The Citizen Participation Plan

As an Entitlement Community receiving annual grants on a formula basis from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Town of Normal is required to adopt a detailed Citizen Participation Plan containing policies and procedures for public involvement and stakeholder consultation in the Consolidated Plan process and the use of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.

The Town's current Citizen Participation Plan is available here or by clicking on the image to the right and in hard copy at the Town Clerk's Office on the 2nd floor of Uptown Station (11 Uptown Circle) and at the Normal Public Library (206 W College Avenue). This plan was approved by the Town Council on December 3, 2018 and takes effect January 1, 2019.

DRAFT Amended Citizen Participation Plan

As part of the recently passed federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Town of Normal will be receiving a special, additional allocation of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for Program Year 2020-2021 (April 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021). These funds, referred to as CDBG-CV (Coronavirus), are granted through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and are to be solely used to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19). The Town’s CDBG-CV allocation is in the amount of $246,067.

With this new allocation of funds comes the necessity to revise the recently approved 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan (and incorporated 2020-2021 Action Plan) to reflect the budgeting and programming of these new funds and submit to HUD. Additionally, the Town must amend its Citizen Participation Plan to allow for the ability to hold public hearings virtually, given social distancing requirements, and to shorten public comment periods related to the use of CDBG-CV funds to as short as five days, per HUD’s CARES Act guidelines and their emphasis on proper, expeditious use of these funds. All activities undertaken or supported with CDBG funds must be approved by the Normal Town Council and, ultimately, HUD.

The proposed Amended Citizen Participation Plan is available here or by clicking on the heading above or the labelled image to the right. The section of the plan detailing the proposed CARES Act Amendment and COVID-19-related procedures is on page 8.

Public Comment

A public hearing will be held to solicit comments on the amended Citizen Participation Plan starting at 6:55 p.m. before the regular Normal Town Council meeting on Monday, July 6, 2020. The hearing and Town Council meeting are open to the public and will take place over Zoom. The hearing will be completely virtual, so no persons will be present in the Council Chambers and no in-person public comment will be allowed.

Those wishing to provide comment at the hearing will need to register by emailing their full name and the phone number that will be used to call into the hearing to the City Clerk at ahuonker@normal.org prior to 6:30 p.m. on July 6, 2020. Once registered with the City Clerk, commenters will receive the meeting call-in number and meeting ID, along with instruction on how to join the virtual meeting.

Public comments on the plan will be also be accepted in writing via mail or email from Thursday, June 25, 2020, through Sunday, July 5, 2020. Written comments should be submitted to: Town of Normal, Attn: Taylor Long, Associate Planner, 11 Uptown Station, Normal, IL 61761 or tlong@normal.org.

If you have any questions regarding the amended plan or how best to submit comments please call (309) 454-9642 or email tlong@normal.org.