The city hosted the first of two open forums on what residents would like to see be included in its 2024 Action Plan.

According to the city, the plan highlights what will be done if it receives funding from three programs including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the Home Investment Partnership (HOME) and the Emergency Solutions Grant, all of which are part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This is part of a consolidated plan mandated by the HUD in order for the city to receive this money for affordable housing and community development initiatives benefitting low and moderate income people.

Generally, the goal of the plan is to increase affordable housing, reduce the population of homeless or those that are at risk of experiencing homelessness and reducing crime through the investment of a community policing program.

One possible thing the plan may include is the removal of junk fees for certain housing situations. For example, if a tenant is required to pay rent through a portal that charges an extra fee to process the payment, they may create a law requiring that fee to be baked into the tenants rent.

The same goes for charging tenants for services like pest removal.

For the CDBG, the city says it placed a high priority on its youth and elderly populations, though at this time it's unclear what that will look like.

Based on estimates of what the city received last year for its previous action plan, they could receive $3.4 million from the CDBG, more than $700,000 for HOME and $300,000 for the Emergency Solutions Grant.

A second open forum meeting will be held sometime early next month, with the plan expected to be drafted by the end of March.

Following that, the plan will be available for the public beginning April 1 through May 1 with a final draft submitted on May 24.

One thing that was not discussed during the meeting however was progress on the city's plans laid out in the action plan it submitted last year.