City Council shifts funding for Allentown church-to-housing project, frees up ARPA money

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown City Council is making money moves to free up $1 million in pandemic-relief funding.

Council earlier this week unanimously approved an ordinance that changed the source of federal funding for Ripple Community Inc.’s project to convert a church into housing.

Council last year diverted $1 million of the city’s $57 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to the project.

Ripple will use that $1 million as it works to build a dozen “deeply affordable” apartments inside the former Emmanuel United Church of Christ, 1547 W. Chew St.

The nonprofit’s new facility will also house its offices and three medical respite rooms, though its plans for a community center were denied by zoning officials.

But the bill approved Wednesday instead sends the nonprofit some of the city’s money from the federal Community Development Block Grant’s HOME-ARPA program.

That approval came despite Ripple CEO Sherri Binder asking council to table the ordinance until its next meeting so her organization could “address a couple of lingering questions” about the new funding source.

Accepting HOME-ARPA funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development comes with some extra “implications,” including a 15-year compliance period and increased documentation, Binder said.

“It would be helpful for us if we did have a little bit more time to understand these processes and this new information that we’ve gathered,” Binder said.

Motion to table fails

Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach tried to delay the vote with support from colleagues Natalie Santos and Santo Napoli, but council's other four members overrode them to call for a vote.

Gerlach reminded her colleagues they voted earlier this month to table any potential sale of the Allentown Police Department’s patrol station after the police union’s president raised questions about the process.

“It would be cool if the organization that’s affected could make sure they have all their questions answered; that would be pretty great,” Gerlach said.

“If we were switching around funding, say, for the police or for the Health Department and … they weren’t 100% sure about how the change in funding is going to affect them, I don’t think we would vote yes,” she said.

Binder’s request and Gerlach’s motion to table did little to change Councilman Daryl Hendricks’ mind about moving forward.

“I see no reason why we should delay this,” he said, adding he was “quite confident” that Ripple and city administrative staff can work out any potential issues.

Council did not determine how it will spend the $1 million in ARPA funding freed up by the transfer. It could go towards a Community Reinvestment fund for nonprofits, reducing a tax increase next year or another project or program.