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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunity Development Block Grant Commission - Minutes - 09/08/2005CITY OF FORT COLLINS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT COMMISSION Meeting Minutes September 8, 2005 Bob Browning, Chair Commission members attending: Bob Browning, Chair Eric Berglund, Vice Chair Michael Kulischeck Tia Molander Jeff Taylor Dennis Vanderheiden (late arrival) Jennifer Wagner Cheryl Zimlich Commission members absent: Trina Flores, Theresa Ramos -Garcia Staff attending: Ken Waido Maurice Head Heidi Phelps Julie Smith Chairman Browning opened the meeting at 6:40 p.m. PROJECT REVIEW In accordance with HUD regulations and as a convenience and reminder to Commission members, Ms. Phelps presented a slideshow and commentary reviewing outstanding CDBG-funded projects. . BASE Camp is proceeding as projected. . CARE is having difficulty finding funding sources to match the City's contribution. . Catholic Charities is proceeding satisfactorily with its public services grant. The number of homeless served has declined, with some "hidden homeless" (staying with families) and successful stories of placement in the Northern Hotel and SRO facilities. . HOME down payment assistance is seeing a downturn, with a reduction of stock and the final sales approaching in Provincetown. . Land Bank issues were discussed by Mr. Head and Ms. Phelps. . The Commission, with Mr. Head's guidance, had advocated a Market study of for -profit positions on properties. This attempt was questioned Community Development Block Grant Commission Meeting of September 8, 2005 Page 2 but is now seen as cutting -edge tool for agencies to reposition properties. The Housing Authority is seeing success with its project, with a heightened curb appeal evident. . CASA performed well on its public services grant and has diligently tracked its progress with clients. . Harmony House has done outstanding work with its public facilities grant. It is applying for historical designation and funding. . Crossroads Safehouse is present to give a progress report. . Disabled Resources is seeing increased need, has no problem finding the need for its public services funding, and is tracking clients acceptably. . Education and Life Training has done a fine job in applying its funding and tracking its progress. . Elderhaus is performing well with its funding, leasing a facility and maximizing use of such resources as Meals on Wheels. . The Village on Plum (Sleepy Willow) has been active and effective in its rehabilitation phase and is planning the next phase. . First Street SRO rehabilitation is complete. The results look good. . Larimer Center for Mental Health, despite a lack of experience with public facilities funding, completed its projects timely and satisfactorily. . Neighbor to Neighbor Housing Counseling is seeing pressures on staff for services, but its numbers are on schedule. . NCAP's numbers are on target. . Respite Care is performing as promised. . Springfield Court is performing well in the face of health issues with its management. . Sunshine School has done remarkably well with its remodel, with the assistance of City Facilities. The client numbers are up as well. . United Daycare Center is performing to standards with numbers and service. . Housing Services Day Center has lost the Salvation Army as a partner. The project is at a standstill. The applicant has outstanding grant applications that it hopes will provide needed funding. . Wingshadow has a very detail -oriented manager that has performed past expectations, resulting in a commendable job on their public facilities performance. . Women's Resource Center has undergone some strategic shifting. It is focusing on underserved women's health needs. It has performed well on its funding. Davis -Bacon and contractual discussions. Staff is observing dramatic issues occurring with agencies who are not accustomed to Davis -Bacon regulations, notwithstanding the training offered and Community Development Block Grant Commission Meeting of September 8, 2005 Page 3 held on these regulations last summer. Project managers have been seen with no Davis -Bacon experience. The technical support from HUD has been less than past history would suggest, apparently due to an exodus of staff with technical expertise, and an overwhelming workload. Davis -Bacon requirements require attention to detail and documentation. This has proven difficult for some project managers and subcontractors. The City's Purchasing Department also has requirements in order to ensure a level of consistency and diligence by contractors, and some of these requirements, such as bidding or adherence to procurement rules, are not being met. Staff has experienced differences between expectations and final agreements. In the case of Turning Point, a loan was authorized for $50,000. Thus far, approximately $20,000 has been reimbursed due to the agency's lack of proper Davis -Bacon paperwork. Even