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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAffordable Housing Board - Minutes - 01/07/2010CITY OF FORT COLLINS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOARD MEETING MINUTES 281 N. College Ave. Fort Collins, Colorado January 7, 2010 Ben Blonder, Vice Chair Ken Waido, Staff Liaison, 970-221-6753 City Council Liaison: Lisa Poppaw Board Members Present: Ben Blonder, George Bryan, Dan Byers, Marie Edwards, Karen Miller, Wendie Robinson, and Mike Sollenberger Board Members Absent: None. Advanced Planning Department Staff Present: Ken Waido Council Members Present: None. Other Staff Present: Tess Heffernan with the City Manager’s Office. Board Vice-Chair Ben Blonder called the meeting to order at 4:01 PM Open Public Discussion: None. New Business. Welcome New Members. Mr. Blonder welcomed the two new Board members, Karen Miller and Wendie Robinson. Approval of Minutes: Mr. Bryan made a motion to approve the minutes from the November 5, 2009 Affordable Housing Board meeting. Mr. Blonder seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously passed. Conversation with Affordable Housing Providers: Staff member Waido opened the discussion by stating there had been questions from the Affordable Housing Board members about how the providers communicate with their residents to determine resident needs and how to provide better services to them. He introduced John Tuchscherer, Programs Manager, and Michelle Christensen, Resident Services Manager from the Fort Collins Housing Authority; Ashley Monahan, CARE Housing Property Asset Manager; Wendie Robinson, Director of the Neighbor-to-Neighbor; and Candace Mayo, Executive Director of Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity. Each speaker distributed handouts to the Board members and discussed their programs. The Board asked Mr. Tuchscherer about the number of single family units their organization has. He responded that of the original 26 units, 15 will be sold. The Board 2 expressed concern regarding the shortage of the 0 to 30% AMI units and inquired as to how more housing stock could be acquired. Mr. Tuchscherer thinks the units would need to be directly subsidized. In response to comments about property maintenance, Mr. Tuchscherer said that the Housing Authority receives 80% to 85% of necessary funds from HUD to operate public housing, and the rest of the funds must be taken from their capital funds. Ashley Monahan with CARE Housing stated program requirements are that the applicants need to be employed at least 20 hours per week and have one child. The properties are all tax credit properties. The Board commended CARE Housing on their program. Wendie Robinson from Neighbor-to-Neighbor stated that their program has a 95% success rate. Since the fiscal year began in July, they have counseled 800 families. The Board asked if money is available in the grant fund currently for emergency rent assistance. She replied that the program is strong, and the maximum available to any individual is $300. The Board also inquired if individuals have ever been turned down. She replied that does happen, but they do help individuals determine what other resources may be available; i.e., family members, a church, etc. If individuals are faced with homelessness, they are always apprised of their options. Candace Mayo with Habitat for Humanity said that some funds are received from CDBG, but those funds are paid back when the house is sold. Most of the money to fund the program is grass roots money raised through individual donations, churches, and corporations. She added that the program has had no foreclosures. The Board stated the presentations were very helpful and answered many of the Board members’ concerns and questions. The Board also suggested that a tour of the facilities might be beneficial. Waido said there are tours available and he will follow up. Green Building Standards: Gary Schroeder, Energy Services Manager for the City of Fort Collins Utilities Department, and Felix Lee, former Chief Building Official for the City, provided an update on the Green Building Program in Fort Collins. Waido had previously distributed the Program Development Plan to Board members. City Council has mandated City staff to develop a Green Building Program in order for the City to remain a leader in green building development. Mr. Schroeder stated that Mr. Lee’s work is being supported by funding through the Energy Efficiency Block Grant, which are federal stimulus funds. The staff work done to date will be presented to the City Council work session on Tuesday, January 12th. The objective is to get the Council’s feedback and direction early in the program which will enable staff to reaffirm their intentions before moving forward. The Board asked several questions of Mr. Schroeder and Mr. Lee. First, has the staff involved members of the building industry? The Board also expressed concerns about the effect of green building on the affordable housing program. Opinions were expressed that if the cost of the housing unit is so great that the family can’t get into it in the first place, then what is accomplished for affordable housing. The Board also stated that 3 every time a code change takes place, the cost of the homes always increase, and it is their concern about what this will do to the entry level housing stock of the future. It was suggested that a financial impact statement be provided that will show what the financial impact will be on smaller, more affordable homes. The Board also asked if the Green Building Code will impact remodel and updates to existing homes. Mr. Schroeder stated the City