Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunity Development Block Grant Commission - Minutes - 11/09/20171 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES 222 Laporte Ave, Fort Collins November 9, 2017, 6:00PM COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Taylor Dunn - Chair Amy Dondale Steve Backsen Serena Robb Sara Maranowicz Anita Basham COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Holly Carroll – Vice Chair Margaret Long STAFF PRESENT: Adam Molzer – Staff Liaison At 6:08pm the meeting was called to order by Chair, Taylor Dunn. PUBLIC COMMENT: None INTRODUCTIONS General introductions of all members were conducted. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Amy Dondale asked that Annette Zacharias’s name be removed from the attendee list in October. Amy Dondale made a motion to approve the October minutes, seconded by Serena Robb. The motion passed unanimously. ENGAGE SOFTWARE SYSTEM Christine Macrina spoke about the City’s volunteer software system, Engage. She explained that it will be used by all City volunteers, including Boards & Commissions. Use of the system will be more robust and allow Commission members to capture more of the hours they are contributing beyond regular meetings. Commission members can choose to build out their profile in the system, allowing for custom volunteer opportunities and trainings to be sent to them. Commission members already have profiles in the system, founded on their email address. Steve Backsen commended Christine for the City’s excellent engagement of 2 volunteers. Anita Basham commented on how other communities, especially abroad, are less engaged than our community and are amazed by our volunteerism levels. AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD FOLLOW-UP Taylor Dunn made remarks regarding his recent meeting with a member of the Affordable Housing Board (AHB), Diane Cohn. He explained the current process of reviewing housing proposals and the inadequacy in the experience and process. The Affordable Housing Board recommended a separate joint meeting, after presentations, when the applications could be reviewed and discussed with the CDBG Commission in more evaluative detail. They also discussed having 1-2 AHB members on the interview panel during presentations, along with the CDBG Commission members, to ask relevant questions to Housing category applicants. It was also shared that AHB does not typically see the financials of a project they review, but they could be allowed to view those details if needed. Conversation continued with when the best time to convene the combined meeting might be, either before or after presentations, with no decision being made yet. Consensus is to proceed with greater involvement with AHB in the 2018 competitive process. APPLICATION & PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS Adam Molzer shared his comments regarding the process he has worked through since beginning in September to gather information and insights from stakeholders for improving the competitive process. He distributed documents that outlined three different scenarios for modifying the competitive process and provided explanation of each. Discussion continued around the AHB meeting, removing the FCTV recordings, extending presentation time and reducing Q&A time, formalizing a pre-presentation Q&A process, adding a pre-presentation meeting when applications could be evaluated on merit without funding being discussed, as well as an invite-only concept for presentations. Anita Basham mentioned the need to ask agencies about prioritizing their needs during the presentations. Taylor Dunn responded by pointing out that most applications are only requesting a single funding priority for their program. It was also mentioned that a question on the application also asks about priorities. Anita shared that she values the tension the presentations create for agency directors having to defend their grant request, and that their performance makes a difference to her. Sara Maranowicz shared that new Commission members would benefit from hearing presentations from all applicants. Sara also shared that the pre-presentation meeting also may allow for space to discuss and debate applications and programs in more depth. Steve Backsen endorsed the idea of clustering presentations by the organization’s issue or cause. Taylor Dunn offered an idea of cutting presentations down to 7-minutes that are only about their organization, to better inform new members. Sara said it may be helpful to give the agencies more focus and direction on what the Commission wants to learn about in their presentations. PRIORITIES FOR COMMISSION DURING DELIBERATION 3 Adam Molzer asked the Commission members present to identify the priorities they look for when evaluating applications and working through the deliberation. Each attendee was given a note card to write their thoughts down individually, and then they each shared out their notes. FY16 RESULTS REVIEW Adam Molzer handed out a summary document that showed each FY16 grantee’s dollars spent, clients they were contracted to serve, and the numbers of clients they reported serving. The bottom line number of clients served by the full portfolio of grantees exceeded 18,000 community members. The projected outcome for the year was over 17,000. Adam discussed how the projections for some organizations are difficult given their business model. He also distributed and discussed memos that were created by a few organizations that did not spend their full grant awards during the year (ChildSafe, NCAP, Matthews House). He also distributed a memo from the Food Bank for Larimer County that described the difficulty they have with the methodology of tracking their clients served, since they are children being served at sub-sites. 2018 WORK PLAN & 2017 ANNUAL REPORT The CDBG Commission Work Plan for 2018 and the 2017 Annual Report were both distributed to attendees for review by Adam Molzer. Amy Dondale made a motion to approve the 2018 Work Plan, seconded by Anita Basham. The motion passed unanimously. Anita Basham made a motion to approve the 2017 Annual Report, seconded by Steve Backsen. The motion passed unanimously. 2018 MEETINGS Adam Molzer asked the Commission to consider if the 2nd Thursday of each month would still be the best day to meet in 2018. Due to the secure location of 222 Laporte Avenue, some concerns about continuing to meet at the current location have been raised. Adam said he would send a survey to gather Commission members’ input and preferences. STAFF REPORTS: Adam reported the following updates: 1. He had toured Crossroads Safehouse and informed the Commission that they could also sign up for a tour by contacting the organization. Anita asked how they were doing financially. Adam reported that their Executive Director, Pat Parker, had told him that they were stabilizing. OTHER: It was discussed and decided that there would be no official business meeting in December. A holiday reception for Commission members, staff and their guests would be hosted on December 14 at the home of Anita Basham. ADJOURNMENT: Meeting was adjourned at 7:33pm.