Is future of Salisbury's Anne Street Village in doubt? City responds to concerns.

The city of Salisbury released a statement this week trying to clear up possibly unclear information regarding the future of Anne Street Village.

Anne Street Village is the city’s first transitional housing community for homeless residents. The village is located in the city’s historic Church Street neighborhood and welcomed its first group of residents in May 2023.

Here's what we know about the situation now.

During the June 3 regular City Council meeting, two separate issues were discussed "concurrently," with the first noting the city has no plans to close Anne Street Village. In late March, the city began to "gauge interest from groups and organizations within the Salisbury community to see if any were interested in partnering on the project," the statement said.

According to the City Council, more than one organization expressed interest in partnering with Salisbury in the operation of Anne Street in one capacity or another. Currently, the city is now in the process of issuing a Request For Proposals that is geared toward identifying the best partner and plan to help get the best results from the asset.

More on county executive troubles Should Wicomico eliminate executive position? Idea splits residents at hearing

“This RFP for Anne Street Village is being sought to find a partner which will help allow the facility to be run at its full capacity by an agency that has a greater level of experience in the care of and management of homelessness,” said Mayor Randy Taylor.

A special work session by the Salisbury City Council to address the issue is already scheduled for June 17.

How Anne Street Village became a hot topic

The council agenda item that returned Anne Street to the forefront of discussions once again was a proposed move by the administration of Mayor Taylor that would allow Community Development Block Grant Funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to be used to finish specific projects. At the top of the list was the expansion project at the Truitt Street Community Center and the Waterside Park Restroom and Pavilion projects, which received CDBG funding allocations in planning years 2021 and 2022.

The sum of $69,000 remained from CDBG funds originally allocated during the planning year 2023. That funding had been earmarked for one year’s salary for a part-time homeless services case manager, or $19,000, and requested for improvements at Anne Street for the amount of $50,000.

"While the Salisbury City Council is in total support of the Truitt Street Community Center and Waterside Park renovation projects and desires a rapid completion, this body does not feel it was right to remove CDBG funding originally allocated for Anne Street Village and necessary to protect those in our city that cannot afford the luxury of housing," said Salisbury City Council President D'Shawn Doughty.

Those improvements were specified as: “Construction and/or rehabilitation at the Anne Street Village tiny homes community for the homeless to include provision of a laundry facility, storage shed, additional security lighting and/or camera, a covered sitting area, and ADA modifications to shower units," according to city documents.

More on NASA and Wes Moore NASA plots 'next giant leaps' in partnership with Maryland Department of Commerce

As the city prepares for an outside partnership, the part-time case manager position was deemed surplus, leaving that funding available for other eligible projects.

All listed improvements at Anne Street were addressed with alternate funding with the exception of the American Disabilities Act modifications to the restroom and shower units. After researching all options, it was determined that the $50,000 in funding was in no way adequate to address ADA compliance at the site.

The city was left with $69,000 in grant funds on one hand and a grant-eligible project that had gone over estimated costs on the other.

The Finance and Housing and Community Development departments proposed a substantial amendment to the 2023 Block Grant Action plan to allow those funds to be reallocated.

From the administration’s perspective, finishing two popular projects that were affected by rising construction costs and then revisiting Anne Street funding at a later date with the knowledge of what a future community partnership would look like made good sense.

More on businesses closing their doors Salisbury's Goin' Nuts Cafe closes permanently after 32 years in business

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Is Anne Street Village future imperiled? Salisbury reacts to concerns