Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 11/03/20111 CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES 281 N. College Ave. Conference Rooms A and B Fort Collins, Colorado November 3, 2011 4-6:00 p.m. Chair: Ben Blonder Staff Liaison: Ken Waido, 970-221-6753 City Council Liaison: Lisa Poppaw Board Members Present: Marie Edwards, Ben Blonder, Wayne Thompson, Mike Sollenberger, Karen Miller, Dan Byers, Board Members Absent: Wendie Robinson, Advance Planning Department Staff Present: Ken Waido Council Members Present: None Other Staff Present: Karen Cumbo, Director of Planning, Development, and Transportation; Julie Brewen, Executive Director of Fort Collins Housing Authority; Leslie Prassas, Note Taker Guests: Marilyn Heller, League of Women Voters Meeting called to order by Ken Waido, Staff Liaison. OPEN PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA (Maximum 10 minutes) (Public discussion unrecorded during technical difficulties.) NEW BUSINESS APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Motion to approve the minutes from the October 6, 2011 meeting by Mike Sollenberger, seconded by Ben Blonder. Motion passed unanimously. FEE WAIVERS FOR THE FORT COLLINS HOUSING AUTHORITY - Karen Cumbo provided background on some code changes that are being considered regarding fee waivers for the Fort Collins Housing Authority. According to State Statutes, fees and taxes are waived for Housing Authority projects. The primary issue that has arisen 2 recently is whether fees and taxes can be waived when the Housing Authority is only a minor financial partner. For instance, Provincetown was developed by CARE Housing and was not exempt from paying impact fees. However, they requested and were approved for payment of impact fees from federal funds via the City’s Competitive Process. Federal funds may be used for this purpose. Later, the Housing Authority became a partner in the Provincetown project and requested a fee waiver. It was too late in the process for a fee waiver. The request did raise questions and issues around FCHA fee waivers. Resolution will require some amendments to our City Code. When the City set up the Competitive Process, giving the applicants the option to seek funding for payment of impact fees, land acquisition, etc, we didn’t believe the City should establish priorities for how our funds should be used. The Housing Authority’s fee waiver is a powerful incentive for developers to partner with the Housing Authority, and there are concerns that this incentive could be abused. One safeguard from this occurring is that the City has control over the Housing Authority. With tax credit deals, e.g., the Legacy Project, the Housing Authority will become a partner with Legacy and partial owner, and become full owner after 15 years. The participation by the FCHA in the project could make the project eligible for the FCHA fee waivers. These types of projects often need creative financing arrangements in order to achieve the 30% AMI. The City does not want to be in a position to discourage affordable housing, but we must consider the impact the fee-waiver program would have on the financial viability of other programs. There is a possibility that the fee waivers could be backfilled using CDBG/HOME/AHF funds. The Council could consider giving priority to backfilling the fees. We should remind the Council that there is a precedent already in place for getting fees waived. Ordinances were passed years ago. 2012 AHB WORK PLAN - Liaisons are needed for the Economic Advisory Board, among others. Motion to adopt the 2012 Affordable Housing Work Plan made by Wayne Thompson and seconded by Mike Sollenberger. Motion passed unanimously. DEBRIEFING OF THE FALL CYCLE OF THE COMPETITIVE PROCESS - Nearly $600,000 has been allocated for the Housing Authority’s land acquisition on Vine for the Supportive Housing Development project. The Board does not review the public service applications. The CDBG Commission did a pretty good job. They had about 30 proposals and 13 of them were fully funded. The fall cycle begins next January. The Board will get involved in March. The FCHA Supportive Housing Development project is expected to come back in the spring 2012 cycle for $213,923. We don’t expect to receive any applications from CARE Housing in the spring 2012 cycle. Mark Hendricks withdrew his fall 2011 application for his Caribou project because he received tax credits. The 2011 budget included additional funds in the Affordable Housing Fund and for Human Services. We would eventually like to return to 2009 high levels. The affordable housing fund budget is currently $325,000 in 2012. 3 WORK PROGRAM UPDATES - Affordable Housing Development Incentives Staff briefly updated the Board on the status of the Affordable Housing Development Incentives which is to start in January. City Involvement in the Provision of Social Services Staff updated the Board on the recent City Council work session on “social services”. The work session went well and it appears that Council is interested in the City doing more in this area. Section 108 Loan Program Staff updated the board on the status of the 108 Loan program. There are discussions underway with Council in terms of what kinds of projects will receive loans. More to come. Strategic (Student) Housing Action Plan Staff updated the Board on the Student Housing Action Plan which is in progress. Staff will bring forward to the Board a draft plan in 2012. There are two new student housing projects which are in the review process; one on Plum and one on Springfield. The Board talked about the potential for another student housing project at the corner of Shields and Prospect. Staff mentioned that the Grove student housing project was approved by City Council. BENDER MOBILE HOME PARK - Staff said that there was a recent meeting with the Bender residents. Representatives from Murphy Center were present. 14 of the 16 households attended the meeting. A lot of processing went on and a lot of help was offered. A general meeting was held first then they spoke individually to people. Last Tuesday, Council approved an ordinance to increase the budget which included $50,000 relocation assistance. It’s not just for Bender. There are some legal issues with the City’s ability to give the residents money because they’re not City residents. This is the first reading, but it’s not confirmed - it takes a second reading. There will be guidelines on how that money would be allocated. There is still the issue with the septic system problems. Most of the mobile homes cannot be moved as they are too old. Some of the mobile home parks are offering financial incentives for people who need to relocate, such as moving costs and reduced rental rates for a couple of years. A relocation plan will be developed that will address future relocations resulting from redevelopment activity. This is scheduled to begin April/May 2012. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH SUPPORT STAFF SERVICES - Staff conducted a Customer Satisfaction Survey of the Board and CDBG Commission to see how the staff is doing. It will be done again in 2012. We may be using a different survey instrument. More to come. 4 OTHER BUSINESS Sales of deed-restricted homes in the Provincetown project have increased in the last 2.5 years. OPEN BOARD DISCUSSIONS Council approved the $750,000 requested from CDBG funds for Union Place. We are unable to contract for that money until the following issues are resolved: an administrative hearing has been set for the Merton Project Development Approval. The URA is scheduled to review plan changes and update the TIF agreements. There is an environmental review requirement of HUD that needs to be submitted and approved by HUD. The State Historic Society wants a comprehensive adjacent property evaluation on structures north of Willox. The State Historic Society has to be involved for structures 50 years or older. LIAISON REPORTS NEXT MONTH’S AGENDA FUTURE MEETING AGENDAS -- Meeting adjourned at 5:53 PM --