provides incentives on the design side to help people design commercial and institutional buildings. Staff has found that these buildings aren’t costing more to build. The construction costs are coming in at the same level as conventional buildings due in large part to a more integrated design process and more time spent on the design side. The standard that will be used was developed by the National Association of Home Builders. The focus is the design of a building, best practices, and making it function in the most efficient way. In response to the question regarding the impact on remodels and updates to existing homes, Mr. Lee responded that if 75% of the existing floor area or extensive renovation on 75% of the existing floor area will be completed, that home owner would come under the standard. Mr. Schroeder added that it is not the intention to add a point of sale clause mandating that the house be brought up to the standard if it is sold. Affordable Housing Strategic Plan: Mr. Blonder and Mr. Sollenberger are both members of the Strategic Plan Subcommittee along with two members of the CDBG Commission. The CDBG Commission members do not want the Affordable Housing Strategic Plan to specifically identify targeted projects because it hems them in during review of competitive process applications. Joe Frank, Director of the Advance Planning Department, is indicating that City staff wants targets and structure. Joe Frank will meet with the subcommittee on Tuesday 1/12 to discuss the issues. Mr. Blonder stated that the subcommittee believes that it shouldn’t be that specific. The competitive process is important because it can allow other projects to come to the table that haven’t been considered previously. Waido stated there are needs across the entire housing continuum, and the Strategic Plan should help the Affordable Housing Board and CDBG Commission prioritize which applications should be the focus of the available funding. City Plan Update: Waido stated the first phase of the City Plan Update is a grounding effort to identify where we are, what the current City values and goals are, what has been accomplished under City Plan since its adoption in 1997, and to identify the challenges in the future. The first public event will be Wednesday, March 3, at 7:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Center. A futurist named Thomas Frey is going to talk about future trends, what’s happening within cities. There is a City Council work session scheduled for March 23rd at 6:00 p.m. which is open to the public. There is some background information that is being prepared by six or seven subteams that are working on providing community topic snapshots. Megan Woodman is the convener of the Housing Subteam. Waido distributed an outline of the current City goals, accomplishments and future challenges. He asked Board members to email him with comments and suggestions. Once completed, staff will ask City Council for direction for the next phase. The Board suggested that a liaison be present at City Council work sessions when there is an issue affecting Affordable Housing. 4 Election of Officers: The Affordable Housing Board unanimously elected Ben Blonder as Chair and Dan Byers as Vice Chair. Other Business: Affordable Housing Board Retreat: Waido introduced Tess Heffernan with the City Manager’s Office, who will facilitate and organize a Board retreat to review Board member and staff roles and responsibilities. Heffernan stated this session was suggested by the Board in November as a method to assist Board members in clarifying and gaining a better understanding of their duties. After discussion, it was decided that two hours would be allotted for the retreat and that Waido will coordinate the meeting time. Survey Results of Customer Satisfaction with Support Services Provided by City Staff: Waido thanked all Affordable Housing Board members for responding to the survey and distributed an analysis which explains the results. It also identifies changes and items that need to be worked on in the next year. Waido added that there was a negative comment that all suggested agenda items to do not always get put on the agenda. While he thought that all suggested topics were placed on the agenda, steps will be taken in the future to ensure that does not happen. Section 108 Loans: Mr. Sollenberger suggested the Section 108 loans be revisited. Waido explained that Section 108 is where the City can request a loan from HUD and get a loan set aside up to five times the City’s annual CDBG Entitlement Grant. It can be used for any eligible CDBG expenditure. The issue is that the security for the loan or program is the City’s CDBG Entitlement Grant. If the project doesn’t cash flow and is not able to make the loan payment, the entitlement grant is the security. The argument is that the City is gambling some of it entitlement grant that can go to organizations like Neighbor to Neighbor, the Housing Authority, etc. that would receive future CDBG grant allocations. The question is if the gamble is worth the risk. Waido stated it hasn’t been decided, but it is going to City Council’s Finance Committee in February. If approved by the Council, a fairly generic application will be submitted to HUD to get in the door. Competitive Process Proposals: Waido stated the City is going paperless. An online program called ZoomGrants is the program on the internet where applicants will be filing proposals. Board members can view the applications online or staff will provide hard copies of the proposals to any Board members requesting them. Point Chart: Waido stated he will reconvene the Point Chart Committee. Meeting adjourned at 6:18 p.m.