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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 10/06/2005CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES 281 N. College Ave. Fort Collins, Colorado October 6, 2005 Kay Rios, Chair Denise Rogers, Vice Chair Ken Waido, Staff Liaison, 970-221-6753 Kurt Kastein, City Council Liaison, 970-223-0425 Board Members Present: Kay Rios, Denise Rogers, Michelle Jacobs, Kevin Brinkman, Joe Hebert, Jon Fairchild and Peter Tippett. Advance Planning Staff Present: Maurice Head, Ken Waido. Council Members Present: None. Guests: Beth Sowder, Neighborhood Services Manager, Neighborhood Services; Terri Bryant, Finance and Budget Director, Utilities; Patty Bigner, Customer Connections Manager, Utilities. Kay Rios called the meeting to order with a quorum present at 4:05 p.m. There were no comments from the public. New Business Minutes The September 1 minutes were amended as follows. On the third page, end of the first full paragraph, the sentence "Mr. Atteberry stated that he cannot recommend using $2.3 million for affordable housing production in light of other budget cuts." was changed to read "Mr. Atteberry stated that he cannot recommend funding affordable housing given the current budget cuts." On the third page, last sentence of the second full paragraph, the figure 11$700,000" was corrected to "$175,000." On the third page, the third full paragraph was struck and rewritten. The new paragraph reads: "Kay Rios expressed her concern that the people who will suffer the most from the new budget are seniors, the disabled, and fixed and low income citizens. Michelle Jacobs added that youth will suffer as well. Mr. Atteberry disagreed that Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board October 6, 2005 Minutes Page 2 of 6 youth will be affected negatively. He did, however, agree with Ms. Rios that the groups she listed will be affected negatively." Peter Tippett moved the minutes be accepted as corrected; Kevin Brinkman seconded, motion carried unanimously. The minutes from the September 15, 2005 special meeting were also attached. Michelle Jacobs moved the minutes be approved as submitted, Jon Fairchild seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. 3-Unrelated Ordinance Update Beth Sowder, Neighborhood Services Manager, gave the Board an update regarding the 3-unrelated ordinance. The 3-Unrelated Ordinance will affect three related areas: rental code, boarding house provisions, and definitions of family and occupancy limits in the Land Use Code. The definition of family will be modified to include family plus an additional person, or two adults plus dependents and one additional person. Occupancy limits will apply to all dwelling units —not just single and two family units. Boarding houses will be allowed in numerous zones, with requirements for occupancy and parking. The ordinance will also require a truth in advertising clause requiring fine print that discloses who can legally rent a given property. In addition, the ordinance will change violations from criminal to civil offenses, with fines running from $500 to $1000. Tess Heffernan, Policy and Project Manager, City Manager's Office, and City Attorney's Office will present a financial summary of the ordinance at the October 18 session. Enforcement of occupancy limits will require a Housing Compliance Inspector. Rental registration costs would be $40 initially per unit, then $20 annually per unit thereafter. The Board expected Ms. Sowder to provide them with a handout, but she was unable to distribute the Agenda Item Summary at this meeting. Ms. Sowder informed the Board that the AIS will be available on October 13, 2005. The ordinance will be presented to Council on October 18, 2005, and public comment will be accepted at that time. The second reading is currently scheduled for November 15. Kay Rios expressed her concern that that the Board was not being given the necessary information and time to do their job of making recommendations to Council. She asked the Board how they wished to proceed, given that they would not meet again after the AIS is available or before the first reading. Denise Rogers suggested that the Board write a memo to Council regarding the Board's position. She said the memo should be worded similarly to the following: "We think this ordinance has the potential to have a significant impact on affordable housing in this community. It is our job as members of the Affordable Housing Board to provide input and advice to City Council, and we are unable to do this given the current timeframe." Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board October 6, 2005 Minutes Page 3 of 6 Ms. Rogers moved the Board write the memo to Council, Michelle Jacobs seconded, motion passed unanimously. Kay Rios will write a draft memo, send a copy to Denise Rogers, and send the memo to Council for distribution in the October 18 meeting packets. Proposed 2006 Water, Wastewater, Stormwater Plant Investment Fee and Electric Development Charges Terri Bryant, Finance and Budget Director, Utilities, gave a presentation on plant investment fees and electric development charges. Plant investment fees (PIFs) and electric development fees and charges are used to fund capital improvements for new development. PIFs charge new customers for their impact to the system, while rates help fund daily operations of utilities. The City has not updated its PIFs since 1998. The electric development fees and charges were last changed in 2004. Utilities hired a consultant to compare Fort Collins to other municipalities, and study potential fee changes. The consultants examined plant capacity needed to serve future customers. Water plant is at build out, so Utilities will use what already exists to determine needed equity. Wastewater and Stormwater still have much planning and development. Ms. Bryant said that the impact on single family