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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunity Development Block Grant Commission - Minutes - 01/12/1994CDBG COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES January 12, 1994 The meeting of the CDBG Commission began at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Planning Conference Room, 281 North College Avenue, Fort Collins, Colorado. Commission members present at the meeting included Chairman Linda Coxen, Dan MacArthur, Tom Dougherty, Jim Elias, Bobbie Guye, Tim Ostic, Rick Ramirez, Holly Sample, and William Steffes. Staff members present included Ken Waido, Jackie Davis, and Mary Hile. Ms. Coxen noted the large number of public attendees. She made introductions of the Commission and Staff. Tim Ostic is the newest member of the Commission. Mr. Waido introduced Julie Smith, HOME program administrator, and Dickson Robin, a planner with focus on affordable housing. Ms. Guye noted that her presence at the December 1, 1994 meeting was not reflected on the minutes. Moved by Mr. MacArther, seconded by Mr. Steffes: To approve the minutes of October 1994, November 1994, and December 1994, changing the December 1994 minutes as noted. Motion passed unanimously. Sue Ellen Alishouse spoke about Elderhaus and Eagles Club; that her father attends these facilities, and each facility plays an important and meaningful role in his life; that they provide an important service to their family; that the users of the facility help with improvements but that more are needed; that the facilities are currently meeting the needs of their users but cannot service more people; that CDBG monies are needed for improvement and expansion. Rene Clements, executive director of Elderhaus, spoke of the need for expansion and remodeling at Elderhaus and Eagles Nest. She handed out brochures explaining the purpose and function of these facilities. They will be asking CDBG for a matching grant. They presently have commitments for donation of labor and/or material from a concrete company, an architect, and a project supervisor. Krisann Mayer -Corcoran, program director of the Eagles Club, spoke of that facility's focus and function in providing a productive and social environment for senior men, as an annex to Elderhaus. Although the program has not yet turned people away, it is foreseeable in the near future due to limitations of their facility. Steven Dahmsey spoke approvingly of the services at Elderhaus and his observations of the program's interactions with his 92-year-old grandmother -in- law. Mr. Dahmsey works at a nursing home, with the Senior Chuck Wagon program, and in a group home for developmentally disabled. CDBG Commission Minutes January 12, 1994 Page 2 Mary Cosgrove spoke of her observations on the Affordable Housing Board. She sees the need for affordable housing as an urgent issue within the city. She thanked CDBG for their assistance and offered the support of the Affordable Housing Board. Ms. Cosgrove spoke in her role as director of Project Self -Sufficiency. The project has used CDBG funds in the past, and without those grants would not be able to provide the services that they have for assistance to single parents. She thanked CDBG for its past support. Lynda Sueirro presented her daughter, Aspen, who has Williams syndrome and attention deficit disorder. Aspen has received great benefit from the Disabled Resources Services. Patricia Frisbie, of Disabled Resources Services, spoke of that program and its function and history. They are working with other programs, such as Transitional Services and Foothills Gateway, to provide job training to their clients. She acknowledged the past CDBG contributions and stated that CDBG funding has been instrumental to the program. Rusty Collins, executive director of Neighbor -to -Neighbor, spoke of units that the program hopes to acquire for low- to moderate -income housing in perpetuity. He will be applying for CDBG and HOME funds for that acquisition and the necessary rehabilitation. He also thanked the Commission for its past contributions for administrative services and stated that Neighbor -to -Neighbor would be applying this year for funding to meet that need. Mr. Collins introduced Dr. Rex Thomas, vice-president of the board of directors of Neighbor -to -Neighbor. Dr. Thomas noted that the board has grown from seven to 14 members. Most of the board members are new. They are looking at 20 different options now that could provide for affordable home ownership or rental units. Betty Maloney, co-chair of the Larimer County Affordable Housing Task Force, spoke of their support for home ownership opportunities such as Habitat for Humanity and Waterglen. She also spoke of the need to fund shelters for the homeless, including transitional housing, single -room units, and units for farm laborers, employing funding along a broad continuum of agencies. Richard Dawson, of the Radio Reading Service of the Rockies, spoke of the purpose and function of that program in providing news