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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Board - Minutes - 06/16/2021 ECONOMIC ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR June 16, 2021 4:00 - 6:00 pm via Zoom 6/16/21 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER 4:00 pm. 2. ROLL CALL • List of Board Members Present − Connor Barry, Chair − Ted Settle − Aric Light − Julie Stackhouse − John Parks − Renee Walkup − Braulo Rojas • List of Board Members Absent – Excused or Unexcused; if no contact with Chair has been made − Spencer Clark − George Grossman • List of Staff Members Present − Josh Birks, Director, Economic Sustainability − Meagan Overton - Housing Manager • List of Guests − Ann Hutchison - President and CEO of Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION - None 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. There were several minor edits to the minutes. There being no further edits, the May EAB minutes were approved as amended. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Review Memo to Council on topics of Interest ECONOMIC ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/16/21 – MINUTES Page 2 − The group reviewed and finalized a draft memo to Council that encourages Council to support local businesses. Encouraged actions are to have the City partner with relevant bodies in the region to further initiatives that have regional impact, to maintain close communication with CSU and provide city support where needed to maintain a strong educational and employment base in the city, and to continue and enhance support for businesses, their opportunities for e-commerce, and access to international markets. − Josh will send a copy of the finalized memo to all EAB members and put it in the next City Council packet. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Housing Strategic Plan Implementation Update - Meaghan Overton − Background − The vision for the Housing Strategic Plan is that "Everyone has healthy, stable housing they can afford." − The plan was adopted in March 2020, is aligned with the City's Strategic Plan and City Plan, and is now in the beginning stages of implementation. − The strategies in the plan are designed to address the greatest challenges facing the community around housing issues such as price escalation, lack of affordable housing, not enough funding or incentives to build affordable housing, escalating building costs, difficult-to-predict long-term impacts of Covid, and inconsistent housing policies. − The Housing Strategic Plan key outcomes are: Increase housing supply and affordability; increase housing diversity/choice; increase stability/renter protections; improve housing equity; preserve existing affordable housing; and increase accessibility. − Implementation − Implementation will be in a 2-year cycle and will assess progress, revisit and confirm priorities, and conduct a design summit. An on-line dashboard will be created to mark progress. − 2021 activities: April Community Summit with 3 workshops, wrap up night with public input, implementation planning and Council work session discussion on July 13. - Lessons learned from Summit: importance of having language interpretation, need more educational background information for participants, and having a key role with partners. ECONOMIC ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/16/21 – MINUTES Page 3 − Ongoing activities: Biennial implementation process, evaluation framework for potential new strategies, guiding principles for overall prioritization. − Early implementation update - Progress since March 2021 − 3 strategies have been completed (refine housing goal, LUC phase 1 appropriation, and revise Metro District policy) − 18 strategies are underway − $735,000 has been allocated to implementation of LUC Phase1, manufactured housing, foreclosure and eviction prevention, displacement analysis, and occupancy/rental programming. − Current annual funding is $2 - $3 million = $39,000/year per affordable housing unit. − Funding − The Housing Strategic Plan has a 10% goal by 2040. To reach that goal, 282 affordable housing units would need to be produced per year, which would require an additional $8-$9 million/year in support. As comparison, since 2000, the City has produced or preserved about 120 affordable units per year. − John - Q - Can you give an example of an equivalent City-budgeted $8M - $9M project for comparison? A - Meaghan will research that and get back to the board. − In 2022, the City anticipates receiving one-time $5.5M funds from The American Rescue Plan Act to help with housing issues. − Aric - Q - What is the planned use for the ARPA funds? A - Uses vary and will be used to help develop more units per year, preservation and rehabilitation of existing units, subsidy for new construction, and offsetting fees for new units. − Renee - Q - Is the City looking at what other cities are doing to find creative ways to supply affordable housing? A - The housing challenge is very complex and is nation-wide. So far, no city has figured out how to do this effectively. Some options are for the city to purchase land and hold it in a land bank and use the increased value to subsidize housing, create funding by increasing tap fees, and changing the land use code. − Renee - Q - What about using empty retail space? A - There is