Housing & Community Development Committee

HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE November 18, 2020 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER A meeting of the Clarksville Housing and Community Development Committee was called to order by Councilman David Allen on Wednesday, November 18, 2020, at 4:10 p.m. in the Housing and Community Development Conference Room, 1 Public Square, Suite 201, Clarksville, Tennessee. This meeting was conducted via Google Meets. ATTENDANCE The following members were connected to the meet: PARTICIPATING: David Allen, Jeff Burkhart, and Stacey Streetman Dennis Newburn, Brittney Cates, Deborah Johnson, Martias Kendrick, Tammy Kilgore, and Lisa Walker were physically present as well. APPROVAL OF ELECTRONIC MEETING Councilman Allen made a motion for the approval of the electronic meeting due to current COVID-19 concerns. Councilman Burkhart seconded the motion which passed unanimously. ADOPTION OF MINUTES Councilwoman Streetman made a motion for the approval of the minutes of the October 12, 2020 meeting. Councilman Burkhart seconded the motion which passed unanimously. NEW BUSINESS Update on the CDBG-CV Application Process Dennis Newburn, Director, Housing and Community Development, explained the City of Clarksville had received approximately $1.4 million earlier this year in two different CDBG-CV allocations. The initial plan for the funds was to acquire a local hotel and rehabilitate it to use for local homeless efforts. Unfortunately, the hotel owner did not agree with the offer presented and rejected the offer. As a result of that rejection, the Housing and Community Development office put together an application process and notified local non-profit organizations and other interested parties about the availability of approximately $1.4 million in CDBG-CV funds. In this application process, the types of proposals that could be received are limited to those things related to the coronavirus. The applications were initially due on November 8, 2020, but only three applications were received by that deadline. Mr. Newburn made the decision to then extend the application deadline to November 24, 2020 at noon. At that time, the staff will look at all the proposals that have been received and go through the evaluation process. In doing so, the Housing and Community Development Committee will have a major role in this process. Brittney Cates explained the process and what this committee’s role will be. She explained that once the deadline has passed, the Housing and Community Development staff will review applications for eligibility. Once it is determined which projects are eligible, the committee will be sent a copy of the applications along with the scoring sheets for their review. At the next committee meeting on December 14th, the staff will go into more detail and discussion. The actual scoring of the applications will be completed at the meeting on the 14th. After that meeting, the committee’s recommendations will be taken to the Mayor for his review. The applications will be presented to the City Council at the Executive Session on January 5, 2021, at which time a public hearing will also be held. The City Council will vote on the applications at the Regular Session on January 7, 2021. After the City Council meeting, a substantial amendment will be submitted to HUD. Mr. Newburn stated the committee members will be receiving the applications along with instructions very soon. The committee members will be asked to review the applications before the meeting on December 14th. The actual scoring of the applications will take place at the meeting on the 14th. The Housing and Community Development staff will give the committee background information on all the proposals that were received and give recommendations based on eligibility. If an activity is not eligible under the program, the staff will let the committee know. The funding recommendations and funding amounts will come from the committee at the meeting on December 14th. The information will be sent to the committee members approximately the last week of November. CDBG and HOME Programs Funding Reduction Mr. Newburn stated as part of the budget balancing process in Washington, DC, the City was notified that there would be a very small reduction in the amount of Fiscal Year 2020 CDBG and HOME funding. For CDBG the dollar amount was reduced by $155 and for HOME the dollar amount was reduced by $105 for a total of $260. The Housing and Community Development office will be absorbing those cuts under program administration so organizations or activities will not be affected by those cuts. Citizen Participation Plan Amendments Mr. Newburn stated as a condition of the receipt of HUD funds, the City is required to develop a plan that provides ample notice to the general public of how organizations and interested parties can apply for funding as well as for the general public to speak to how the City proposes to use HUD funds. This plan has been in place in one form or another since the early 2000’s and there have been a few amendments within the department over the years. In the last month the staff has found it necessary to go through another revision of the plan in light of changes in how this office