The City of Peabody and the North Shore HOME Consortium One-Year Annual Action Plan for the Program Year 2023

NOTICE OF COMMUNITY MEETINGS AND REQUEST FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

The City of Peabody and the North Shore HOME Consortium, an organization comprised of thirty cities and towns in the Merrimack Valley and the North Shore, will convene three Community Meetings in preparation for the creation of their One-Year Annual Action Plan for the Program Year 2023, beginning on July 1st, 2023 The City of Peabody and the Consortium are seeking comments from interested parties concerning the use of HOME funds for the development of affordable housing in the North Shore HOME Consortium region in the coming year and the use of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds in the City of Peabody in the coming year. The Consortium’s member communities include: Amesbury, Andover, Beverly, Boxford, Danvers, Essex, Gloucester, Georgetown, Hamilton, Haverhill, Ipswich, Lynnfield, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, Newburyport, North Andover, North Reading, Peabody, Rockport, Rowley, Salem, Salisbury, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wenham, West Newbury and Wilmington. These meetings are being held to obtain information from the public on how needs have changed in the region from the prior year and to evaluate how well the City and the Consortium are carrying out the goals set out in last year’s action plan. After the conclusion of the community meetings, a draft of the Annual Action Plan will be created and made available for public comment. At that time three public hearings will be held to obtain feedback on the document. The public comments received will then be incorporated into the final draft of the Annual Action Plan, which will then be submitted to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These three Community Meetings will be conducted for the purpose of receiving comments on local housing and community development needs on the following dates and locations, all are accessible:

• Wednesday, March 1, 2023, 10:00 am City Council Conference Room,
  Gloucester City Hall, 9 Dale Avenue, Gloucester, MA
• Tuesday, March 7, 2023, 10:00 a.m.
  Haverhill Public Library, Milhendler Room, 99 Main Street, Haverhill, MA
• Thursday, March 2, 2023, 5:00 p.m.
  Peabody City Hall, Lower-Level Conference Room, 24 Lowell Street, Peabody, MA

This meeting may be attended in-person or via remote participation. Remote participation is allowed in accordance with Section 20 (a), (b), and (c) of the Acts of 2021 signed into law by Governor Baker on June 16, 2021, suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 30A, Section 18. Members of the public may access the remote participation by:

• Enter this link into your web browser to join the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81132463018?pwd=ajNRd2liRm5Vd01DeE5FNkVpekZWQT09
• Enter the meeting/webinar ID# 847 8822 3511 as directed on the webpage and click “Join”. Follow the onscreen instructions to join the meeting.
• Passcode: 021083
• Participants can also dial a toll-free number to join the meeting by phone: 1-646-931-3860. When prompted, enter meeting/webinar ID# 847 8822 3511 and follow the instructions to join the meeting.

Citizens, all interested parties, representatives from the City of Peabody and from the Consortium’s member communities, and nonprofit providers are urged to participate in these hearings. Written comments are also encouraged, and may be forwarded, on or before April 14th, 2023, to:

For Peabody and the NSHC:

The Department of Community Development and Planning
City Hall, 24 Lowell Street
Peabody, Massachusetts 01960
e-mail addresses:
lisa.greene@peabody-ma.gov or stacey.bernson@peabody-ma.gov