potential opportunity here to create adaptive reuse ordinances to address repurposing various commercial buildings. − Julie - Q - Is the 10% target in the City proper or the Growth Management ECONOMIC ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/16/21 – MINUTES Page 4 Area? A - It is 10% of housing within City limits relative to all other housing units. − Next Steps − Draft changes for land use code − Complete displacement index and opportunity index − Revenue discussion with Council Finance Committee − Occupancy and rental programming with Council work session and community engagement − Meagan asked the EAB for feedback on the early implementation of the Housing Strategic Plan and any updates and engagement they would like to see in the future. − Discussion − Ted - Q - How will the project be managed? Is there a board to consult with? A - There are many working groups. There is regular collaboration among Internal and external stakeholders, boards and commissions. A core team considers input and continues to move forward on the plan. Each strategy has its own working group, and there are monthly meetings of a formalized executive team in the City,. − Julie - Q - When would be the best time to come back to the EAB to report on how the land use plan adjustments are progressing? A - After the LUC Phase 1 draft code changes and public engagement in September Meaghan could share input from that public engagement. b. Update on Chamber Vision and Future - Ann Hutchison − The Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce has and will continue advocating for business in the area. The Chamber works side-by-side with Josh Birks and the City's Economic Health office to create opportunities for this community to be successful. They are invested to be a high-quality partner to government as well as to businesses. − The Chamber's four main goals are to: − Find funds, partnerships, and legislation to fix north-I-25 to have 3 lanes from Fort Collins to Denver because transportation on key roadways is a foundation for local business. − Align, attract and retain talent to create a workforce that business needs in order to be successful in northern Colorado. ECONOMIC ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/16/21 – MINUTES Page 5 − Be a bold voice of business and help educate how unintended policy and actions can negatively affect businesses. Long-term economic recovery from Covid has also been a focus here. − Expand and retain existing businesses using partnerships and common purposes between private and government organizations. − Five-year forecast goals - to return and grow a sustainable, inclusive economy: − Reignite and rebuild our economy − Attract, retain and align talent − Finish widening North I-15 and improve key regional feeder roads − Advance a business-friendly environment − Discussion − Ted - Q - Is there any plan to add Cheyenne to our region (Larimer, Weld and Boulder counties)? A – Yes. The Chamber is currently in discussions with Cheyenne regarding the I-25 corridor expansion to create effective transit connections in our region. − Connor - Q - Can you give an example how the Chamber will advocate for businesses and not have it be political? A - The Chamber is not connected to any political parties and is advocating solely for businesses. They are also putting educational efforts towards creating policy that provides opportunities for affordable housing to help people live, work and play here. − Connor - Q - What is the Chamber's position on the removal of extended unemployment benefits? A - This is a challenging issue. Many businesses are not getting applicants because of the competition with the state's $20/hr unemployment benefits. The Chamber is part of an effort that is encouraging the Governor to revisit these benefits, but the state is not changing their position. − John - Q - What is the cost/benefit analysis of having an I-25 toll lane vs. a carpool lane, and what about the rail option? A - The third I-25 lane being constructed from Fort Collins to Longmont will be a managed toll lane but also a carpool lane. CDOT's ultimate vision of the corridor is 3 all-purposed lanes and 1 managed lane to provide a consistent pathway for transit to function in order to guarantee trips from Fort Collins to Denver. Rail is currently not a financeable option and some are investigating whether that is even a viable future option. 8. BOARD MEMBER AND STAFF REPORTS ECONOMIC ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/16/21 – MINUTES Page 6 − Ted - Was recently in West Virginia and was struck by the lack of internet and technology available to low-income citizens there and how it reinforced the reality of inequity of access to housing and other resources for certain populations. . − Renee - Was happy to see the downtown area of Fort Collins becoming more active with people visiting, eating and shopping. − Connor - Is also experiencing an opening up in his business world with more travelling and on-site visits. − Julie - Potential increases in interest rates as the economy opens could put additional pressures on the housing market and access to credit. − John - Questioned why the Food Bank is providing lunches to all participants in a CSU sports camp rather than for those in need. 9. OTHER BUSINESS a. 6-month Calendar review b. Agenda planning 10. ADJOURNMENT 6:00 pm.