City Council

October 22 , 2020 A Special Meeting of the City Council of the City of Fairmont was held at 5:00 p.m. on the 22nd day of October, 2020, at the Public Safety Building located at 500 Quincy Street in Fairmont, West Virginia. Mayor Merrifield called the meeting to order. Councilmembers present were: First District Joshua D. (Josh) Rice Second District Frank G. Yann (by phone) Fourth District Kenneth (Brad) Merrifield Fifth District Barry H. Bledsoe Seventh District Philip R. (Phil) Mason Eighth District Thomas (Tom) Mainella (by phone) Ninth District Donna M. Blood Absent: Third District Karl (David) Kennedy Sixth District Dora Kay Grubb Also present were: City Manager Valerie A. Means City Clerk Janet L. Keller Program Manager Alex Petry United Way Representative Emily Swain WV Coalitiion To End Lauren Frederick (by phone) Homelessness The Mayor noted that the purpose of this special meeting is for Council to get informed about the CDBG grant to be submitted by the City of Fairmont on behalf of the United Way. PUBLIC HEARINGS IN RE: A PUBLIC HEARING FOR PURPOSES OF OBTAINING THE VIEWS AND PROPOSALS OF CITIZENS REGARDING COMMUNITY AND HOUSING NEEDS INCLUDING THE NEEDS OF LOW OR MODERATE-INCOME PERSONS FOR PURPOSES OF THE CITY OF FAIRMONT ’S PROPOSED APPLICATION FOR A CDBG CORONA VIRUS RESPONSE (CDBG-CV1) GRANT Pursuant to a notice duly published in the Times-West Virginian on October 15, 2020, a public hearing was convened to obtain citizen input on obtaining the views and proposals of citizens regarding community and housing needs including the needs of 1 low or moderate income persons for purposes of the City of Fairmont’s proposed application for a CDBG Coronavirus Response Grant. The Mayor asked if anyone present desired to speak to the proposed ordinance. EMILY SWAIN, on behalf of the United Way, spoke in favor of the grant application. She outlined the following:  The City of Fairmont is apply for a CDBG Block Grant under the CV-1 Program which is the Coronavirus Response Program under the CARES Act.  They will be applying for $126,000.  It will be the Fairmont Family Relief Fund and will provide support to families within the city limits of Fairmont to prevent eviction and/or utility assistance. All assistance payments will be made directly to the service provider, landlord or banking institution.  Families must be considered low-income.  It is a public service project so it is specifically stated that it is allowable through CDBG to provide emergency payments of no more than six months on behalf of the individuals.  It will benefit low-income people based on the fact that you have to qualify as low income and be a city resident to receive the dollars.  Goal is to help at least 50 households. They will use the entire $100,000 on low income families.  They will collect the data by using the metrics that are often associated with other programs of this nature.  The program will be over once they have expended all of the dollars. It will take place in the City of Fairmont since that is the jurisdiction of the agency that is applying.  Hopefully, the dollars will be awarded in December then they can start the project in January by getting the application ready and hopefully by February be able to start taking applications and getting the dollars out to community members who are in need. They are hoping to close out in December because it has to be spent in the calendar year.  The need of the project area is in the City of Fairmont based on the city lines.  They will make sure there is not a duplication of services. The people receiving the assistance will have to show proof of financial hardship due to Covid-19.  The budget breakdown is: $100,000 will go to pay citizens bills, part-time staffing will be $20,000, and the administration fee in the amount of $6,000 will go to the City of Fairmont. The $3,000 in-kind from the United Way for their space is broken down in the budget narrative.  They will make sure there is not a duplication of benefits and will be working with Connecting Link and Salvation Army because those are two entities that would typically work with to refer people to Utility Assistance so they will make sure there is not a duplication of benefits. She noted that it does not mean that the same person cannot be helped by multiple entities it just means that the same bill cannot be paid by multiple entities.  They know that we will be ready to proceed because they are ready. 2 The Mayor asked that when they reach out to try to make sure people know about it that really need it, is there any effort through the Council of Churches or with the area ministers because they tend to have the pulse of what is needed. Ms. Swain stated that she serves on the Homelessness Task Force Team and attends the FRN meetings monthly so they will get it out to all of their funded partners who often overlap in some of those circles and they actually have a list of some of those church members that they contact. She said that social media is certainly a big component of how information travels so they will make sure the word gets out. Councilmember Mason asked when people come in and ask for help, what do they need to show them in order to get assistance. Ms. Swain said that some of it can be done online and they would require income verification because that is a standard that they are using. They would show proof of income whether that is a pay stub, social security, or disability, etc. and they will have to show proof of residency. They will also have to have the bills that are back-logged. Councilmember Mason asked what if they are missing pay stubs, etc. Ms. Swain said that they also can do bank accounts too. She noted that there are a lot of ways that are accepted to verify income and generally accepted by HUD to verify income. She mentioned that it can be direct deposit, a letter on letterhead from a company, unemployment. She noted that there are a lot of ways to reach the end goal. Councilmember Mason said this is a great thing that they are doing. Councilmember Blood stated that she works with clients who suffer abuse and neglect and sometimes a parent in the family will not have a place to live anymore because the abuser owns the home. She then asked is that something that money could be used to help find a new residence for those people. Ms. Swain said this won’t be for new home placement or it could be depending on the situation. There is not any stipulation that says it cannot be a first month’s rent but that would have to be vetted by a caseworker or a social worker that has been working with that family. She went on to say that they might refer to Connecting Link for that first month’s rent or the WV Coalition to End Homelessness. Dollars are available through other programs that might not get as tanglely with an explanation but they would not ever leave anyone at the table needing a home. She said that they would figure something out but it would be a case-by-case basis. LAUREN FREDERICK , with the WV Coalition to End Homelessness, participated in the public hearing by dialing-in. She said about 85%-90% of the calls they have now are for the eviction prevention and she has been working with a few United Ways and Cities and Counties across the state that have not typically received CDBG and have encouraged them to apply to supplement, not duplicate, but supplement some of the 3 local needs that they are finding. They will work with connecting them immediately to temporary housing and then permanent housing and if they have an eviction prevention need, they will refer them to either the local Community Action or United Way but it is doing eviction prevention. The Mayor noted that the 211 number is an excellent, easy to remember thing for anybody that needs help with housing. Ms. Swain said that they are really good about making those referrals based on need. Ms. Frederick said that is a great point to bring up because the Coalition is meeting with the 211 next week about that so people don’t have to remember this number or which agency is providing services in their area. There being no one else to speak, the public hearing was called to a close at 5:17 p.m. ADJOURNMENT The Mayor entertained a motion for adjournment. Motion: Councilmember Mason moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Blood. The Mayor declared the meeting adjourned by voice vote of Council at 5:18 p.m. 4