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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 09/19/2013CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD BOARD MEETING MINUTES 300 Laporte Ave Fort Collins, Colorado September 19, 2013 4:00–6:00p.m. Chair: Dan Byers Staff Liaison: Sue Beck-Ferkiss 970-221-6753 City Council Liaison: Lisa Poppaw Board Members present: Dan Byers, Tatiana Martin, Troy Jones, Terence Hoaglund, Jeffrey Johnson, Board Members absent: Curt Lyons Staff present: Sue Beck-Ferkiss, Social Sustainability Specialist; Dianne Tjalkens, minutes Council Members present: None Guests: Meeting called to order Dan Byers at 4:03 pm. AGENDA REVIEW No comment. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Tatiana moved to approve the August 1, 2013 minutes, as amended. Motion was not seconded. Minutes will be reviewed at the October meeting. ANNOUNCEMENTS None NEW BUSINESS AGENDA ITEM 1: PRIORITY RANKING OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS Initial Ranking Group marked the chart with their initial rankings of the 7 Affordable Housing Projects (HO1-H07). Dan reminded the members that this board’s charge is to rank the proposals in order to allow the CDBG to determine funding. Dan added that H01 and H02 seem tied together because they have matched funding. They have been considered as one project in the past. Sue said that the most flexible funds are AHF. They could go to general fund or other sources, but staff proposed this as the best match. H03: CARE Housing, Provincetowne Phase II In relation to H03, all members were in agreement in ranking as number 1. The chair asked the board to tell about their reasoning. Terence said they have innovation and a strong track record. Tatiana added that it is part of the City plan. People will be moving to Fort Collins. There is an increased need for this kind of project (Provincetowne 2). Troy said it is a priority of the strategic plan for affordable housing. Dan added that they serve a low AMI target relative to other projects and the City has heavily invested in the project already, plus the number of units is significant. Tatiana said they push for eventual home ownership, so there is a goal of successful living. Jeffrey added that Provincetowne 1 leased ahead of schedule. There had been reservations about the location but the market proved otherwise as it is a successful project. H01 and H02: City of Fort Collins, Homebuyer Assistance (AHF & HOME) Jeffrey said that the mix of the projects creates units and home ownership is in the continuum of housing. The lowest AMI are the neediest and there is a bias toward extremely low income. You have to free up rental units through home ownership, so he supports ownership as part of the package. He sees this in the Neighbor to Neighbor and rehab projects. Troy said that the homeownership aspect is really important. Terence said he ranked H02 as number 2 because it supports home ownership. Tatiana added that her reservation with these two is that the amount of the funds going to administration was too much. She would like to see more funds going toward home ownership and less to administration. Dan added that this has come up in previous cycles. The City has made the argument that they have to do it that way. Jeffrey said to talk to Council about putting more money to staffing, so allow more for housing. Sue said that HUD sets a maximum amount and we are compliant with that. Dan added that this is a proven program. Every time you move someone into homeownership, you open up a rental. He said it looks like they have potential funding through 2014. He doesn’t want to see it not funded, but if we have to give up on something, maybe this is the place. He thought there may be a more urgent need for some of the other projects. H04: Larimer Home Improvement Emergency Funds Terence reminded the board that this is Larimer County and gets funding through Loveland, and possibly the state as well. Troy said he got hung up on it being administered through the Loveland Housing Authority. Being a Fort Collins board, we need to focus on Fort Collins. Tatiana said there are no other programs that provide this in Fort Collins. Troy said, if they get the funding, is there any way to know if the money goes to Fort Collins homes, or if it goes to Loveland. Terence added that it is for the whole county. Some of the recipients may be in the city, but it is county-wide. Tatiana said that if the city is not considering adding funds, she would rank this higher. Jeffrey said that the project location is Fort Collins city limits and growth management area. Do they have the flexibility to guarantee that any money provided would go into Fort Collins and the GMA? Dan read that it is a program for all of Larimer County, but on page 4 they received