Several new homes have been built on the Gangnes Drive loop in Talent. The city's fire relief grant request did include $1.9 million for infrastructure work on the loop, which is zoned for high residential density, according to online zoning maps. The area was burned in the Almeda Fire, but most homes have been rebuilt and just a few vacant lots remain.

Concerns about the administration of grants funds for fire relief aimed to help businesses and spur economic revitalization have prompted the Jackson County Board of Commissioners to send a letter to Oregon’s governor and secretary of state.

In the letter, the board asserted that Oregon Housing and Community Services proposed a 30% administration fee from the grant funding that totals $13.8 million. OHCS is administering federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery money awarded to the state after the 2020 Labor Day fires, which included the Almeda Fire.

In response to questions from the Rogue Valley Times after the letter was sent, OHCS said the agency is not taking an administration fee and that a 30% set-aside would be used to cover project cost overruns, and that any remaining funds could be awarded in a later round of grants.

OHCS’s Planning, Infrastructure, and Economic Revitalization program is operating in counties affected by the fires, and local selection committees were formed to recommend grant recipients to the agency. In Jackson County, the committee decided to emphasize programs that aided businesses and infrastructure that supported them.

“The Jackson County Board of Commissioners requests that, because of these concerns and others, the State of Oregon review and audit the entire process and conclusions,” a press release about the letter stated. The board sent the letter on May 30.

Among other concerns the letter raised, besides the set-aside issue, are:

• Inclusion of new public improvements through grant funding in the city of Talent that were not recommended by the local selection committee;

• The agency’s call for Commissioner Dave Dotterrer to be removed from the PIER Selection Committee over what it sees as a perceived or actual conflict of interest.

The letter was sent to Gov. Tina Kotek and Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade. Copies were sent to U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden — two Oregon Democrats — U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, local legislators and the boards of commissioners in Lane and Marion counties.

“The federal government sets specific requirements states must meet to receive funding. When these requirements aren’t fulfilled by our partners, we face tough decisions,” OHCS Public Information Officer Delia Hernandez wrote in the agency’s response. “OHCS has been transparent with the process, and our expectations clear.”

In March, the local PIER selection committee had recommended four awards totaling $7.1 million. On April 30, the committee received a letter from OHCS calling for the expansion of the committee and saying the committee would, at the very least, have to review all previously submitted grant requests.

But on May 17, OHCS pivoted, writing in another letter that it would award the funds requested by groups recommend by the committee. Two of the awards would exceed the amounts recommended, with $1.25 million going to the Illinois Valley Community Development Organization, which was recommended for $750,000. The city of Talent had requested $4.27 million originally, but the PIER selection group recommended $2.37 million.

Talent’s grant request did include $1.9 million for infrastructure work on the Gangnes Drive loop. The area is zoned for high residential density, according to online zoning maps. The area was burned in the Almeda Fire, but most homes have been rebuilt and just a few vacant lots remain.

“This award may violate the Congressional intent behind the CDBG-DR program and the mission statement adopted by the PIER Selection Committee,” the county letter states. For those reasons, the committee did not recommend the Gangnes project.

In its response, OHCS wrote that PIER funds can be used for “recovery needs resulting from the 2020 Labor Day fires and directly or indirectly support new housing and/or replacing of damaged housing.”

The Gangnes area does not have sidewalks, curbs and gutters. Engineering cost estimates for the Gangnes project show the installation of curbs, gutters and sidewalks, installation of sewer and storm drains, and resurfacing of the roadway. A new water supply system would also be installed.

An April 1 letter from Talent City Manager Gary Milliman to the selection committee asked that the city’s grant request be reduced to $3.72. The reduction was sought because the city does not have an agreement in place with Talent Irrigation District to extend Wagner Street through district property to a roundabout on West Valley View Road.

In a May 15 letter to OHCS, the city of Talent stated that all $4.27 million was needed for the proposed project.

The other selection committee recommendations were $3.5 million for infrastructure work to support business in downtown Phoenix, and $572,000 to Southern Oregon University’s Small Business Development Center for assistance to businesses.

While the agency would not take any administrative costs from the $13.8 million total, the project leads can take such costs, and these must be indicated in the grant applications. The city of Phoenix, for example, would be project lead for its proposal.

All of the PIER funds granted are expected to be used for projects and activity delivery costs incurred by project leads or sub-recipients, not the agency, OHCS said in its response. OHCS will review and move forward eligible projects for funding awards.

OHCS told the selection committee in its April 30 letter it must add two to four new members. It also said Jackson County must send a different representative to the meeting. Dotterrer was alleged to have had a perceived or actual conflict of interest because he served on the Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc. board of directors, as did another committee member.

OHCS rules prohibit two committee members from the same organization. Dotterrer resigned his SOREDI position May 1. The agency wrote in a May 17 letter that it would not recognize the committee after June 15 if it didn’t expand and meet other criteria by that date.

“OHCS has not made a determination on the status of the committee or the participation of Commissioner Dave Dotterrer,” the agency said in its latest response.

On top of adding at least two new members, one of those members must represent a historically underserved community. OHCS held public hearings after the fire on the relief program as part of federal requirements.

“OHCS collected input at those public hearings to inform the development of the ReOregon Action Plan, which HUD approved,” Hernandez wrote. “The ReOregon Action Plan prioritizes the needs of the Latino/a/x community in Jackson County, which bore the brunt of the disaster’s impact and faces unique challenges in recovery.”

Diversity training for committee members was also called for in the April 30 letter along with public notices of when the committee is going to make final recommendations on grant applications.

Correction: A PIER Selection Committee meeting scheduled for June 13 has been canceled.