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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 01/04/1996AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD, MEETING MINUTES January 4, 1996 The meeting of the Affordable Housing Board began at 4:05 p.m. in the Community Planning Conference Room, 281 North College Avenue, Fort Collins, Colorado. Board members present were Chairperson Mary Cosgrove, Tom Sibbald, Bob Browning, Sue Wagner, Joanne Greer, and Tony Kavanagh. Staff members present were Ken Waido, Leanne Lawrie, and Alan Krcmank. Gina Janett was present from the City Council. Public comment was solicited. Lou Stitzel, from the Affordable Housing Task Force, stated that an informal meeting had taken place between the task force and City Manager John Fischbach. At that meeting, the task force recommended broader community education, not only within the community but with the various boards and commissions that are not as closely associated with affordable housing. A retreat for the P and Z was also suggested by the Task Force so that they would have an opportunity to be more conversant with some of the affordable housing needs. Ms. Stitzel also stated that progress is being made on the town house units, and Ms. Stitzel believes that most of the funding has been accumulated for that project and construction should begin in the spring. On January 6th the task force will be holding an information meeting at the REA building concerning community land trust village development at the Dry Creek site. Ms. Stitzel stated that rehabilitation guidelines and so forth set out development of a village neighborhood, and such will probably have a community center. It is believed that such development will take place in three phases. Ms. Stitzel also stated that in reading over the Board's work plan, she believes that it contains items which she would support from her organizations and believes the Affordable Housing Task Force would also support such items. No further public comment was heard. Ms. Cosgrove noted a change she wished to have made in the December minutes. Page 4, paragraph 4, referred to a market study completed by the State Division of Housing. The determination was made to omit the word "funding" in that paragraph. Moved by Ms. Greer, seconded by Mr. Kavanagh: To approve the minutes for both November and December. Motion approved unanimously. Sam Betters, from the Loveland Housing Authority, and Don Aldrich, from the Larimer Home Improvement Program, gave a video presentation along with handout information to the Board concerning progress that has been made over the past two years by the program. Mr. Aldrich stated that sources of funds include HOME funds from the Department of Housing and Urvan Development and local matching dollars the have been contributed. The purpose of the program is to provide low interest loans to income - qualified homeowners. Mr. Aldrich added that for the first two years of this program, AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES January 4,1996 Page 2 restrictions have been set to allow only owner -occupied homes. Permission has now been sought to expand the program to rental properties as well. The goal of the program is to preserve and improve the housing stock of lower -income dwellings and create a self-sustaining revolving loan pool over a ten-year period where matching funds or additional State and Federal funding would not be required. Mr. Aldrich, stated that the State has cut its previous amount of donated funds. Mr. Sibbald stated that he did not remember mention of that fact previously. Mc Aldrich replied that it was his belief that the program was unaware that the State would be cutting their funds. Mr. Betters said that the State had recognized that less money was available to contribute than the previous year, so a formula was developed to distribute funds to participating communities. Mr. Sibbald asked if the State funds would decrease by 20 percent each year. Mr. Betters stated that he did not believe such would be the case. Mr. Sibbald asked what the program's application deadline would be. Mr. Aldrich stated that the funds are due to be allocated in May, and it's actually an ongoing funding operation, where reapplication each year is not required. Mr. Sibbald asked if the program would be expecting the Fort Collins contribution every year for ten years. Mr. Aldrich said that that was his hope and stated that the other communities have planned to do so. Mr. Betters said that there will come a time when the local funds generated from the local match will provide some match in themselves. However, the repayment of HOME dollars cannot provide as a local match. Therefore, when monies are being loaned out, the program tracks which are HOME dollars and which are local dollars. In response to questioning, Mr. Betters stated that the State combines all of the HOME dollars that are distributed throughout their entire jurisdiction and all the non -HOME eligible communities and looks at them as an aggregate rather than looking at just this program and determines the prescribed amount of match. As a result, the HOME funds are allocated based on the prescribed match. Mr. Sibbald commended the program on the work that has been achieved. He stated that his recollection of the last presentation given was that less than half of the money that ultimately got allocated for .Fort Collins had been allocated, and he was pleasantly surprised to see the turnaround. Mr. Waido stated that whatever advertising or promotion the program is doing, it seems to be working, and interested parties are going directly to the pro ram personnel. Mr. Aldrich stated that a somewhat different marketing strategy Is pplanned for next year, which will perhaps be more representative of the target areas. Mr. Sibbald stated that the cable television advertising that is currently being used by the program may not be an effective way of reaching the target market. In response to questioning, Mr. Aldrich said that the improvements that are being made on the properties, in general, are sanitary facility improvements in bathrooms and kitchens, • AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES January 4,1996 Page 3 roofs, exteriors, and some interior improvements, such as vinyl floor covering or carpets. Mr. Aldrich also stated that work is being done in connection with the Energy Conservation Program that Larimer County administers. However, the energy program's income qualifications are lower than this program's. Mr. Aldrich said that possibly next year nonowner-occupied units could be brought into the program. Numerous inquiries from landlords have occurred. Guidelines must be met, and some landlords were interested