when exemptions have been possible, it has necessitated further paperwork and efforts to ensure that the work performed meets standards. These remedies have required detailed diligence on the part of the agency's management that has thus far fallen short. A larger concern lies with the rehabilitation project of Catholic Charities. Staff has been supportive of efforts to address the issues encompassed by the rehabilitation. As work has proceeded, the agency has repeatedly shifted its priorities, prompting staff review and approval each time as the priorities are newly established. The administration in Denver has complained that the funds are a loan, not a grant; that the terms of the loan are onerous; and the use of a lien and due -on - sale clause is objectionable. The agreement was ultimately signed, with the apparent expectation on the part of the agency that the funding would be automatically advanced. Demands for payments have been made for items that were not contracted or were not finished. Because of the variance of items that were approved for funding versus the items that have been completed, amplified by difficulty in keeping the Davis - Bacon paperwork fully compliant and CDBG items properly delineated, the agency has received only $8,000 out of the $100,000 that it has spent thus far on rehabilitation, with a maximum approved amount of $50,000. Not all of the items completed were on the CDBG priority list. One item was listed as completed but was not. The agency has now exhausted its available funding. Staff is alerting the Commission to these difficulties in order to provide a more complete background of administrative issues as the Commission considers funding of public facilities projects. Community Development Block Grant Commission Meeting of September 8, 2005 Page 4 Ms. Phelps presented a slide show of photographs showing progress by applicants. The reported economic upturn has not been particularly evident in Northern Colorado. Most programs are seeing an ever-increasing need for subsidy. The generosity displayed in tsunami and hurricane relief has also had an adverse effect on local contributions. The City's new budget process may result in a static balance of $133,000 in the City's Affordable Housing Fund for the foreseeable future. CDBG and HOME programs will probably be preserved, but the funding level for those programs is entirely unknown and will be reduced most likely. Ms. Phelps reviewed the Community Partnership Program funding. This program has continued for approximately five years in partnership with Larimer County. The City had provided almost $400,000 in General Fund monies for the County to administer, together with County funds, in order to help many of the same agencies that rely on CDBG funding. A competitive process, with review by a citizen commission is in place. The Partnership Program represents some duplication of present efforts, and in the future, depending on the outcome of the City's new budget process, the CDBG Commission may be involved with the review and distribution of these funds. Land Bank discussion. Mr. Head distributed a map of vacant parcels in the city. Although a feasibility study referred to over 4,000 acres of vacant land, the actual usable parcels that meet the needs of size and funding levels present a much smaller array. Land that is potentially available for purchase for the Land Bank according to needs and funding levels totals around 400 acres in toto. Mr. Head has been pursuing sites diligently and finding nothing currently available. Mr. Head reported that the purchase of two parcels on West Vine Street is still in process. The authorized funding for those sites is $300,000. The Land Bank team, consisting of Mr. Head, Mr. Waido, Joe Frank, and Ted Shepard, has hired a real estate broker to assist them in their efforts. New sites are being pursued: a six -acre parcel on South College Avenue behind Tynan's Nissan; and a site on Harmony Road. Negotiations and conceptual site reviews are in process. Ms. Smith reported on the extension of time to September 1 granted to the Neighbor to Neighbor project. Due to a miscommunication, the project will not be finished by September 1. It is hoped that the project will be finished by the end of September, with billings to be received by mid -October. Staff is working with this Community Development Block Grant Commission Meeting of September 8, 2005 Page 5 agency to ensure that procedures are following more efficiently in the future, particularly with one of their projects straining the five-year limit. In response to questions, Ms. Phelps reported that CARE is doing well in handling the situation resulting from the fire. The structure was adequately covered by insurance. Some displaced tenants have chosen to live with family members; others have been placed in other CARE units. The goal is to have the four destroyed units back online by the end of the year. CARE is doing everything possible to remedy the destruction. The CARE negotiations did not proceed well for Rigden Farms, and CARE is currently pursuing a project in Windsor. PUBLIC HEARING Crossroads Safehouse reported on the progress regarding their rehabilitation. The, sidewalk, ductwork, and furnace work has been done in excellent fashion. