Housing Commission
Regular MeetingFalls Church, VA · July 14, 2020
Minutes
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: July 14, 2020
PLACE OF MEETING: Virtual
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY: Chair Jordan Hicks at _____6:36____ pm
THOSE PRESENT:
Commission Members Staff
Jordan Hicks, Vice Chair ___X__ Dana Lewis _X_
Joshua Shokoor __ X____ Dwayne Eason ___X__ _
Peter Davis ________X_____ __ Nancy Vincent ____X_ ___
FCHC Liaison Planning Commission Liaison
Thom Vaccaro____
Council Liaison Student Liaison
Letty Hardi _ __X___
Guest:
Carly Aubrey-Staff
Laura Schonfeld- Hoffman Project manager
Amy Friedlander - EYA Project manager
Meredith K. Anderson- Resident
Aaron Tishkoff -Resident
Kristina M -Resident
Phil Duncan- Resident
Nancy Vincent
Minutes from the May 12, 2020 were ____Approved_______
Proceedings:
Meeting called to order by Chair Hicks at ____6:36___ pm
New Business
1. West Falls Church Project Application – Special Exception Review
Laura Schonfeld of Hoffman presented information about the planned West Falls
Church Economic Development project.
2. Renters sub-committee planning
The Housing Commission is forming a sub-committee to address landlord/tenant
issues in the City.
Pete Davis will lead the researching of said sub-committee.
Staff will set up an email address for the sub-committee to make it relatively easy
for tenants or landlords to contact them with requests.
3. COVID Rental Assistance and Housing Update
4. Housing Update - Dana Lewis, Staff
The Virginia Governors moratorium on evictions ended on June 28th.
The Governor’s Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program has been up and
running since June 29. City residents access funds and assistance through the non-
profit Northern Virginia Family Services. Intake is done by Fairfax Coordinated
Services Planning. Fairfax County is in the process of hiring many more workers
to keep up with the amount of calls and requests.
The City’s CDBG CARES Act contract is in place with $39,500 in funds for
rental assistance. These funds are available to the City to use for one year.
City Housing and Human Services has been providing COVID related rental
assistance. Assistance that has been provided as of July 17: Rent payments-
$69,393 total; May - $2,800, June - $23,702, July - $41,890. 37 unduplicated
clients and 68 rental checks were provided to landlords.
The City is joining the Northern Virginia Eviction Regional Group hosted by
Northern Virginia Legal Services. They have offered to assist any resident that
has issues with eviction. As of July 11th there have been 9,700 eviction hearings
scheduled in the state of Virginia because of the backlog. Legal Services is
assisting tenants in getting a 60-day continuance if there is proof of loss of
income.
Housing and Human Services participated in a Council of Governments meeting
where Fairfax and Montgomery Counties shared that they have developed
coalition workgroups with landlords and tenants to come up with alternatives to
eviction. One suggestion was to provide landlords with examples of possible
payment plans. Staff are going to try to start something like this in the City.
The City has spent $6,900 since May 2020 on gift cards from Harris Teeter and
Aldi for food insecure City residents.
Food referrals were provided to 40 persons.
Utility payment assistance totaling $1,879.53 has been provided to City residents.
The CARES ACT Unemployment Insurance supplement of $600 will end on July
31st. Staff are concerned that when this end, requests for rent assistance may
increase.
All assistance is available to any City resident in need.
Adjourned –____8:40_____ pm
Agenda
HOUSING COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Virtual Meeting – 6:30 pm
NOTICE: The meeting for which this agenda has been posted will be held pursuant to and in
compliance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Section 2.2-3708.2 and state and
local legislation adopted to allow for continued government operation during the COVID-19
declared emergency.
All participating members of the Housing Commission will be present at this meeting through
electronic means. All members of the public may view this electronic meeting via this Skype
meeting link: https://meet.lync.com/fallschurch-fallschurchva/dlewis/3W9KF1V3
Public comments may be submitted to dlewis@fallschurchva.gov until 5 p.m. on July 14, 2020.
All comments will be provided to the Housing Commission members and comments received by
the deadline will be read during the meeting.
PLEASE NOTE: This meeting will be conducted via Skype. If you do not already use Skype,
you will be prompted to install it when clicking the meeting link, so please take some time ahead
of the meeting to do so. If needed, there are short instructions to install the app following the
meeting agenda. Please email dlewis@fallschurchva.gov if you need assistance with installation.
During the meeting, staff will likely not be available to assist with installation.
1. Call to Order
2. Approval of Minutes
3. New Business
a. West Falls Church Project Application – Special Exception Review - Planning
Staff presentation
Attachments: SEE Amendment Voluntary Concessions
HHS WFC Voluntary Concessions Comments
4. Renters sub-committee planning– Pete Davis
5. COVID Rental Assistance Update– Dana Lewis, Staff
6. Housing Update - Dana Lewis, Staff
7. Adjourn
The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5005, (TTY 711).
(posted 5/8/20)
Skype Instructions
Accessing Skype – New Users
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to download the “Skype” app. You will have to allow Skype access to some features on your
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download and install the program. You will have to allow Skype access to some features on your
computer and accept their terms and conditions.
After downloading Skype:
Click the advertised meeting link to join the Skype meeting.
When the app opens, click ‘Join as Guest’ and enter your name. Click the blue arrow
to continue.
The meeting will start with your microphone and video features turned off. As an
observer, you can view or listen to the meeting without these features. If you are a
meeting participant, you should enable at least the microphone feature. Video is not
required but may be useful. Depending on your role in the meeting, there may be
restrictions on whether you can speak during the meeting.
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