communicates with the public due to Covid-19 as well as keeping up to date with the most recent and best practices to inform the public and to gather input from the public in regard as to how funds are spent. Ms. Cates explained that several updates have been made to the Citizen Participation Plan. Some of the most important are that there will now be virtual streaming at all public hearings. It has also been described in more detail when an amendment needs to be made and which category the amendment falls under. There are now four categories of amendments which are: substantial amendment, minor amendment, 1% amendment, and the emergency amendment. There is also more detail about Title VI information and the process that will be taken if there is an emergency disaster. The new plan also clarifies how the committee will provide recommendations on applications for CDBG funding. The Council Committee will provide recommendations every year on applications for CDBG funds. Final approval will be through the entire City Council. When the draft of the plan is completed, it will be emailed to the committee members for their review. The committee will vote on the plan at the December 14th meeting. Creation of Housing Non-Profit Organization Mr. Newburn explained that the City of Clarksville nor the Housing and Community Development department is a developer of affordable housing. The City can participate financially with organizations be it for-profit entities or non- profit entities. By creating a non-profit organization, it can help to play a major role for developers to increase the supply of affordable housing. This is a new tactic for the Housing and Community Development department and for the City and one that the Mayor has whole heartedly endorsed. It allows our off in addition to perhaps being a funder or partial funder in some cases, it also could allow the City to be able to use CDBG and HOME funds to leverage larger private funds and also play a major role in terms of where housing and affordable housing development could be located. Mr. Newburn stated that he was happy to report that major progress is being made in this and the hope is to be in the position to at least be formally organized and to have the organization do some activities during 2021 to help gain experience as the City looks at trying to implement things that will help to provide increased housing for persons who are homeless, to increase the supply of transitional housing as well as mixed use housing and also to leverage the funds for private dollars to be used to do the same thing. The hope a year from now is that the organization will have been actively involved in some major housing activities as they continue to move forward. The organization will basically work under the direction of Housing and Community Development but will still be a non-profit organization. The staff will provide the technical assistance to the organization as it gets up and running in its infancy stage and CDBG funds and HOME funds will be used to finance administrative as well as development activities in the non-profit organization. Staff Reports: Compliance Ms. Cates stated that she had recently been promoted to a Project Coordinator which includes being the Contract Compliance Officer. She provides technical assistance to other staff and clients. She will be the person to explain to a staff member heading up a project whether or not the project can go forward, why and what the rules are associated with that specific project. The purpose of this position is to keep and maintain program compliance with federal rules and regulations. On larger projects, she will be in charge of the labor standards portion of the project. Homeless and Shelter Plus Care Martias Kendrick explained that he is charge of working with the homeless organizations and the Shelter Pus Care Program. In regards to dealing with the organizations and homelessness, the City is part of the Middle Tennessee Continuum of Care which is comprised of 19 counties. Clarksville-Montgomery County is the largest county so it provides the largest number of assets to the Continuum. With the Continuum, points are received from HUD for the services that are provided. Those points determine how much funding the City receives. In the last year there was a transition from Buffalo Valley being the lead agency for the Continuum of Care to Community Housing Partnership from Franklin, TN. More non-profit agencies have been recruited to become part of the Continuum of Care. Now that more local agencies have become involved, the points have increased when means the City will have more influence and be able to receive more funding accessibility. The Housing and Community Development Office is the lead agency of the Point-in-Time Count, which is coming up in January, 2021. The Point-in-Time Count is a day that HUD sets aside toward the end of January each year where homeless is actually counted, whether they be sheltered or unsheltered, to see what the City’s homeless population is looking like. This is another way to determine funding needs and resources. Clarksville has basically a mini Continuum of Care called Clarksville Montgomery County United for Housing (CMCU4H). The number 4 stands for Housing, Sustainability, Employment, and