if the proposed fees are passed is an overall increase of 30%. She explained that part of the increase is due to the large gap between fee increases. Kay Rios asked why wastewater is proposed to increase by 174%. Ms. Bryant explained that when the wastewater fees were initially developed, infiltration and inflow were not considered. There are also other variable sources not considered, including sump pump usage. Kevin Brinkman asked how the City fees compare to other municipalities. Ms. Bryant responded that Fort Collins is near the bottom of the fee range; the proposed increases will shift the City to the middle of the range. Maurice Head ran the new Housing Affordability Index model given the proposed fee increases. He told the Board that the fees will affect lower income families, but not as drastically as other affordable housing variables would. The HAI model showed that increasing interest rates by 0.5% would affect nearly five times as many families as the proposed Utilities fee increase would. Mr. Head also told the Board that he and Terri Bryant have been discussing several affordable housing projects to see if it is possible to reduce costs in this area. Jon Fairchild moved the Board write a memo to Council recommending that Council freeze PIFs and electric development charges for affordable housing projects. Michelle Jacobs seconded the motion. Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board October 6, 2005 Minutes Page 4 of 6 Denise Rogers proposed the friendly amendment that the memo should include the justification that if the City slashes affordable housing funding, then the City is morally obligated to do something along these lines to show their continued support for affordable housing. The amended motion passed unanimously. Jon Fairchild will draft the amended memo to Council. Budgeting for Outcomes Kay Rios attended the public budget hearing at the last Council meeting. She read a letter to Council at the meeting asking Council to step back and consider the results of cuts to affordable housing money, disbandment of the Affordable Housing Board, reductions to response time to affordable housing issues, and reductions to a wide range of City services including Dial -A -Ride and public libraries. She asked Council to consider that many of the people who need these services cannot replace them on their own. Ms. Rios's understanding regarding the budget is that all departments did not create their Boards and Commissions budgets in the same way. The Advance Planning Department itemized their Board costs, but Ms. Rios noticed while reading the budget that many other departments absorbed the costs of their Boards and Commissions. Ms. Rios mentioned Darin Atteberry's comment at the September 1 meeting that some boards, such as the Affordable Housing Board and the Housing Authority Board, possibly could be combined. Ms. Rios explained that this would remove the first tier of the competitive process because the FCHA applies for CDBG funding. Ms. Rios asked about the proposed expansion of the role of the CDBG Commission. Ken Waido replied that there is a proposal to take over the management of additional social service funds that the City previously gave to the county for distribution. Kay Rios pointed out that there are high dollar amounts for computers, document management and IT in the budget. She said she is concerned about the City's priorities when services that affect people's lives are cut before funding for a new water slide at Mulberry Pool. She said the impression is that if you are not healthy, wealthy, and educated, then the City wants you to go somewhere else. Ms. Rios added that cutting affordable housing monies and the Affordable Housing Board will not solve the problems of affordable housing in the community. Kay Rios asked the Board what action they would like to take. Jon Fairchild suggested a memo to Council dealing with hard numbers rather than political items. Kay Rios will draft a memo to Council suggesting that if they are going to review the roles and costs of Boards and Commissions at the first of the year, then they should systematically break out the costs of all Boards and Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board October 6, 2005 Minutes Page 5 of 6 Commissions so that a fair comparison could be made. Ms. Rios will send a draft of the memo to the Board. AHB Work Plan Postponed. Competitive Process Update Ken Waido presented the Board with a handout listing Competitive Process funding rankings. The first six Affordable Housing Board priorities were fully funded, while the seventh was partially funded. Some money was left in reserve. Housing Affordability Index Study The Housing Affordability Index study draft was distributed to the Board. Maurice Head asked the Board to review the study and provide comments at the next meeting. Old Business Update/Reports on Sub -Committee Efforts None. Liaison Reports Dial -A -Ride. Kay Rios presented her comments to Kurt Kastein's letter regarding DAR. In his letter, Ms. Rios said he mentioned that the City was paying $175,000 for five rides. He also mentioned that the City is working with SAINT, which Ms. Rios says is not true. Ms. Rios countered that his average number of riders is incorrect as well. She said that Council is operating under false assumptions. Ms. Rios also told the Board that three transportation manager positions are being eliminated, and that the City bike programs are being cut. Other Business Open Board Discussion Ken Waido discussed a Nimby article that was recently in the Coloradoan. The article dealt with owners of large multimillion dollar homes, who are upset that larger homes are being built in their neighborhoods. r /1 I Meeting adjourned 5:30 pm. //G''; A c�l1 i Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board October 6, 2005 Minutes Page 6 of 6 Respectfully submitted by Stephanie Sydorko October 24, 2005