services for blind and sight -impaired people throughout Colorado. He spoke of the relative lateness of Colorado in acquiring these services, the unique transmission problems in the state, and of the technology employed to overcome those problems. The City of Aurora and Jefferson County currently help fund the Radio Reading Service through CDBG grants. Mr. Dawson distributed handouts concerning the service and demonstrated a receiver developed for users of the service. He stated that CDBG Commission Minutes January 12, 1994 Page 3 Fort Collins has 900 school- or working -age citizens and 2,000 senior citizens who are blind or visually impaired. Lou Stitzel distributed photographs of the Andersonville project. Ten homes have been built, with three to five bedrooms each, at a cost of less than $40 per square foot. Ms. Stitzel stated that only nonprofit organizations could achieve this type of cost savings because of the discounts received for materials and labor, and the lack of overhead involved. She spoke of the Larimer County Community Land Consortium and TRAC, which is a Community Housing Development Organization (CHODO). She distributed handouts describing these projects. Ms. Stitzel stated that: The community must rethink its housing needs; that a wage eamer making $6.25 an hour cannot afford the $800-900 mortgage payment for median -priced housing in Fort Collins; that affordable home ownership must be viewed as well as rentals, or ultimately only the wealthy will own the land. She explained the mechanism of a land trust and how it keeps property within the trust affordable. Ms. Stitzel displayed a table and graph showing the different levels of income groups and the different types of housing and agencies applicable to each group. Ms. Stitzel's agencies will be working with the Housing Authority, CARE, Neighbor -to -Neighbor, and the City in developing alternate housing possibilities. Shelly Stephens presented a fax received that day announcing that the Fort Collins Housing Authority had received a HUD grant of over $800,000 to provide families with education and job opportunities. The Housing Authority will work proactively with a wide gamut of agencies to help provide housing and a wide range of needed services to low-income families in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Wellington. The Housing Authority has been charged with finding solutions for the Pioneer Mobile Home Park problem. Jeff Bridges of the Centennial Neighborhood Association spoke of the projects contemplated by that group. The neighborhood boundaries are generally Mulberry, Remington, Elizabeth, and the industrial sections along Riverside and Lemay. He spoke of the association's limited funding and how their grant -seeking efforts have produced $25,000 for neighborhood projects. He spoke of neighborhood efforts to use existing facilities, such as using Centennial High School for community meetings. The association will be asking for funding for such things as: community day-care to aid teen mothers in education and job training; rehabilitation to integrate existing facilities into neighborhood preservation; and improve sidewalks/pedestrian access. Leigh Winfield, representing the American Council of the Blind, spoke of 5,000 to 7,000 blind or visually -impaired citizens within Fort Collins. The Council will be requesting funding for audible crossing signals, such as that found at Oak and College. CDBG Commission Minutes January 12, 1994 Page 4 Kathleen Regan, of the Capital Hill Friends and Neighbors Association, supported the ACB request and further spoke of the sidewalks needed within its neighborhood, as bounded by Grant, Laporte, Shields, and Vine. The sidewalks are needed for senior citizens and children walking to Putnam School. The project that Neighbor -to -Neighbor is purchasing falls within the neighborhood boundaries. Jerry Godsey spoke of the Meadow Vista House, a project modeled after the Fountain House in New York City, catering to seriously mentally ill adults. The clubhouse provides a place to meet, to learn life skills while maintaining the house, and provide job counseling. He stated that Fort Collins is one of the few communities in the state that does not currently have this type of service. Tom Sibbald presented himself as the largest local builder of affordable multifamily units. His company currently owns 145 low- to moderate -income rental units and is currently building an additional 120 units in partnership with Neighbor -to -Neighbor. Mr. Sibbald made the following statements: That subsidy programs do not hold enough money to solve affordable housing needs; that the best use of CDBG funds would be to encourage private sector involvement in the affordable housing market; that the City should enter into partnerships with agencies and private organizations to stimulate building of affordable housing; that the City's failure to promote Section 108 loans and loan guarantees is a disgrace. Mr. Sibbald stated further: that the CDBG funding process is flawed at