full amount. Council members also discussed other potential uses for the limited funds, including rehabilitation of the Arcata House Partnership Shelter.
Staff will return with the application and the council’s next action is expected to determine whether any city program income is committed to the center. The project’s final eligibility analysis, committed-versus-contingent funding breakdown and construction schedule remain pending.