in participating within the guidelines, and some were not. Mr. Aldrich stated that the repayment terms on the loan money was ten years, and if the homes are sold, the loan is paid off, which generates a lump -sum portion of income in the program's figures. Mr. Betters stated that very good success has been had with collecting on the loans. Of the homes assisted in Fort Collins, two delinquencies have occurred, one being 30 days and one being 90 days. Ms. Janett gave the Board and update on the CDC. She stated that there have been subcommittee meetings, and the attorney for the Loveland group is in the process of modifying the articles of incorporation and bylaws to allow the inclusion of the geographic area of the Fort Collins urban growth area. In addition, changes are being made to the language concerning the board of directors. The board of directors will consist of the following seats: One reserve seat each for the City of Fort Collins, the City of Loveland, Larimer County, and CSU; five seats from Fort Collins at large, five seats from Loveland at large, and a final seat for a dual resident who either works in one town and lives in another or lives in the urban growth area. Ms. Janett stated that it is hoped in the future that less importance will be placed on regulating the number of members from each community. The City Council in Loveland was apprised of the CDC in December and seemed to be receptive to the idea. However, a new seated Council will be brought in this month, and a training session will be held so the new members will have information about the CDC. In response to questioning, Ms. Janett stated that the planned Loveland CDC project consists of donated land for a single-family, entry-level subdivision. Habitat for Humanity ' will be building the first few houses in that subdivision. Mr. Betters stated that the Housing Authority will be developing the site to enable Habitat's first home to go in. The Housing Authority may also utilize some of the sites themselves at some later date and also try to entice other builders. Mr. Betters also stated that all together the donated land consists of approximately 15 acres, and it has not yet been determined how much of that land can be utilized by the CDC. It is hoped that a master plan will be developed for the entire site. AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES January 4, 1996 Page 4 Mr. Betters stated that originally the Housing Authority was going to do the development on this CDC project, and once the land was turned over to the CDC, it would be up to them to determine how they want to proceed with the project. Ms. Janett stated that she had received a call from John Pollock, from the Colorado Division of Housing. He stated that he was very supportive of the joint effort but also indicated in recent years Larimer County had received up to 15 percent of the State's allocation of grant funds for housing projects, and such should not be anticipated in the future. In response to questioning, Ms. Janett stated that the plan for the CDC at this point is to get the board of directors established. The board can then get the assistance on the capitalizations, which includes the business community as well as the banking community. She believes the people appointed to the board will prepare positions and prepare information necessary in a positive and practical light, and then perhaps another joint bank meeting or separate meetings will be held to continue on with the CDC plan. Mr. Sibbald stated that one of the complaints or reservations he heard out of the lender's meeting was that the lenders felt like the community and governmental contributions were late. He questioned what is going to be done to strengthen the governmental contribution and questioned what is being done on a local level to ensure that sufficient resources are available. Ms. Janett reiterated her belief that the board of directors will have to be in charge of the fund raising and addressing other questions that have arisen, and little action can be taken until that board is assembled. Ms. Janett stated that she had met with one County Commissioner who agreed to look into office space at Foothill's Gateway in addition to possible accounting and other services that they may be able to provide as possible income contribution for 1996. For 1997 the Commissioner agreed to attempt to locate cash contributions. Ms. Janett asked the Board for suggestions on possible new board members for Fort Collins. She stated that one of the ideas that has surfaced is perhaps some of the people who are either making loans or donations to the CDC would want a seat. Therefore, perhaps one or two seats should be left open for that purpose. Alan Krcmarik gave the Board an update concerning the Cost of Services Study. He stated that on November 28th a public forum was held at the Lincoln Center. People from the Board and several other boards and the community at large were invited to attend. At least 48 people from the public attended, and a number of comments were received, ranging from requesting more documentation that a problem actually exists in keeping up with the capital cost of growth to agreement that action needed to be taken and the cost recovery system would make sense. Affordable housing questions also made up a fairlyy significant number of concerns. A number of advisory -type comments were made. A number of concerns were expressed that the City may have made some decisions that led to the difficulties that exist at this time. Staff assembled all the comments received and broke them into categories. Discussion • AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES January4, 1996 Page 5 was held with the Growth Management Committee, who gave Staff a direction in terms of bringing the issue forward to a work session to enable the rest of the Council to be involved In the discussion. Staff was given two areas to work on: One, whether or not to set up a recovery system based on fees or based on excise taxes; two, gather data showing that multifamily projects have less of an impact fee burden than single-family housing. Staff is recommending that if fees are increased or excise taxes are increased, the amount of the rebate program would also have to be increased. Therefore, affordable housing would still get favorable treatment. Mr. Krcmarik stated that Staff is now planning on taking the study to the work session of Council on February 23rd. Staff does not expect to have final recommendations at that point. They expect that many questions will be raised from the four members of Council that haven't heard much about the study, and then Staff expects more work will be necessary. Mr. Sibbald stated that Jim Duncan is one of the