City Commission Workshop

City of Deltona 2345 Providence Blvd. Deltona, FL 32725 Agenda City Commission Workshop Mayor Heidi K. Herzberg Vice Mayor Victor M. Ramos Commissioner Maritza Avila-Vazquez Commissioner Anita Bradford Commissioner Loren King Commissioner Robert D. McFall Commissioner Chris Nabicht Monday, January 27, 2020 5:30 PM 2nd Floor Conference Room 1. CALL TO ORDER: 2. ROLL CALL – CITY CLERK: 3. PLEDGE TO THE FLAG: 4. BUSINESS: A. Discussion of Security Screening Commission Chambers - Deputy City Manager Dr. Cooper, City Manager’s Office (386) 878-8852. Background: In 2019, the City of Deltona instituted security screening measures for all City Commission Meetings. Under Florida Statute 790.06, sub-section (12)(a) (7) states that a license issued under this section does not authorize any person to openly carry a handgun or carry a concealed weapon or fiream into: (7) any meeting of the governing body of the county, public school district, municpality, or special district. Florida Statute 286.011 covers “public collegial body”, defines a meeting as any board or commission of any state agency or authority or of any agency or authority of any county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision. The word “collegial” means having more than one member. VCSO was requested to provide security screening at the State of the City in October 2019, which was a meeting per the definition above. Following the same approved protocol VCSO was requested to provide security screening at the 25th Anniversary Kick Off as this also met the definition of a meeting. Staff is requesting direction to continue or discontinue security City of Deltona Page 1 Printed on 1/23/2020 City Commission Workshop Agenda January 27, 2020 screening for these special types of meetings. The Commission may direct staff that security screenings occur only at regularly scheduled Commission meetings. As of today, VCSO will only provide security screening for regularly scheduled Commission meetings and workshops. Attachments: ACM Letterhead template.pdf B. Workshop - Disposition of the $15,000 program year 2019-2020 allocation originally granted to Community Life Center and a presentation on the CDBG public service priority(ies), evaluation and ranking for program year 2020-2021 - Ron A. Paradise, Director, Planning and Development Services (386) 878-8610. Strategic Goal: Social Services Background: $15,000 Community Life Center Allocation In July of 2019 the City Commission as part of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Annual Action Plan allocated approximately $85,000 to several public service entities to accomplish a range of services including homelessness prevention, elder care and child welfare. As part of the award process, a public service provider, Community Life Services (CLC), was awarded $15,000 for homelessness prevention (utility and rent assistance) purposes. However, before the $15,000 was allocated, the CLC dissolved. Therefore, the $15,000 is available for reallocation to another public service provider. While the $15,000 is available for reallocation, reallocation is circumscribed by HUD rules including adherence to national objectives and the public service provider selection process. There are options to reallocate the money for a park project, stormwater management purposes or housing assistance. Another option is to reallocate the money to a public service provider. However, to protect the spirit and intent of the CLC mission - homelessness prevention - the money should be reallocated to a public service provider engaging in homelessness service activities. As part of the July 2019 public service award process, the Neighborhood Center of West Volusia (TNCWV), was awarded $15,000 for a pilot program to serve as a first response to homelessness. Known as the Deltona First Response to Homelessness program, the activity provides emergency shelter and other services (hotel, fuel and food vouchers) for those who find themselves suddenly homeless. As per the last social services meeting on January 8, 2020, TNCWV reported half of the First Response to City of Deltona Page 2 Printed on 1/23/2020 City Commission Workshop Agenda January 27, 2020 Homelessness money within an approximately 3 month period has been expended. As evidenced by the fact that half of the allocation within a short timeframe (3 months) has been spent, there is a need for the program. Therefore, staff is suggesting the $15,000 be granted to the Neighborhood Center of West Volusia to not only continue the Deltona First Response to Homelessness program but to fund homelessness diversion activities (rental and utility assistance). The Neighborhood Center is interested in continuing to provide these services and is willing to establish a presence in Deltona to be more accessible to the citizens. Finally, to ensure appropriate long term assistance for those in need of assistance, the NCWV is willing to engage in case management activities to promote a seamless transition from homelessness to stable housing. Public Service Priorities As part of the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) process, the City advertises for public service providers to serve low and moderate income citizens. The NOFA includes a list of public service priorities . Past priorities have included child welfare and elder care. However, a priority has also been homelessness. In general, there have been about 8 to 12 public service provider applications every year vying for about $80,000 in funding. There is an application process and application requirements including project scope and description, service provider capacity, non-profit status, insurance etc. For the last three years the City Planning and Zoning Board had provided