PSS eyes CDBG reinstatement

The Public School System and the Board of Education last Tuesday agreed to discuss with the Northern Marianas Housing Corp. how they could be reinstated into the Community Development Block Grant to secure funding for several capital improvement projects.

The PSS and the BOE last Tuesday were told by NMHC deputy director Jeannie Mafnas during Tuesday’s regular board meeting at the BOE office in Capitol Hill that in order to be reinstated in the CDBG program, they would first have to reimburse the NMHC for previous balances owed to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

PSS, according to Mafnas, approached NMHC in order to secure federal disaster recovery funding. However, the funding is distributed through the CDBG grant and is known as CDBG Disaster Recovery. NMHC administers all CDBG grant applications for the CNMI.

However, in order to secure CDBG Disaster Recovery funds, the applying agency must first be allowed to apply for CDBG, which PSS is unable to because of previously abandoned projects that were funded by the CDBG.

“Right now, to even apply through NMHC for CDBG funds, [PSS] is not allowed,” Mafnas said.

She clarified with Saipan Tribune that in order to be reinstated to the CDBG program, PSS needs to pay the $96,375.85, which was the amount NMHC had to pay the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the CDBG projects that were not completed.

Saipan Tribune learned that the $96,375.85 consisted of $69,575.30 to secure collateral equipment for Marianas High School in 2006; $17,000 in architecture and engineering fees for the Saipan Southern High School swimming pool in 2009; and the $9,800 in architecture and engineering fees for the Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School library expansion back in 2009. All the mentioned projects according to NMHC were not completed.

According to a PSS report, NMHC invested over $1.28 million for the acquisition of the Koblerville property and over $1.68 million in architecture and engineering design fees of “middle school and gym,” totaling to over $2.97 million in additional invested NMHC funds for PSS that were not completed.

According to Mafnas, the total pot money for the CDBG Disaster Recovery money amounts to a total of over $1 billion. She further noted that according to HUD, the CNMI suffered the most in terms of damages from natural disasters.

She further noted that currently, the NMHC is preparing the necessary documents in anticipation for a possible CDBG Disaster Recovery allocation.