leading authorities on the sliding fee schedules. Mr. Krcmarik stated that Mr. Duncan is on retainer, and Staff is attempting to get Mr. Duncan back in to work with Staff the next time he is in Colorado. Ms. Janett questioned whether other fees, such as sewer and water and park land, have been examined to determine if they should have a varying fee schedule. Mr. Krcmarik stated that sewer and water are updating their own schedule and will be bringing that to Council after the discussion on the 23rd. He stated the park land and oversizing fees have purposely not been examined at this point due to the fact that a number of issues exist with street oversizing that would have to be addressed that would cloud the overall issue. Mr. Sibbald stated that he fears the cost of services increase will be assessed to new individuals coming into the community, and this will not solve the major problem. In response to questioning, Mr. Krcmarik stated that in December Staff brought the Capital Improvement Program to Council. Staff expects that over the next four months, projects are going to be identified and eventually prioritized over the summer. The objective Is to develop the next list of capital projects that will be built over the next four to six years after the 1997 Council election. Ms. Janett asked if some of the new projects will be looked at coming from new funds as opposed to new taxes. Mr. Krcmarik stated that some of the general fund sales taxes do go to capital now. Mr. Sibbald suggested determining a dedicated portion of the use tax as a way of helping mitigate some of the resistance from the development community. Ms. Janett suggested determining how much of the use tax carry-over fund historically has gone for capital and how much was regular operating capital. She also stated that one other determination that is being sought In the City Plan context Is whether the policy of phasing is an interim policy and whether to maintain it. AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES January 4,1996 Page 6 Mr. Sibbald stated that, in his view, one way to make the development phasing plan more effective would be to lessen what the development impact fee cost might be. He stated that one of the fundamental theories that occurs In land acquisition and development is that the seller of the land typically, given the real estate cycle, will absorb some of the potential negative impact of development fees. In other words, in one portion of the cycle, the land will be worth so much, and at another portion of the cycle, it will be worth that much less whatever the development impact fee cost might be. Mr. Sibbald also stated that Greeley already has a plan in place where if a development is within a certain area, you don't have to pay any park land fees. He feels that park land fees should be examined In an effort to encourage Infill. Ms. Janett stated that one comment that should be reiterated is the possibility of differential fees. Mr. Krcmarik stated that a study would need to be undertaken to demonstrate that it makes sense to have lower fees in one area than it does in another area similar to a study on sliding scales for multifamily versus single family. Mr. Krcmarik stated that he would return to the Board in February for an update on the Cost of Services Study. Leanne Lawrie gave the Board an update on the progress of the Affordable Housing Index/Annual Report. A format has been developed for the report. To date, contact has been made with people in Loveland, Longmont, and Greeley, and questions have been faxed to these people with the request to return the questionnaires by next week. Once the information is received back, a matrix will be developed. Ms. Lawrie welcomed any suggestion from the Board on information that they felt may be missing in the report. Mr. Sibbald stated that the Division of Housing has retained the University of Denver to develop a semiannual report on vacancies and feels that those efforts should not be duplicated. Mr. Sibbald also stated that the information being obtained for the report may be biased, and he has no confidence in Government - generated market data information. Mr. Sibbald also said that too much information is attempting to be garnered for this report. He believes what the Council and the Board was looking for was some sort of a way of measuring differing kinds of subsidy and economic situations that were going on in the comriwnity. He added that the Division of Housing study and the Affordable Housing Information Survey Consortium are documents that have probably done some of the groundwork for the report. Mr. Sibbald also stated that he would rather see.focus placed on half a dozen good indicators, such as median income, current vacancy rates, and new housing production. Ms. Cosgrove suggested the Board give feedback to Staff in terms of issues they feel the report should address. Ms. Greer requested a written copy of the list of questions that 0 AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES January 4,1996 Page 7 were faxed to people for information. Mr. Sibbald suggested Ms. Lawrie call Jeff Wolfe at Security Title to request a copy of his trust deed recording data, and such would be accurate information for the report to be based upon. Mr. Kavanagh stated that the Clerk and Recorder's office would also have accurate information. Mr. Waido told the Board that CDBG applicants will soon be required to use the HOME program application form instead of the CDBG form. The HOME form requires more financial information. A memo was distributed to the Board members. The memo addressed an issue about the Growth Management Committee considering implementing inclusions in their zoning that would required a percentage of a development to be set aside for affordable housing. Another consideration by the Growth Management Committee is to consider requiring mixed housing in developments and not allowing such requirements to later be amended. Mr. Sibbald stated that the inclusion in zoning would be a poor idea. However, he believes the ODP considerations are a step in the right direction. Ms. Cosgrove brought copies of a memo from May 4th so the Board could look at the memo and determine what they felt was still relevant in preparation for the upcoming study session. Ms. Janett stated that she could identify which items are in progress. Discussion was held concerning the February agenda. Ms. Cosgrove stated that some discussion had been held concerning possibly changing the Board's meeting time. She asked for feedback on whether or not members would like to have the time changed. Ms. Wagner moved adjournment, seconded by Ms. Greer. Upon unanimous vote, the meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.