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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 12/07/2023AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD REGULAR MEETING 1 2 /7 /2023 – M I N U TE S Page 1 December 7, 2023, 4:00-6:00pm Platte River Conference Room, 222 Laporte Ave CALL TO ORDER At 4:01 PM the meeting was called to order by John Singleton. 1. ROLL CALL • Board Members Present: John Singleton, Ed Hermsen (joined in progress), Jennifer Bray, Kristin Fritz, Stefanie Berganini • Board Members Excused: Bob Pawlikowski, Sheila Seaver-Davis • Staff Members Present: • Sue Beck-Ferkiss, Staff Liaison – City of Fort Collins • Meaghan Overton, Social Sustainability – City of Fort Collins • Guests Present: • Eileen Burwell • Caesar Garduno • Marilyn Heller • Brad Rhoda • Kevin Stearns 2. AGENDA REVIEW – No changes. 3. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Marilyn Heller from the League of Women’s Voters shared information about a new Habitat for Humanity project in Weld County called Hope Springs. Part of the project will involve 3D-printed homes. Eileen Burwell introduced herself, sharing that she recently moved to Fort Collins from California. She is very interested in affordable housing and participated in Habitat for Humanity builds in California. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Jennifer Bray motioned to approve the November 2 Regular Meeting Minutes. Stefanie Berganini seconded. Approved 3-0. Kristin Fritz abstained due to absence at the November meeting. 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Land Use Code Update – Meaghan Overton, Social Sustainability • Meaghan Overton shared that there was a petition effort by a group of citizens seeking AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD REGULAR MEETING 1 2 /7 /2023 – M I N U TE S Page 2 to repeal the adopted Land Use Code. On Tuesday, December 5, the City Clerk’s Office confirmed that the petition received enough validated signatures. Since then, there has been one protest of that determination of sufficiency. Following the protest, a public hearing must be conducted under oath where a hearing officer has 10 days to render a determination of sufficiency. DISCUSSION • How can we participate in this process? As individuals, you are welcome to participate however you would like. However, problems can arise if you say that you are on the Affordable Housing Board or are speaking for the Board. If you choose to speak at the hearing, you may want to state that you are on the Affordable Housing Board but are not speaking for the Board. Additionally, you can contact the City Clerk’s Office to get more information about the hearing process and how to participate. • What happens next if the referendum is deemed sufficient? A referendum can force Council action, but it can’t determine what that action is. There are two main things Council can do – they can repeal the adopted code, or they can refer the action of adopting the code to the voters during a regular election or a special election designated for that purpose. If Council chooses to repeal the code, they could take additional future action if they wanted to reconsider the code, amend something in the code, or adopt a new code. • The Board discussed increases in insurance rates and the potential impact this will have on affordability across the housing spectrum. Since this issue is beyond the scope of local government, the Board discussed potentially advocating that City Council get involved in this conversation at the state-level. B. Outreach Fort Collins – Brad Rhoda, Director, Outreach Fort Collins • Brad Rhoda introduced himself as the director of Outreach Fort Collins (OFC) and explained that OFC primarily works to de-escalate disruptive behaviors that arise out of the homeless community. OFC aims to connect people experiencing homelessness with resources and supportive services, and act as an intermediary so that police do not have to be called unless necessary. Another aspect of OFC’s work is responding to calls from local business owners since they are not trained in how to de-escalate disruptive behaviors that may impact their business operations. • Brad shared that OFC had 28 clients obtain housing in 2023 and made over 1,200 contacts, which is important since those connections are key to getting people connected to resources. In September 2022, OFC expanded their service to midtown Fort Collins. Brad explained that OFC wanted to go where need was the greatest – so they reached out to their partners to determine hotspots and decided to focus their AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD REGULAR MEETING 1 2 /7 /2023 – M I N U TE S Page 3 services on the retail corridor of College Avenue, including Foothills Mall. OFC’s services are not yet available citywide because this would require much more funding. DISCUSSION • Has OFC had any conversations about expanding hours? Yes, but we must consider if it’s the right time and if we have the funding in place to do it responsibly to prevent burnout in existing staff. • You mentioned OFC works with businesses. Can individuals contact OFC? Yes. We’re a free service in the city and anyone can contact us. You can even call when we’re not open and leave a message and we will address the concern when we’re able. We always follow up with people who leave us messages and let them know we appreciate them calling us because it takes all of us. OFC can’t have eyes on the entire city. • Have you seen an increase in the willingness of people to be entered into the Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS)? Yes, even in my two years at OFC I’ve seen an increase. I think there was hesitation and resistance at first because organizations just wanted to help people and didn’t want to deal with the system. However, this database is very applicable and can be extremely helpful, not just to those experiencing homelessness, but also to organizations since it is a key requirement for a lot of funding. • As obtaining housing becomes more difficult for everyone, have you encountered more people who are service-averse because they think there might not be anywhere for them to get housed, even if they follow all the steps to get housing? We have seen some of that. One thing OFC wants to be intentional about in 2024 is collaborating with Loveland and Weld County so we can communicate more freely and be able to offer services that the other may not have. So, my point is, if we’re full in Fort Collins, there may be options in Loveland or Greeley, and it’s easier to coordinate because we’ve been in communication with them. C. Retreat Planning for January • Sue Beck-Ferkiss informed the Board that the tentative date for the Affordable Housing Board retreat is January 12, 2024. The focus of the retreat will be on the educational function of the Board, in addition to discussion and planning for 2024. Sue will also be inviting representatives from both the City Attorney’s Office and the Communications and Public Involvement Office (CPIO) to speak to the Board and answer any questions they may have. AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD REGULAR MEETING 1 2 /7 /2023 – M I N U TE S Page 4 D. Board Member Ideas • None. 6. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS a. Meeting Logistics • The Board will continue to have hybrid meetings for the remainder of 2023. b. Liaison Reports • Sue Beck-Ferkiss announced that City Council approved the Affordable Housing Board’s request for an Ex-Officio member from Housing Catalyst. Kristin Fritz has indicated that she will likely fill this seat. 7. OTHER BUSINESS None. 8. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 6:00 PM.