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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 07/07/2006CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES 281 N. College Ave. Fort Collins, Colorado July 7, 2006 Denise Rogers, Acting Chair Ken Waido, Staff Liaison, 970-221-6753 Kurt Kastein, City Council Liaison, 970-223-0425 Board Members Present: Jon Fairchild, Kevin Brinkman, Michelle Jacobs, Donna Wetzler, Peter Tippett, and Joe Rowan. Denise Rogers was excused. Advance Planning Staff Present: Ken Waido. Council Members Present: None. Guests: Gordan Thibedeau, Executive Director, Larimer County United Way; Bob Browning, Chair, CDBG Commission. Acting Chair Jon Fairchild called the meeting to order with a quorum present at 4:05 p.m. Open Public Discussion Marilyn Heller, League of Women Voters, asked the Board for suggestions on a League of Women Voters' panel on affordable housing and economic development to be held in November. New Business Minutes Mr. Rowan moved the May 4, 2006 minutes be approved as submitted. Mr. Brinkman seconded, motion passed unanimously. Building Advocacy for Affordable Housing —Gordan Thibedeau Executive Director Larimer County United Way Gordan Thibedeau attended at the request of the Affordable Housing Board, which decided at a previous meeting to invite speakers involved with community affordable housing efforts. Mr. Thibedeau is involved with United Way's efforts to create a Housing Services Day Shelter in northern Fort Collins. The City of Fort Collins has not had a homeless day shelter since the New Bridges day shelter closed several years ago. United Way has found there is also a need for a shelter to serve the population of "hidden homeless" who do not have permanent Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board July 7, 2006 Minutes Page 2 of 4 residences. Rough estimates of the number of homeless people in Fort Collins are about 80 chronically homeless, and approximately 1000 to 1200 hidden homeless. The United Way is partnering with Catholic Charities Northern to offer assistance and a traditional day shelter to serve both homeless populations. The Housing Services Day Shelter will be located on Blue Spruce and Conifer, east of Jax Surplus. Catholic Charities Northern will operate a day shelter for homeless people at their current location. People wishing to access services and case management will be referred to the new location, which is predicted to serve 50 to 100 people per day. Mr. Thibedeau explained the planning process to the Board. The new shelter is tentatively scheduled to open in Fall 2007. The project has held two neighborhood meetings and met with the North Fort Collins Business Association. The United Way is working to keep neighboring citizens updated and involved with the shelter. Mr. Thibedeau feels, however, that advocacy will be needed to overcome resistance. He expects the project to be appealed to Council. Ms. Jacobs asked about public response to the shelter. Mr. Thibedeau replied that comments fell into three categories: concerns about lowered property values; concerns about increased crime; and comments that there are already enough health and human services providers on the north side of town. Many people are worried that those who don't want the services offered at the new shelter will loiter around surrounding businesses and neighborhoods rather than going to the Catholic Charities location. Mr. Brinkman asked about the need for the Day Shelter given the Catholic Charities and Open Door Mission shelters. Mr. Thibedeau responded that the Day Shelter will be unique because of its secular focus on case management to solve homelessness. Mr. Fairchild asked if the Day Shelter was within the purview of the Board. Mr. Waido responded that it was because the Shelter is part of the continuum of housing. The Board will invite Mr. Thibedeau to a future meeting to provide a progress report. City Budget/Impact on Affordable Housin Denise Rogers emailed the latest draft of her memo to council regarding budget reductions. Mr. Fairchild felt the memo made many good points. He asked for clarification on the average home price for new construction based on number of occupants. He was also curious how many people were considered for the income required to purchase the home. Mr. Rowan responded that the number would not matter because the comparison was based on income versus home price. Mr. Rowan asked how the memo would tie into the City's Housing Affordability Index. Mr. Waido said BBC Research and Consulting will present the final model to Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board July 7, 2006 Minutes Page 3 of 4 the Board next month. Ms. Jacobs would like the memo to mention cuts from 2004 on to show the cumulative loss of units. The Board would like to keep the memo to a single page. Mr. Fairchild requested the Board review the memo and email any comments to Denise Rogers. This item will be on the agenda for the August 3, 2006 meeting. Competitive Process A lication Review Criteria Additions Mr. Fairchild reminded the Board about their previous discussion on changing the Competitive Process staff rankings to include accessibility and efficiency. Mr. Browning was in attendance to answer any questions. Mr. Browning told the Board that the staff rankings are used as a guideline. He felt it would be more effective if the Board stressed their reasons for ranking a project in their recommendation letter and presentation rather than changing the staff ranking sheets. He also mentioned that the Competitive Process is extremely competitive; most agencies presenting a project with a special accessibility or environmental aspect would stress it to the CDBG Commission when presenting. Mr. Fairchild asked staff what would be necessary to require all ground floor units in CDBG funded projects to meet basic accessibility recommendations. Mr. Waido responded that code changes would be needed. Mr. Browning added that such requirements increase project costs. In addition, he asked the Board to consider how the units are rented or held for people who need the accessibility features. Mr. Browning suggested Mr. Fairchild speak contact Candace Mayo at Habitat for Humanity to get an estimate of increased costs due to accessible design features. Mr. Fairchild replied that the Board may not want to change the ranking sheets. He felt stricter requirements would be more effective. He will investigate the additional costs associated with Practical Housing for All accessibility. Mr. Waido said he would research how mandatory regulations would work with the Competitive Process. Staff will research cost differences between traditional, green built and accessible buildings. Old Business Liaison Reports Mr. Fairchild asked everyone to report on their network successes. Mr. Fairchild attended the Catholic Charities Northern advisory board meeting. He reported that United Way plans to change their funding structure in the future, which will leave Larimer County with 25% less funding. Other Business Fort Collins Affordable Housing Board July 7, 2006 Minutes Page 4 of 4 Open Board Discussion Mr. Waido announced two vacancies for the AHB. In addition, the CDBG Commission has a current opening, and will have an additional three vacancies in December. Meeting adjourned 5:45 pm. Respectfully submitted by Stephanie Sydorko July 24, 2006