Housing Commission

MINUTES HOUSING COMMISSION City of Falls Church PURPOSE OF MEETING: The five-member Commission is appointed by the City Council for three-year terms. The Housing Commission maintains awareness of housing needs and opportunities, including affordable housing; proposes housing policy initiatives and changes; investigates fair housing complaints and conciliates these complaints; mediates conflicts relating to the Virginia Residential Landlord & Tenant Act and offers reconciliatory services in conflicts relating to other housing laws. DATE OF MEETING: October 15, 2019 PLACE OF MEETING: Oak Room – City Hall MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY: Chair Brenda Heffernan at 6:30pm THOSE PRESENT: Commission Members Staff Brenda Heffernan, Chair _ X__ Dana Lewis _X_ Jordan Hicks, Vice Chair _X_ Nancy Vincent ___ M.T. Gutmanis _X_ _ Planning Commission Liaison Joshua Shokoor __X__ Peter Davis __ __ Student Liaison FCHC Liaison Kaylee Stillwagoner _ _ Thom Vaccaro____ Guest Council Liaison Phil Duncan _x__ Letty Hardi _ X__ Minutes approved from the September 10, 2019 meeting. Proceedings: Meeting called to order by Chair Heffernan at 6:35 PM CDBG and HOME FY 2021 Next Steps – Staff is still awaiting guidance from HUD. As of now it looks like the possible change to Fairfax may be delayed until FY 2022 because of how the budget cycles align. Pros of cooperating with Fairfax include having access to the Housing Authority while still funding current grantees. A question from Commissioners is would the City be able to set aside our CDBG funds on an annual for a large project like The Fields. The Fields Next Steps - The City Manager is reaching out to Kettler to judge their thoughts on keeping the property affordable. Staff Lewis will inform the Commission of next steps. Annual Report – Chair Heffernan will present a draft to the Commission for review. Member recruitment - Commission members will follow-up with Liaison Hardy to see if she had some suggestions for membership. VHDA Housing Preservation Grant – The consultant, Susan Bell, will be invited to attend the next meeting to give a status on the project. She is in the process of doing her research. The City has received the grant and it will include a zoning rewrite and an update to the Housing Preservation Plan that was last developed in 2008. Housing Update - The City is hiring a Housing Consultant to review the City’s cash in lieu policy and make recommendations. Commissioners made suggestions of possible consultants to reach out to. The Housing Commission would like to see the City’s policy. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.