By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

AUBURN – Auburn will use federal block grant money to tackle poverty issues over the next five years, according to a new strategic plan.

The latest draft of the plan would also put money into affordable rental projects and join with Lewiston to build a new homeless shelter, according to Auburn Community Development Administrator Reine Mynahan.

“If you look at the strategy, it is a little bit of shift for us,” she said. “The anti-poverty strategy is new, and we are considering some new directions on affordable housing.”

Auburn, Lewiston, Portland and Bangor get block grant money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The money helps the cities pay for economic development, public improvements, public services and similar programs.

Mynahan said the city expects to receive about $1.49 million in block grant money for 2005-06.

In the past, the city has used block grant money to provide low-interest loans to local businesses, pay for community features including Festival Plaza, and provide loans for low-income home buyers.

“Most of this plan is about housing,” Mynahan said. “We recognize that our main direction for years has been about ownership and rehabilitation. But we know that not everyone can be a homeowner and some just don’t want to be. We need something to help those people.”

According to the plan, the city would work with real estate developers to get Maine State Housing tax credits. Those would make a new affordable rental project possible financially.

“Financially, our part of it would be really filling in the parts that cannot get funded, gap financing,” she said.

The plan also calls for creating a resource guide for people in poverty, directing them to city and state services that might help.

Auburn’s community development staff has been working on creating the new plan since January. Mynahan said staff and a group of 21 volunteers from around Auburn helped draw up the latest draft.

The plan is available online at the city’s www.auburnmaine.org Web site and at Auburn Hall. Mynahan said she’s taking public comment on the plan through May 9. She’s scheduled to present it to the City Council for a public hearing and final adoption on May 16.