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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 02/03/2000CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES February 3, 2000 Bob Browning, Chair (970) 225-0137 Kay Rios, Vice Chair Ken Waido, Staff Liaison (970) 221-6753 Chuck Wanner, City Council Liaison (970) 484-0810 The meeting of the Affordable Housing Board was called to order by chairperson, Bob Browning, beginning at 4:00 p.m. at 281 North College Avenue, Fort Collins, Colorado. A quorum was not present. Board members present included: Bruce Croissant, Isabel Garity, Stacey Overton were present. David Danforth, Chris Martin, and Kay Rios arrived late, establishing a quorum. Staff members present: Ken Waido, Maurice Head, Joe Frank, and Melissa Visnic. Council liaison, Chuck Wanner was present. Others present: Alan Krcmarik, City of Fort Collins Finance Director; Betty Maloney; Krista Moberly, CARE Housing; Linda Hopkins, Fort Collins Board of Realtors; Joe Vance and Bob Metrazzo of National Health Associates. Open Public Discussion Ms. Maloney brought to the board's attention an ad placed in the Coloradoan that states, "Affordable Housing continues to be a thorn in the side of the choice city." Mickey Willis requested to be put on the agenda for the next affordable housing board meeting to discuss his application for CDBG non -housing funds for voluntary deed restrictions. His request was denied in order to prevent undue influence on the competitive process from being perceived. New Business Minutes The minutes from the January meeting were not available for review. Private Activity Bonds Request Last month, the City received a request for the private activity bond allocation from National Health Associates for an assisted living project. Mr. Krcmarik explained that the board has already voted to give the private activity bond allocation for this year to the Fox Meadows Apartment project in the amount of 2,756,000, but that Larimer County also gets an allocation from the state that can be assigned to the City for projects within the county. If the Affordable Housing Board reviews this proposal and finds it to be of merit, the City of Fort Collins can go to the County Commissioners and get an assignment of the County's Affordable Housing Board February 3, 2000 Meeting Minutes Page 2 money to the City, thus giving the City of Fort Collins another 1.6 million for a second project. This new application would have to get some money from the statewide balance or the Colorado Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) for the additional funding. Mr. Waido asked whether the Fox Meadows project was also going to go to the County for funding. Mr. Krcmarik answered yes, but that Roger Hara said he would work cooperatively and forego the County funding and apply to the State for the project's remaining balance, should National Health Associates' project be approved by the Affordable Housing Board. Mr. Danforth referred to the letter from James Coil. He said it seems that Mr. Coil's report is being used as a policy guideline by CHFA. Mr. Metrazzo mentioned that National Health Associates' project is for assisted living and they have completed a market study that identifies a need for this type of housing in Fort Collins. The HUD report does not address a saturation of assisted living projects in Fort Collins. Mr. Waido explained that the HUD report cautions about over -saturating the market at the 60% income level, feeling that the supply is adequate for the current demand. Mr. Krcmarik explained that Andy Kane, the underwriter for National Health Associates, would like to go to the statewide balance before going to CHFA. If the AHB favorably reviews this project and the City also gets the County's allocation, then they would go through a competitive process and try to get the remaining balance from the state. There is a clear distinction between this type of housing and what Mr. Coil referred to in his report. Joe Vance, Director of Development Services at National Health Associates addressed the board regarding their application. The company has been in business for 10-15 years, and has been involved with planning and development of over 100 senior facilities including about fifty assisted living projects. One year has gone into evaluating and creating this model of an assisted living facility. National Health Associates is also developing similar projects in Grand Junction and Colorado Springs. This project has been tailored to low to moderate income residents. National Health Associates has site plan approval from Oakridge Business Park and anticipates submitting to the city within 30 days. Construction is anticipated to start in the second or third quarter of this year. Bob Metrazzo, Project Manager for National Health Associates explained that Colorado has leading -edge policy to cover assisted living services through Medicaid, which is one reason this area was chosen for their project. This proposal is for a 44 unit, 58 bed community. Mr. Metrazzo toured six local facilities and two of them had a waiting list, occupancy was at 96-99% at all of them, and lower income people had been turned away, showing that there is a need in this area for this type of service. This project will have a 20 year set -aside requirement to reserve 50% of the units for low income seniors, meaning that 29 of the 58 beds will be for residents of the 60% or lower AMI. Affordable Housing Board February 3, 2000 Meeting Minutes Page 3 Assisted living encompasses: three meals per day, bathing, grooming, medication management, socialization, transportation to primary care physicians, laundry, and housekeeping. The facility will include: several TV rooms, a full-size commercial kitchen with restaurant -style dining, library, living room, arts & crafts area, courtyard, and a hydrotherapy area to enhance the quality of life of the residents and encourage them to participate in the various activities. Mr. Vance explained that the standard pricing provides those of moderate to middle income to have an alternative to the more expensive options that are available now. Private pay residents will receive a full -service program, low income residents will be assisted to qualify for Medicaid and will also receive a full -service program. Ms. Rios questioned the difference between rent, board and services. Mr. Vance explained that rent is housing, board is food and meals. Medicaid does not pay for food, but for a Medicaid qualified person to receive reimbursement for assisted living, assisted living packages and services includes food. The goal would be to qualify all residents who are not private pay as Medicaid so they could receive reimbursement and have the full service program. Cable and telephone are the only additional options to the rate. Mr. Croissant asked who would fill the jobs created by this project. Mr. Vance explained that local engineers will be hired to facilitate the planning process, a general contractor will be selected and will line up local subcontractors for the construction of the facility, the materials will be purchased locally where possible, all of the taxes on the materials purchased will go to the City, as well as the development fees, supplies purchased for the ongoing operation will all be bought locally. The staff hired for