the start; the CDBG application does not request the basics of a business plan, history, marketing plan, or management plan; that CDBG has allocated $1,661,000 for housing projects, and 38 units have been built, and such funding should have produced 200 to 300 units; that the reason for such nonperformance is the city administration's lack of knowledge to evaluate how housing units should be built; that although Fort Collins is lucky to have an active Housing Authority, government is not an efficient producer of housing and never would be. Mr. Sibbald stated further: that governments do not build housing, builders do; that reliance on HUD has been a part of the problem; that CDBG is part of the problem by making grants on historical basis and could be part of the solution by adopting a different application process; that the loss of Pioneer and Section 8 housing will have a huge adverse effect on the affordable housing situation in Fort Collins; and that CDBG does not produce a level of affordable housing to meet community needs and therefore needs to change its process. Julie Smith, HOME program adminstrator, spoke of her learning process with her new job duties. She is currently receiving ideas from HOME programs in other communities. HOME has received $800,000 in funds to allocate for eligible activities. Ms. Smith is looking at other communities to develop a funding process. Ms. Coxen expressed the willingness of the CDBG Commission to help the program in its allocation process. CDBG Commission IVlinutes • January 12, 1994 Page 5 In response to questions, Mr. Waido informed the Commission of the difference between CDBG, being a community development program, and HOME, being a housing program, and how both programs may be used in tandem for developing affordable housing projects. Mr. Waido distributed a "HUD reinvention blueprint" describing the changes proposed for HUD. A rental certificate program is proposed to replace the Section 8 program. The Commission discussed the potential difficulty of low-income renters being able to redeem rent certificates on the open market. Mr. Waido distributed handouts concerning: the Habitat for Humanity house dedication at 520 Ponderosa; and the City's comprehensive plan update meeting for January 31. Mr. MacArthur, and possibly Ms. Guye, will attend the meeting. Ms. Coxen read Margaret Michaux's resignation letter. The City will try to fill that position by the next meeting. The median income levels of Rosetree units was discussed. Inquiry was made into the accuracy of Mr. Sibbald's figures. The following factors were discussed: that some funding has been used for land acquisition, which may not yet be producing units; a project that was originally funded but curtailed due to neighborhood opposition; a project presently under construction; and delay factors for other projects which are recently completed or under construction. The Commission discussed the following: that the Commission does not initiate applications but responds to them; that if performance on a gross dollar evaluation is lacking, that problem needs to be addressed; that actual dollar performance can be viewed as terrible; while a builder's leveraging ability may not be optimum, it may be better than the present system; that need will always exceed product, and acceptance of some level of frustration may be unavoidable; that while Council and the Commission are volunteer, many people interested in change have a vested interest in change. In response to questions, Mr. Waido informed the Commission of the CHAS reliance on census information to gather its statistics; that such statistics may not be completely helpful; and that the Commission expended $10,000 last year to fund a survey of more useful information that will be ready toward the end of March. Mr. Waido further expounded on the history of CHAS, the weakening of CHAS requirements, and the City's timing in submitting applications per accepted CHAS guidelines. Timing was discussed. The Commission will discuss at its February and March meetings the type of scrutiny by which the applications will be assessed. The May 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 11th meeting times were changed to 5:30 p.m. • • CDBG Commission Minutes January 12, 1994 Page 6 The Commission discussed the possibility of Council liaison attending the February and/or March meetings when different approaches regarding the applications would be discussed. Council has expressed satisfaction with the current application process. The Commission expressed its desire to have objective, meaningful numbers to evaluate concerning its performance on dollars spent for affordable housing. Funding requests for housing were not received until 1992. The numbers could be used to both rate the performance for those dollars spent and to direct the Commission to the more successul avenues followed in the past. Mr. MacArthur moved adjournment, seconded by Mr. Elias. Upon a unanimous vote, the meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.