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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunity Development Block Grant Commission - Minutes - 03/02/2000CITY OF FORT COLLINS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT COMMISSION Meeting Minutes March 2, 2000 Phil Majerus, Chair Alfred Flores, Vice Chair Bill Bertschy, City Council Liaison The meeting of the Community Development Block Grant Commission was called to order by Vice Chairman Alfred Flores, beginning at 6:40 p.m., at 281 North College, Conference Room A, Fort Collins, Colorado. Commission members present included: Vice Chair Alfred Flores, Vi Guthrie, Brett Hill, Cheryl Zimlich. Bill Steffes and Linda Coxen arrived late. Staff present: Ken Waido, Jackie Davis, Maurice Head, Julie Smith, and Melissa Bauer Islam. DISTRIBUTION OF COMPETITIVE PROCESS APPLICATIONS Ken Waido reported. The 28 proposals are about the same in number as last year. There is about $2.5 million in requests, with about $1.3 million available for funding. Due to the new applications, this year's packet will be easier to review. Some applicants took a creative approach with fonts in order to fit the answer within the space provided. Anticipated future changes: 1) Instruct the applicant to state what the funds would be used for; and 2) define font styles and sizes. It is hoped that the Staff ranking will facilitate discussion and make decision making easier. The Affordable Housing Board received the seven housing proposals. Staff will forward their rankings. The Board will have a meeting on March 23 at 4:00 p.m. to review applications, formulate priorities, and forward their questions and concerns to the Commission. CDBG Commission are allowed to attend the Affordable Housing board meeting. At the April 12 CDBG meeting, the Affordable Housing Board will present first with their priorities and comments. Then the applicants will present. The balance of the meeting will proceed as it has in years past. At this point in the meeting, a quorum was attained. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF 12/9/99 AND 1/13/00 Moved by Mr. Steffes, seconded by Ms. Zimlich: To approve the minutes of December 9, 1999, as written. Motion approved unanimously. Moved by Ms. Guthrie, seconded by Ms. Zimlich: To approve the minutes of January 13, 2000, as written. Motion approved unanimously. Community Development Block it Commission Meeting of March 2, 2000 Page 2 CONSOLIDATED PLAN The Consolidated Plan was included in the Commission's packet to review. The Action Plan will be completed once Council adopts the FY 2000-2001 funding allocations. Ms. Smith solicited input for suggested corrections and/or additional data. It was noted that without Census data this year, the data used refers back to 1990 and 1995. Ms. Smith noted that the Consolidated Plan gives priority to housing in 30-50% AMI. Once comments have been returned, Ms. Smith will redraft the document, submit it for review by the Commission, and then submit it to Council for review and approval. In response to questions by Commission members on the applications, Staff noted that the rankings will incorporate, in essence, the last iteration of the Consolidated Plan priorities. The Fort Collins -Loveland Metropolitan Statistical Area Report authored by HUD, Supervisory Economist, Jim Coil was discussed. Staff has met with Jim Coil. Staff generally agrees with his conclusions as mirroring the findings from the needs and strategies report a year prior. Possible misinterpretations of the report were discussed. Mr. Waido has been working with Larry Kendall on housing numbers. This year will be the biggest building year yet, with 1100 multifamily units to come online. Buffalo Run has pulled permits. The tax -credit developers will be the first to go forward with affordable housing in the present climate. CDBG & HOME STATUS REPORTS Staff informed the Commission of the Neighbor to Neighbor closing and the machinations thereof. Neighbor to Neighbor's Board members have realized income as a result of the transaction. These members included: 1) A realtor, $43,000; 2) An attorney, $8,000; 3) An insurance agent, $1,000. The Board members disclosed conflicts of interest to the Neighbor to Neighbor Board but not to the City or HUD. Staff, upon learning of the conflicts, informed HUD and requested an exemption. HUD allowed the closing to proceed issued the exemption. After closing, HUD CPD representatives expressed concerns over the propriety of the closing. Extensive discussion followed. Commission members expressed serious concern, ranging from puzzlement to outrage, with a number of issues, including the following: d• The reported personal gains were excessive as reported. ❖ Disclosing conflicts only within the Neighbor to Neighbor board is ineffective. Community Development Grant Commission Meeting of March 2, 2000 • Page 3 ❖ The type of personal gain as reported is just wrong in this situation. ❖ Arguably, the benefit to the community outweighs the concerns over conflict. This was the thrust of the HUD decision to allow the closing. •3 This type of dealing brings Neighbor to Neighbor's reputation into serious question. ❖ Commission members may tend to view Neighbor to Neighbor in a different light due to the nature of the procedures in this matter. ❖ All nonprofit boards should be made aware of what constitutes a conflict of interest. ❖ There is lessened enthusiasm for approving projects that result in substantial financial gain to members of the involved nonprofit board. ❖ The Board's goals are suspect when its activities enrich its members with sums that more than double the annual income of a qualified family of that housing project. In response to expressed concerns and questions, Mr. Waido presented a summary history of past statements of conflicts in various entities and their dealings with the City. Ms. Davis gave an overview of the financial package involved. It was noted that the Board members declared no conflict of interest on their application forms. Commission members were interested in the timing of the realtor commission in comparison to when the transaction began. Moved by Mr. Steffes, seconded by Mr. Hill: To direct staff to send a letter of concern from the Commission, inviting the Neighbor to Neighbor's Board of Directors for a luncheon meeting on March 22, 2000, to discuss the issues of conflict of interest. It was noted that Mr. Collins and the Board President were specifically invited. Other Board and Commission members are encouraged to attend. The location will be announced later. Motion approved unanimously. Following the meeting, letters will be sent to all nonprofit boards concerning conflicts of interest. Upon motion by Mr. Hill and second by Ms. Zimlich, the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.