funds from the city of Loveland and the state Division of Housing. However, the monies are separated. Sue said that Loveland designated $20, 000. This funding is only for the $1000 emergency grants to home owners. Troy said he didn’t want to muddy the waters of getting into the County. If it was clear the money was designated to the city, it would have ranked higher. Jeffrey said that as a larger place of employment, many people live outside the city and are employed by Fort Collins businesses. It has grown together on health and human services issues. Dan said he ranks this project as his #2. He doesn’t have a problem with some of the funds going into the county. He said maintain existing housing is number 2 on the affordable housing priorities. They may also run out of funding later this year. He thinks it is a critical need at this time. What he doesn’t like is that it is a grant, so funds will not cycle back through the program. Jeffrey thought that there was matching state and local funds to leverage the city’s contribution. Troy added that the other funding sources are included in the spreadsheet. Sue added that in under paragraph 26, it says that Loveland dollars go to Loveland homes, so perhaps it is the same for Fort Collins. Rural homes may be funded by State dollars. H05: Housing Catalyst, Cunningham Corner Rehab Troy said he has a hard time with the cost per unit for the rehab at $30,000 per unit. He said the project is not that old. Dan pointed out that N2N Coachlight Plaza, in the comments section you see they received a grant of $500,000 and rehab of $20,000 per unit. That project rehab was done over many years; in this case they are trying to do all the rehab right now. Troy said that this qualifies as priority 2, but to him a rehab of a property that has already been deemed affordable makes it lower. Dan said he wonders at the necessity. Are there safety issues? Are they habitable? Terence added that it depends on how well they were built and maintained. Tatiana added that there were issues with the purchase with the pool. It isn’t usable and is owned by the other HOA. The pool and clubhouse are in disrepair. If that is the upkeep of a common area, what has been the upkeep of the units? Troy says it is hard to say if it a reasonable cost without knowing what needs to be done. Dan would like a breakdown, a budget, to see how much is for windows, the pool, etc. He would like to see bids. He doesn’t see that they have done their homework. Tatiana added that the high number is because they are trying to go top of the line green, which pushes cost up. Troy said he appreciates green, but it may not be the appropriate place. Terence said he knows that was done for Villages on Stanford and the dollars may be recouped over time from maintenance costs. Dan wonders of the rehab of Cunningham corner could be staged. He thinks the primary concern is with tax credits. Jeffrey said he thinks it is a financing deal. You need enough credit to sell. Another project staged, and they had major challenges with temporary housing for tenant and with financing. He said it has been preserved and has a covenant. It isn’t that old. He ranked them at number 5. Terence added that it was built in the mid to late ‘90s. Tatiana said she would change her ranking to number 3, from 2. Terence said he ranked it number 3 because he thought the per-unit cost was not bad. Dan said this is critical important affordable housing in Fort Collins and he would like to see what the critical need is and the budget. H06: JAG, Six-Plex Acquisition Tatiana said in the overall scheme it will impact the least number of people. She took into consideration the Redtail Ponds project that is coming up and could serve the same population. Sue clarified that Retail Ponds is 60 units. 40 are for homeless, 20 are for low income. Dan asked if felons would be allowed in Retail. Sue said it is not likely. She has heard that FCHA is going to be extremely selective, especially up front. They will be very careful. Sue said that they are looking at the Turning Point property on Stuart. 