nursing, activities, maintenance, and administration will be hired locally as well. Mr. Martin questioned if a person did not qualify for the full service program, what would they receive. Mr. Vance stated that many people are not aware that they qualify for Medicaid. The staff would work with them to quality them and in the meantime they would still receive the full service program. Ms. Garity asked whether the two bedroom units were set aside for Medicaid patients. Mr. Vance explained that if a resident qualified for Medicaid, but also received an annuity payment, they could move up into a private room for an additional cost. Ms. Overton questioned whether the monthly service fee is in addition to rent. Mr. Metrazzo stated that it is included. Ms. Rios asked if there is a time constraint on the board's decision because she has more questions she would like answered and would like to discuss the project with senior service providers first. Mr. Krcmarik explained that this needs to be processed as quickly as possible and a recommendation needs to be given to City Council by February 15tb Affordable Housing Board February 3, 2000 Meeting Minutes Page 4 Mr. Croissant moved to approve the proposal. No second. Mr. Martin moved to call a special meeting. Ms. Overton seconded. Motion passed unanimously. New Business Mr. Browning said that the board will be required to review the housing applications and make recommendation to the CDBG Commission around the first of April. Mr. Waido explained that the proposals will be handed out at the meeting in March, and the April meeting could be extended in order to review the applications and complete a list of priorities and concerns. The CDBG Commission will start their deliberation process on April 12tb Old Business Follow -Up on the Proposed Nuisance Ordinance Linda Hopkins, of the Fort Collins Board of Realtors expressed her belief that this ordinance increases risk to property owners, landlords, and mortgage lenders. She stated that if the ordinance as currently written were applied to the test case area, there would be no nuisances, which seems very ineffective. She suggested looking for an ordinance that addresses the problems, and identifies the cost implications. Carrie Gillis, a property manager with 470 rental units in Fort Collins expressed her concern that the additional risks involved for landlords raises the qualifying bar for tenants and causes housing costs to rise. Ms. Garity pointed out that under the City's remedies it states, "Only in an emergency can the City get such an order without a court hearing." She was concerned as to what defines an emergency. It was discussed that the City can't seek or obtain a court order that would put the property under receivership, but that the municipal court can. Also, under Effect of sale of the property it reads: "All previous notices of violations will be stricken (will not count) if the property is sold unless the property is sold simply to avoid the public nuisance ordinance." Ms. Garity wondered how that could be proven. Mr. Danforth asked if there is a real estate law that prohibits psychological predisposition when selling a property, for example, if someone was murdered in a house, the realtor is not allowed to make that a factor. Ms. Hopkins said that this puts realtors in an awkward position because this category requires disclosure. Mr. Danforth felt that this is contradictory. Mr. Browning said that if landlords want to profit, they need to take the responsibility for Affordable Housing Board February 3, 2000 Meeting Minutes Page 5 their properties. Mr. Danforth feels that this is a case of common violations that are covered by common ordinances already. Mr. Browning said the problem is that there is no central clearinghouse to keep track of the violations, and the information doesn't get back to the landlords. Mr. Croissant described how he remedied a situation himself by contacting the owner of a problem property and making them aware of the situation. Ms. Hopkins pointed out to staff that there were no violations in these test properties with the application of the nuisance ordinance and asked how it would be handled, staff responded that the existing laws would be enforced. She suggested trying to coordinate these violations and enforce the existing laws before trying an ordinance like this. She viewed the coordination and notification of the tenant as well as the property owner as a valuable step. Mr. Browning stated that after this coordination goes into effect, landlords would be compelled to remedy the problems in a way that other ordinances wouldn't accomplish. He also believes that the rights of the people in the surrounding areas are as important as the people who are causing the problems. Ms. Garity stated that there are so many safeguards with this ordinance, that it's only after several violations and several chances have been given to remedy the situation that it would finally progress to more severe actions. Mr. Danforth expressed his view that City policy is being based upon a small minority of students. Ms. Rios would like to see an ordinance that serves the people who want to preserve a particular lifestyle of their neighborhood, but that does not encourage discrimination. She supports the intent, but does not agree with the ordinance as written and would like to look at another way of doing this. Mr. Martin felt that the ordinance is a good intentioned document, but that it is the wrong vehicle to remedy this problem, and could create a way for tenants to be spiteful toward their landlords Mr. Martin moved not to support the ordinance as written. Mr. Danforth seconded. Ms. Garity acknowledged that a considerable amount of time and effort has gone into creating this ordinance and the board needs to be specific about what they would like to see done. After further discussion, Mr. Martin amended the motion to include agreement with the principle of the ordinance, but to first try enforcing the existing ordinances, hiring a coordinator to track the offenses, and revisit the ordinance at a future date to allow time for the property owners to show that they can take responsibility for their investments. Ms. Overton seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Affordable Housing Board February 3, 2000 Meeting Minutes Page 6 Board's Work Plan Possibilities The board members signed up for the items that they would like to work on. Mr. Browning will consolidate the list and distribute it before the next meeting. Other Business Mr. Danforth informed the board that on Tuesday, City Council adopted a County Regional Road Impact Fee program. He would like to see it taken off of the consent agenda, and moved to ask City Council to be part of the review process prior to second reading. Ms. Rios seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Waido will inform City Council that the board has a concern. Mr. Danforth expressed appreciation to Mr. Waido and Mr. Head for their work on the Technical Assistance program workshop conducted. Mr. Waido distributed Larry Kendall's review of real estate trends entitled "Achieving Affordable Housing A Nine Step Plan." He also reported that Mr. Kendall will fund the production and distribution of a poster drawing attention to the local need for affordable housing. Meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m.