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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunity Development Block Grant Commission - Minutes - 08/14/2014COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING 215 N. MASON STREET, FORT COLLINS AUGUST 14, 2014, 6:30 P.M. COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Robert Browning, Chair Anita Basham Catherine Costlow Jamaal Curry Margaret Long Kristin Stephens COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Gordon Coombes, Holly Carroll, Kay Rios STAFF PRESENT: Sharon Thomas OTHERS PRESENT: Mary Atchison; Kate Jeracki, Note Taker The meeting was called to order by Chair Bob Browning at 6:32 p.m., with a quorum present. PUBLIC COMMENT None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES No minutes were presented. 2014 FALL COMPETITIVE PROCESS UPDATE Sharon Thomas reported that the Commission will have approximately $760,000 in HOME and Affordable Housing funds available for the Fall Competitive Cycle. The application deadline is Aug. 21; the Commission should receive the applications for review by Sept. 4, and deliberations are set for Oct. 16. The Fort Collins Housing Authority has submitted two requests for tenant‐based rental assistance, one for administration of the program. Staff is also expecting a proposal from the Loveland Housing Authority for emergency repairs for low‐income homeowners, and Beth Rosen is reviewing a proposal to install solar power for homeowners making less than 80 percent AMI for eligibility for funding. Thomas said this request may be held until spring. Another possible proposal that may not be received from Neighbor to Neighbor in time for fall would be to build tiny homes for the homeless on leased land. If the homes are moveable, they would not be eligible for HUD funding. 2 Thomas said the Sept. 11 meeting is a required pubic hearing, but staff commitments may require it to be postponed until Oct. 8. She said she would contact Commission members about their availability. COMPETITIVE PROCESS REVIEW UPDATE Mary Atchison, director of the Social Sustainability Department, provided an overview of proposed changes to the Competitive Process within the department’s Social Sustainability Strategic Plan (SSSP) and Competitive Process Review based on guidance from City Council and the findings of the annual Gaps Analysis. These changes have yet to be finalized, according to Atchison. Recommendation 1: Work with the City Council to articulate priorities for Competitive Process funding. The priorities will be finalized with the SSSP using the four key focus areas of Housing, Community Wellness and Health, Income Disparity and Mobility. Recommendation 2: Separate all affordable housing projects from the Competitive Process. Atchison said this change would have the Affordable Housing Board rather than the Commission making recommendations on allocation of all housing funds to Council. Staff would require potential housing applicants to submit a letter of intent before going through the proposal process or making a formal presentation. These letters would be reviewed by staff and the Affordable Housing Board before moving forward. This change would remove all private and City housing programs from the Commission’s purview. Social Sustainability staff who would be involve in the Affordable Housing Funding Process: Affordable Housing Administrator – Beth Rosen Social Sustainability Specialist – Sue Beck‐Ferkiss Administrative Assistant – Janet Freeman Grant Programs Administrator (Federal Programs) – Heidi Phelps Recommendation 3: Consider using City funds only to fund public service and public facilities projects. Atchison said this would mean the Commission would not be allocating federal funds to public service and public facilities during the Competitive Process, which would remove the complexity of compliance with federal regulations and provide the City more flexibility to address local priorities. Recommendation 4: Eliminate the Pre‐Application phase of the Competitive Process. Atchison said staff has already addressed this recommendation for the Fall Cycle. Recommendation 5: Make Technical Assistance meetings optional. Atchison said staff has already addressed this recommendation for the Fall Cycle. 3 Recommendation 6: Develop a mechanism for evaluating the effectiveness of funding decisions. Under the SSSP, grantees will need to show how their programs align with the plan and provide evidence throughout the funding year. Atchison said she would like a committee made up of Commission members, grant recipients and staff to develop meaningful metrics. Recommendation 7: Review contract monitoring and reporting processes to ensure compliance. Atchison said staff and the City’s Finance Department have addressed this recommendation, but the recommended study of other contract reporting procedures has yet to be formalized. Recommendation 8: Review and modify the name and charge of the CDBG Commission. Atchison said that this change will update the evolution of the Commission since it was established in 1990 and align funding with the Strategic Plan’s calendar year funding cycle, which has advantages for grantees as well as the City. The key to implementing these changes will be when and how to do it. Atchison is recommending having one funding process rather than two and that be shifted to late summer, eventually. Monthly Commission meetings should be held to meet with grant recipients to receive reports on how the projects that were funded are progressing. Social Sustainability staff involved in Human Service Funding Process: Grant Programs Administrator (Human Service) – Sharon Thomas Administrative Assistant – Janet Freeman Recommendation 9: Clarify the role of the Social Sustainability staff in the Competitive Process; remove requests for City staff funding from the Competitive Process. Atchison said the role of staff in funding in the Human Services category has not yet been discussed, but the department has submitted a budget request to provide funding for staff salaries to take them out of the funding process. On the Affordable Housing side, staff will spend more time with potential applicants and the Board discussing proposals and ensuring eligibility rather than helping prepare formal applications. Margaret Long asked how much money would be available for Human Services. Sharon Thomas estimated that the loss would be between $150,000 and $200,000 per year, depending on how much money the City receives in program income. This year the Commission allocated about $860,000 to Human Services, of which $640,000 came from City funds and the remainder from CDBG funds. She added that cutbacks in funding during the recession reduced Affordable Housing funds from about $1 million to $300,000 annually. 