3 units would be for their program and 3 rented at market value. Tatiana said that she sees this project having a tough time moving through the city. She is not sure they can use the funds in the timeframe with the difficulty of getting it to go through—the location is bad and the neighbors will not allow it. Jeffrey added that either 3 or 6 units isn’t much, and he didn’t see the service portion. He also sees some readiness issues. Troy added that he voted it last because of the number of units, a low leverage ratio, and the serious concerns about administration. Dan said that there has been turn over in administration in JAG, and Sue said there had been problems involved in the turnover process. Tatiana said that they got the money in the spring, but we realized that they didn’t qualify. She wonders if they knew they were ineligible and tried to get the funding anyway. Troy added that this project is on a different property this time. He added that the purchase price is a huge percentage of the money they are requesting. He wouldn’t mind seeing the request later, but they need to clean it up. Jeffrey added that the true need in the community requires a lot of services. How can you deliver appropriate social services in a 6 unit dwelling? He would like to see how the social services would be delivered. Dan also had concerns about their line of credit becoming a large debt. H07: Neighbor to Neighbor, Coachlight Window Replacement Jeffrey ranked it number 4. It is for those with extreme need. It is an upgrade in the quality of the unit and gets rid of condensation, mold and mildew. Dan added that it is a safety issue. Terence said that the 30 year old windows are being replaced all over town. He thinks they have a low amount and a good bang for the buck. Troy added that this is a good rehab, and needs to be done. Dan said they haven’t requested funds since 2009. Sue said they came in in the spring for a lot more and were not funded. She said the board ranked it last in the spring, but the project was much larger. They came back in this time with their highest need. Sue read the notes from the previous cycle and noted that the rehab was a lower priority than other projects. Tatiana said that the current application truly shows the need for replacing the windows. Jeffrey said this is a very real, material way to change the lives of many people. Overall After discussion, the board reviewed the rankings, and some changed their votes. There remained a tie. The board wondered if they could rank H01 and H02 together since the projects are connected. In the end they agreed on the rankings below: Final Rankings H01 = 5 H02 = 4 H03 = 1 H04 = 2 H05 = 6 H06 = 7 H07 = 3 OTHER BUSINESS OPEN BOARD DISCUSSION Board Terms Expiring Tatiana and Dan’s terms are expiring. Dan will not be able to renew, but Tatiana will. Sue said that so far there are no applicants and the deadline is September 27. We are hoping to recruit some good candidates before the deadline. This board has fewer conflicts of interest than the CDBG Commission, so you may want to mention this in your sales pitch. Dan would like to see private developers with knowledge of the system on the board. Boards of non- profit developers would also be eligible. Meeting Length Dan said we have gone over time the last couple of months and we may have had too much in those meetings. We may have to limit who we have so we have time to discuss items. In October can we come up with a board position on exterior maintenance. Sue said the board needs to look at the work plan, Mike Gebo is returning, and Neighbor to Neighbor will be attending. Tatiana would prefer to have Beth come. Exterior Maintenance Tatiana said she attended Councils work session and the item that was adopted with no issue was in regard to homes in complete disrepair with health and safety risks. There are only 8-10 properties in Fort Collins. They did go round and round with the definition of “excessive.” There are only 8 properties that are in question. This will be causing neighbor-to-neighbor issues and waste tax dollars in nuisance calls. The other part we should look out for is that if people are tagged for having an unhealthy home, and don’t have money to make the repairs, the City needs a pool of funds to help make the repairs. We must also consider just not saying anything. She believes Beth has the proper information on the “excessive” issue. Dan said we need to really think about how this relates to affordable housing. Future Agenda Items Discussion • In general Jeffrey likes the presentations from nonprofits and the City staff. He would like to see them rotate through so we are not making decisions in a bubble. • Lisa Poppaw should attend the Work Plan meeting to offer suggestions. • The board would like to weigh in on the International Building Codes. • In November Joe Frank is going to give an overview of Land Bank. • Neighbor to Neighbor will be rescheduled to a later date. • Board discussed changing the meeting time, possibly ending at 6:30. • Add a review of 6-Month Planning Calendar to Other Business. FUTURE MEETING AGENDAS Social Sustainability Gap Analysis Neighbor to Neighbor presentation Redtail Ponds development Building Inspector: update on changes to Building Code December: Land Bank tour – Meeting adjourned at 5:47pm by Chair Dan Byers. – The next meeting of the Affordable Housing Board is scheduled for: October 3, 2013 at 4:00 PM The meeting will be located at: Fort Collins City Hall Council Information Center 300 Laporte Ave