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Moved by Mr. Berglund, seconded by Ms. Wagner: To approve the minutes of March 10, 2005. Motion approved unanimously. CROSSROADS SAFEHOUSE The transfer of funding to other rehabilitation items is acceptable as long as the transfer is approved by the Commission. The work is on track with the Master Plan for the property done by Facilities last year. Moved by Mr. Berglund, seconded by Mr. Crossroads Safehouse for an extension Motion approved unanimously. DISCUSSION ON PARTIAL FUNDING Taylor: To approve the request by and transfer of funding allocation. Mr. Waido presented the overview for this discussion. On funding applications, an "amount requested" is requested, as well as a "minimum amount acceptable." Applicants are not in universal agreement as to the meaning of this request. This item can also vary between such entities as child care, in which subsidies are ratcheted for however many clients are served, and a rehabilitation or construction application where performance can be adversely affected by the reduction. A scenario can also be seen where the Commission may decide to award nothing rather than fall under the "minimum," Community Development Block Grant Commission Meeting of September 8, 2005 Page 6 even though an applicant could still utilize funding under the "minimum" requested. A question exists whether agencies would manipulate their full/minimum numbers to negotiate the best possible funding available. Commission members expressed that minimum requests should encompass the following elements: the effect on the viability of the program for a less -then - minimum award; an explanation of the effect of minimum or less -than -minimum award; the specific priorities presented by the applicant in the event of reduced funding; the specific expectations of performance that accompany reduced funding; a clear presentation by the applicant of the expected consequences; a contract that delineates expectations attached to the funding. These issues occur more often with public service projects than housing projects. Housing projects usually cannot ramp down their performance to match reduced levels of funding. In the event that a project cannot perform on an item to the Commission's expectation, staff brings that issue back to the Commission for further consideration. Staff has clear accountability to the Commission, to Council, to the Federal government, and to the taxpayers in ensuring that performance by the applicant meets with the expectations attached to the funding. Mr. Waido reiterated that nonallocated funds can be held back for use in another funding cycle. Public service funding cannot exceed 15 percent of the total grant, but it need not be allocated any funding from the CDBG grant. Council policy is to allocate 15 percent to public service applicants. The Commission discussed the extremely competitive nature of the amount of funding available versus the number of applicants. Mr. Waido related his experience at a training session where $190,000 of grants was available for public service, and approximately 30 potential applicants were present. The Commission will be able to see sources and histories of funding for applicants. Discussion was held on County funding and a comparison of priorities between City and County entities. Mr. Waido distributed a scoring sheet used in Loveland. He asked Commission members to review it for ideas and present their input at the next scheduled meeting. FALL COMPETITIVE PROCESS Mr. Vanderheiden is an applicant and will not be able to participate in discussions or recommendations regarding affordable housing projects. Participation is allowed on administration and public facilities. Mr. Waido Community Development Block Grant Commission Meeting of September 8, 2005 Page 7 explained the scheduling to allow the best flow of discussion. Mr. Waido will not be present for the recommendations session. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Browning inquired about progress regarding the definition of "affordable child care" in order to have a yardstick to provide valid comparisons of different child care providers. He reiterated his desire to hold that discussion at a future meeting. In response to a question by Mr. Vanderheiden, Mr. Waido noted that the North College market study is expected to be completed by the end of this month. The consultant has recommended against the installation of any new social service agencies in the area. The City will consider land use zoning changes to allow for appropriate uses. Urban renewal plans are being explored. This general area will also be affected by the outcome of the Building on Basics election. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.