4 In response to a question from Bob Browning, Thomas said the reason housing requests will be going through the Affordable Housing Board is some feel that members are more in touch with the housing market and have expertise in tax credits and other factors that affect affordable housing projects. Browning asked about potential conflicts of interest on the Affordable Housing Board, as had arisen in the past. Thomas said she had brought up the issue, but others in the department did not see it as a major concern. Several Commission members expressed concern over the potential for conflict of interest with individuals with a vested interest in real estate projects reviewing and recommending funding for real estate projects. Thomas said staff would work closely with the Affordable Housing Board to avoid conflicts; for example, only one member of the current Board would have to recuse himself from voting on such projects. She added that the role and charge of the Affordable Housing Board will also have to be rewritten to allow it to recommend allocation of funds to Council. Presently the Board gives its priority rankings to the Commission, which can accept them or not as part of their overall deliberations. Browning said he wasn’t really concerned about who advises whom; his biggest concern is the loss of $150,000 for human service agencies and the cavalier disregard for what that will mean for the Fort Collins community. As staff takes on a greater role in allocating funds, the people won’t see who you like or don’t like, he said. Browning said the reason the Commission was set up in the first place was to provide an opportunity for the community to have more input in allocation of funds, not just have the City give it all to the big players like the Housing Authority and Neighbor to Neighbor. Catherine Costlow said it sounds like staff will have the power to decide what goes to the Affordable Housing Board, and the Board might not see every proposal. She said her concern was that funding is going back to a government agency and away from the citizens. Mary Atchison said the consultants were concerned that under the current process funding was being awarded to projects that did not meet eligibility requirements or to agencies that didn’t have the capacity to carry them out. Under the recommendation, staff will see if the projects can be done and the processes are in place before considering the proposal. Thomas said staff is committed to transparency and will develop a checklist to make sure everyone understands the criteria for decision making. Kristin Stephens said it seems to make sense to have people more knowledgeable about housing guiding those decisions, but she is worried about the loss of funding for Human Services, because people are already falling through the cracks. She is also disturbed by the lack of concern in this community; unless you make a ton of money, you can’t live 5 here, but nobody seems to care about where service providers can afford to live or the availability of child care. She would argue against the $150,000 cut at a time when more and more people are in need in Fort Collins. Margaret Long said it is an undisputed fact that donations to programs that provide for basic needs are dropping. More giving is targeted, which is reflected in the drastic drop in undesignated funds available. She suggested that Human Services agencies should be working collaboratively as much as possible. While he agreed that having a “no‐go” option for bringing requests forward is good, Browning questioned how big a problem funding projects that could not be fulfilled has been in the past. He said the Commission has been making those kinds of decisions for 12 years, and his concern is that the public will no longer be participating. Jamaal Curry asked if the recommendations were final, and whether the Commission could have a say in their implementation. Thomas said everyone can have a say in the process and one way to provide input would be to send a letter or email to City Council. She will send informal notes from tonight’s discussion to members for their review. STAFF REPORTS AND PROGRAM UPDATES Sharon Thomas said that a training session for agencies that have received funding in the last year will be held Sept. 9 and 10, to help improve reporting and reimbursement requests. She added that reporting is moving to ZoomGrants, so all the agencies will have all the tools to report electronically, and Commission members can review them, too. Thomas also reported on staff changes at several nonprofits that have received funds in previous cycles, some good; some that give cause for concern. To date, 18 interviews have been completed for the Human Services report; seven more are scheduled with agencies who have received funding to see who has been helped by the funds allocated by the CDBG Commission. Thomas added that she will be administering 25 Human Services contracts, while Heidi Phelps has the remaining seven contracts. Bob Browning said he would not be available during the month of October, so will miss the Fall Cycle deliberations, and he does not plan to apply for another term on the Commission when his term expires at the end of the year. Kay Rios is term‐limited at the end of 2014, so Sharon Thomas asked members to start recruiting to help fill the two vacancies. NEXT MEETING 6 The next regular meeting is scheduled for Sept. 11, 2014, 6:30 p.m., 215 N. Mason Street, Community Room. The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m.