Growth. These are the areas that are looked at when striving to provide services to the homeless community. We want to be able to house them, provide them with sustainability in housing, want to be able to get them employment so they can have sustainability, and we want them to grow where they actually can move forward to keep from becoming homeless again. Since Covid has started, all of the agencies have partnered with the United Way in a shower event called Shower of Love. The event was held almost every Friday during the summer by providing showers to those individuals who are homeless. With Covid, several of the organizations were shut down and were not able to provide accessibility. It was determined that the showers were a need that needed to be met so United Way was able to purchase a shower unit with 3 showers. Other agencies such as Urban Ministries, YaiPaks, Salvation Army and others were able to provide individuals with fresh clothing. These individuals were able to get a hot shower, meals, supplies, and clothing. We were also able to partner with the Matthew Walker Clinic to provide wellness checks to individuals who didn’t have access to medical care. The last shower event for the year is going to be December 11th. Individuals will be able to get coats, hats, and other warm clothing. YaiPaks will be giving out tents and sleeping bags to meet their needs for the winter. With the Shelter Plus Care Program, the City is now able to assist 22 individuals with permanent housing for homeless individuals. Currently there are 21 individuals in the program with one pending. Shelter Plus Care provides permanent housing for individuals who are chronically homeless. To be eligible for this program, individuals must be homeless, meet HUD’s definition of disability, have HIV/AIDS or have a drug or alcohol addiction, and meet HUD’s income guidelines. HOME Tammy Kilgore stated that she was in charge of the HOME Program. The City receives HOME funds as a Participating Jurisdiction every year along with CDBG funds. This year the City received a little over $489,000 in HOME funds. The City currently uses HOME funds to do reconstruction for homeowners whose houses are uneconomically feasible to repair. The house is demolished and rebuilt on the same footprint. HOME funds are also used for the First-Time Homebuyers Program. This program is for households that have never owned a house. The house must be inside the city limits of Clarksville and the household must meet HUD’s income guidelines. The program helps with the down payment and closing cost when they purchase their first home. Also, HOME funds can be used for development of rental properties. HUD requires that 15% of the HOME allocation be set-aside for a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO). Those organizations can actually use this funding to build or purchase housing that can be used for transitional housing or homeless needs. Finance Deborah Johnson, Finance Director, stated the City has received the initial awards for CDBG, HOME, ESG and Shelter Plus Care. The City has also received the first round of the CARES Act funding. She stated that she is in the process of reviewing procedures so that other staff members, this committee, along with the full council will have access readily available to them concerning the department’s finances. Housing Lisa Walker explained that she is the Project Manager. Her position covers two employees. One of the employees will be located at Building and Codes and will be taking over the inspections of houses going through the program. The other employee is in the Housing and Community Development office. This employee will be assisting with loans that are delinquent and trying to make sure that all loans are current. Ms. Walker also manages and oversees projects as far as reconstruction and the First-Time Homebuyers Program that is used with HOME funds. She also oversees the project that the staff is currently working on as a whole which is the 90-day Revitalization Plan. The staff is currently around day 60 of the Legacy Neighborhood that the Mayor wants to establish. The plans should be ready by the end of December to present to the Mayor. Ms. Walker also does inspections on the CHDO properties which are completed every other year. Those will be inspected next year to make sure they are still meeting the qualification of the program. Ms. Walker stated that she will also be working on the Frosty Morn project. She will be working with Councilwoman Streetman on a minority and women’s business enterprise event to be held next year.  Mr. Newburn stated that some changes have been made and will continue to be made in an attempt to be more responsive and responsible to the community, the funding sources and to the city itself. If any committee member has questions or comments, please call or come by. Our office wants to hear from the committee and their constituents in terms of ideas that our office could be doing but are not doing or improve upon things that we are currently doing. No members of the public were present. ADJOURNMENT There being no questions or comments, Councilman Allen made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Streetman. The meeting was adjourned at 4:42 p.m.