a recommendation to the City Commission on what providers should be funded and how much funding each provider should be granted. Before the Planning and Zoning Board was involved in the review process, Staff rendered a recommendation. The City of Deltona public service provider funding process is well received by public service providers which provide a wide range of needed services. While a recommendation for ranking has been provided by staff or the Planning and Zoning Board, the decision on which public services are ranked for funding and how much each project will receive has always been and continues to remain a decision of the City Commission. However, the ranking and ultimately determining which public service providers to fund has been a challenge. This challenge is compounded by the fact the NOFA public service goals tend to be broad and an otherwise robust ranking criteria is not thoroughly implemented. Typically, most public service providers which make application do receive some funding from what amounts to a small amount of money (approx. $85,000). What this does is dilute the effectiveness of the HUD public service allocation. In addition, it is City of Deltona Page 3 Printed on 1/23/2020 City Commission Workshop Agenda January 27, 2020 not unusual for there to be public service mission redundancy and overlap which may further blunt funding impact. To address these matters, staff is suggesting the City Commission provide direction as to the primary priority for public service funding which will be clearly advertised as part of the NOFA. There have been a series of public service summits or meetings which have occurred off and on for about 4 years. The most recent and probably the most sustained series of social service meetings started in the summer of 2019 and continue to occur. The main and reoccurring theme of those public service summits has always been homelessness and homeless prevention. In addition, in August of 2018 the City accepted a comprehensive (and HUD mandated) Impediments to Fair Housing report. The report identified homelessness prevention as a primary method to ensure continued access to fair and affordable housing. In light of the above referenced information, staff is recommending the City Commission identify homelessness and homelessness prevention as the primary goal for public service funding as part of the program year 2020-2021 NOFA. There is acknowledgement some traditionally funded public service providers may not be eligible for funding under this proposal. A way to provide some level of support to stable and long standing providers is to establish limited secondary social service priorities. Under this approach, the majority percentage of funding would be earmarked for the implementation of the primary goal and a lesser percentage be used for funding a select group of secondary providers. An example would be an 80% - 20% split. Public Service Ranking Public service ranking has been subject to a points based matrix which is provided to applicants as part of the application. The ranking matrix is attached for review. The points based system represents a comprehensive analysis of the strength and efficacy of a provider and proposed project. The ranking system was derived by HUD and has commonalities with the public service qualification process employed by Volusia County and other local governments. In addition, the City ranking matrix has been modified by City staff through the years to emphasize applicant knowledge of CDBG rules, the use of HMIS, and the successful delivery of projects (contract compliance). For the program year 2020-2021 public service ranking, it is suggested Staff rank the applicants and provide a recommendation to the Commission . The ranking will be driven by a literal use of the matrix of which to evaluate individual applicants. Mandatory Meeting Finally, the above recommendations reflect a significant change of how the City prioritizes, ranks, and selects public service providers . City of Deltona Page 4 Printed on 1/23/2020 City Commission Workshop Agenda January 27, 2020 Therefore, it is critical that there be a meeting conducted with City staff and aspiring public service provider applicants to thoroughly explain expectations and process. This meeting should be noticed as part of the NOFA and made mandatory. If a service provider does not attend the mandatory meeting, then an application will not be accepted by the City for review. Please note other matters such as missing deadlines or insufficient applications may also result in an application not accepted/reviewed. The goal is to educate applicants. Attached to this item is a power point presentation and as stated above, the Evaluation Matrix. Attachments: Social Service Funding Presentation CDBG Ranking Criteria 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Time permitted, public comments shall be limited to items on the agenda and shall not exceed two minutes. Please be courteous and respectful of the views of others. Personal attacks on Commission members, City staff or members of the public are not allowed, and will be ruled out of order by the Mayor. 6. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: 7. ADJOURNMENT: NOTE: If any person decides to appeal any decision made by the City Commission with respect to any matter considered at this meeting or hearing, he/she will need a record of the proceedings, and for such purpose he/she may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based (F.S. 286.0105). Individuals with disabilities needing assistance to participate in any of these proceedings should contact the City Clerk, Joyce Raftery 48 hours in advance of the meeting date and time at (386) 878-8500. City of Deltona Page 5 Printed on 1/23/2020