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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunity Development Block Grant Commission - Minutes - 01/08/2015COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING MINUTES 215 N. MASON STREET, FORT COLLINS JANUARY 8, 2015, 6:30 P.M. COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Margaret Long (Chair) Holly Carroll (Vice Chair) Anita Basham Catherine Costlow Jamaal Curry Kristin Stephens Stephanie Mertens Steve Backsen Taylor Dunn COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Sharon Thomas OTHERS PRESENT: Note Taker In the absence of a chair, the meeting was called to order by staff member, Sharon Thomas, at 6:30 p.m., with a quorum present to elect officers. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Holly Carroll nominated Margaret Long as Chair of the CDBG Commission for the coming year. Catherine Costlow seconded. The motion passed unanimously, with Margaret Long abstaining. As new chair, Margaret Long conducted the remainder of the meeting. Anita Basham nominated Catherine Costlow as Vice Chair of the CDBG Commission for the coming year. Jamaal Curry seconded. Catherine Costlow declined the nomination and nominated Holly Carroll in her place. Jamaal Curry seconded. The motion passed unanimously, with Holly Carroll abstaining. PUBLIC COMMENT None. NEW COMMISSION MEMBERS INTRODUCED The three new commission members were asked to introduce themselves and share a bit of their background. 2 Stephanie Mertens, a Fort Collins native, has been a credit analyst with First National Bank for ten years. Introduced to the commission by Catherine Costlow and a former co- worker, she felt serving on this commission was a good way for her to take an active roll in the community. Steve Backsen, a retired social worker, moved to Fort Collins 2.5 years ago from Fargo, North Dakota where he worked with a variety of non-profit organizations such as United Way, Lutheran Social Services and the Public School Foundation. Taylor Dunn, another Fort Collins native, currently works in real estate and property management. He has extensive experience in political fundraising and environmental non-profit fundraising. He is recently returned from Peace Corp work in Morocco. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Anita Basham moved that the minutes from December 11, 2014, be approved as presented. Kristin Stephens seconded. Motion passed unanimously, with Jamaal Curry abstaining. APPROVAL OF WORK PLAN The 2015 work plan was presented. No changes were made from 2014 plan. Anita Basham moved to approve the work plan as presented. Kristin Stephens seconded. Motion passed unanimously. DISCUSS BY-LAWS Sharon Thomas noted that the by-laws have not been updated for many years so they should be reviewed for discussion and approval at a later meeting. Margaret Long asked if the by-laws require specific language and if HUD reviews them. Thomas said these are for the City only. She will look into the steps, if any, that are required following commission approval. Anita Basham inquired about the changes to the make-up of the commission. Thomas noted that change is determined by City Council and if a change were made to that it would likely require Council approval. Catherine Costlow did not recall disclosing what census area she resides in and inquired whether someone goes through to make sure each area is represented on the commission. Thomas wasn’t sure if it was done, and noted that appointments are made by Council. STAFF REPORTS AND PROGRAM UPDATES 3 Sharon Thomas reported that Project Self-Sufficiency (PS-S) appointed a new Executive Director, Tracy Mead, formerly of Education and Life Training Center. ELTC is seeking a new Executive Director. They sold their previously owned building, it is unknown if they will be seeking a new location. According to Thomas, Heidi Phelps, Grant Programs Administrator in the Social Sustainability Department had concerns with Homelessness Prevention Initiative (HPI), who received federal CDBG funds in the amount of $45,000 in fiscal year 2014. HPI’s executive director, Richy Lynn, submitted an email to the City with concerns about data collection regulations and asked the City to relax the regulations for them because of the burden placed on the volunteers who collect the information. Phelps responded to HPI saying that because the grant came from federal dollars the City does not have the authority to change the requirements. HPI was asked to respond in writing by January 30, 2015 to let the City know if they will be able to comply with the requirements. Catherine Costlow thought HPI had received funding in the past and wondered if they hadn’t collected the data previously. Thomas said they received City funds previously and thought they were collecting the correct data. While the same data collection is required for everyone, they are enforced more carefully with those receiving federal funds because of the possibility of a federal audit. Stephanie Mertens asked Thomas what it is they are required to collect. Thomas said those requesting assistance need to show 3 months of pay stubs to prove they are low income, but Phelps had already relaxed that to 1 month because those needing this emergency assistance may not have 3 months of stubs available. Those requesting the assistance also may not be bringing the required paperwork to the initial visit. It is also believed that because the funds are sought from 5 or so local churches there may not be a means to make copies. Jamaal Curry inquired as to whether some of the funds could be used to procure copy machines or other equipment needed to meet the record keeping requirements. Thomas said they would have to come before the commission for approval to do so. Sharon Thomas reported that errors in reimbursement requests are persisting. Of the 25 projects she is the administrator for; 10 – 12 had significant errors. She warned the agencies that future funding could be affected if the errors continue. The biggest problems being seen are missing information or numbers not matching up, possibly due to rounding errors. Steve Backsen inquired about the length of the reports. Thomas said supporting documentation varies greatly in length depending on the purpose for the grant. Catherine Costlow asked if there was a correlation to the size of the non-profit. 4 According to Thomas there doesn’t seem to be a correlation to the size, but there could be to agencies that experience staff turnover. If there are new staff members they are encouraged get technical assistance from City staff, but changes in agency staff are not always reported. Organizations with 4 errors over the course of the grant year may not be eligible for funding the following year. Wednesday, January 14, 2015 the human service report, Human Service Partners: A Community Snapshot will be released featuring stories of 25 of the 26 agencies funded in fiscal year 2013. The release will be held that evening in the gymnasium of Fullana School, The Matthews House Community Life Center at 200 Grant Street. Sharon Thomas reported that Beth Rosen will be going before City Council on January 20, 2015 for approval of allocating HOME and Affordable Housing Funds in the spring cycle of the Competitive Process. Anita Basham inquired whether that means the 5 days scheduled for presentations in March would hold. Thomas replied that there will not be an answer until the application deadline in the third week of February. Kristin Stephens pointed out that there has always been some housing during the spring process and it will likely be just a few extra housing applications. The goal is to have all the housing applications presented on the first night so the Affordable Housing Board can watch them and then give their recommendations to the CDBG Commission at a later date. Kristin Stephens reported that she is on the committee working on the Affordable Housing Strategic Plan. Starting in December it has been meeting every couple of weeks. She is seeking input as it is used to guide the Commission’s decision making. So far they have looked at plans of other cities, both comparable to Fort Collins and major metropolitan areas. Thomas said there were two 5-year plans that need to be updated by Social Sustainability; the Consolidated Plan that lays out how the City will allocate CDBG and HOME funds and the Affordable Housing Strategic Plan. Thomas encouraged Commission members to look over the previous strategic plan and compare it to past years of funding to see where gaps are or where things should be restated in more inclusive language and let Kristin know. OTHER Sharon Thomas stated that the new applications would be going live tomorrow, January 10, 2015. On the recommendation of the consultants there is no mandatory technical assistance and training for applicants is no longer being offered. As a result, more attention may need to be paid to the proposals. Applications are very similar to last year. The pre-application questions have been rolled into the standard application and a new question regarding community partnerships has been added at Steve Backsen’s suggestion. 5 The Social Sustainability Department is still working on a new department strategic plan that may help guide who should be funded in the future. Thomas is hoping a draft will be available before spring deliberations. ADJOURNMENT Kristin Stephens made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Anita Basham seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Meeting was adjourned at 7:19 pm. NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting is scheduled for February 12, 2015, 6:30 p.m., 215 N. Mason Street, Conference Room 1A.