Community Development Advisory Committee

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 20, 2009 3:00 P.M. Members Present: Vice-Chairperson Les King, Red McKeon, John Mathieu, Lynn Norris, and Tamara Lanier Others Present: Fire Chief Scandariato, YMCA Board Chairperson Denise Magario and member Ross Anderson Vice-Chairperson Les King called the CDAC meeting to order at 3:08 p.m. Red McKeon made a motion seconded by John Mathieu to accept the May 6, 2009 minutes. Motion carried unanimously. Greeneville Fire Station Fire Chief Scandariato gave a presentation to the committee for the $115,000 funds he had requested to rehab the Greeneville Fire Station from CDBG PY 35. His application had been withdrawn due to the fact that the items on it had been funded through CDBG and the capital budget. The chief wanted an application for Greeneville Fire Station, with new activity items, to be active. He handed out an Action Plan with a priority list of items for which he requests funding To date from CDBG and other sources the City has invested over $200,000 on renovations. (Note: The $200,000 referenced is since Chief Scandariato’s tenure, an additional amount funded a roof project at the building prior to the Chief’s tenure) An analysis of the building has been done and the previous request was made for $115,000 for a boiler replacement and continuation and completion of the exterior repointing of the firehouse. The application was made and between the application time and the current time, the boiler became non-operational and a replacement was funded through CDBG on an emergency basis. The masonry was funded in the City’s Capital budget. Chief Scandariato brought photographs to show the committee the poor conditions present at the Greeneville Fire Station. The Chief requests roughly $453,000 for various activities. Evidence of moisture damage has impacted the walls on the first floor and the basement. The plaster is crumbling off the interior walls. The required rear exit basement door doesn’t operate properly. With their present heating system it was costing $7,000 - $8,000 a month in the winter to heat. Chief Scandariato would like to cut this system down and put a high single gas fired furnace in the corner. Replacing this unit on the first floor because the boiler doesn’t service the first floor. To run a hot water system throughout the entire structure is not cost effective. A gas furnace would raise the temperature faster downstairs. Upstairs the renovated kitchen has a stain on the ceiling. The new fire trucks are much heavier than the older ones and consequently the floor needs reinforcement. The building has been evaluated and the floor refitted for the heavier weights. Tamara Lanier asked what the structural integrity of the building was. The fire station needs to be reinforced under the floor. On an issue related to the façade and future use, the Chief noted that the front opening is small for modern trucks and he may later propose to alter the opening. Jennifer Gottlieb said that in reference to the façade, a preservation restriction will be placed on the façade due to a recent state grant for the structure from the Department of Culture and Tourism. Jennifer Gottlieb said that the City may be able to remove the restriction by paying back the State $50,000, but is not certain that the restriction could be removed. The Fire Dept. anticipates having a balance of $34,000 on the books after the completion of the rehab because he came in under budget from the Rehab and the lighting projects. YMCA Ross Anderson and Denise Magario represented the YMCA. Ross Anderson brought the committee up to date. The YMCA has closed. A working committee of the Board that is trying to reopen the YMCA met yesterday with the Ocean Community YMCA in Westerly that rehabbed the Mystic Community Center. They manage other operations for other organizations such as Fisher Island Community Center. They are exploring the possibility of a partnership with this organization that would save administrative funds and offer capable management. The YMCA will still be responsible for their own debt and will not benefit from a merger. The YMCA would pay a fee for managing the Center, hiring a director and a branch officer. In regard to other partnerships, TVCCA may be interested in renting the daycare space. NFA is willing to negotiate paying higher fees for the pool use, based on what they would have to pay to use another pool, such as the one at Avery Point. The YMCA pool is the only local pool. Opening the building for community space is very critical. They will need to have a positive fundraising campaign to open. The YMCA is interested in selling the camp in North Stonington and has a party interested, even before they have advertised publicly. This would alleviate some of their debt. The YMCA would like to be considered for the $128,000 from PY 35 for the heating system. Both boilers are shut off. They can’t reopen without the boiler. They have a committed private donor $50,000 to contribute to this project. The Board is meeting weekly. They need the support from the City that would make a significant positive impact in their efforts to reopen. They’ve been working towards a June 5th deadline for a report. Jennifer said that the CDAC could conditionally approve it but the project wouldn’t be put out to bid. The CDAC would reserve the right to not put the project out to bid until an acceptable and guaranteed plan for reopening was approved. The project could not be done in a building that may not reopen. The Committee would like to see legal agreements with Ocean Community YMCA and/or other partners proposed. Jennifer Gottlieb said that the CDBG regulations dictate that to eligible, an activity must benefits at least 51% low –moderate-income people. Recreational facilities that benefit a majority that is other than that group are not eligible. Childcare and homeless rooms would be eligible and these were considered by the committee as essential services. She found it concerning that the YMCA’s current plan neglected the Childcare Center and the SRO rooms because the importance of those activities were the reason the committee entertained the application, not for a pool or gym. Ross Anderson said that the YMCA could document who have been using the facility through membership as well as programs and it would be well above 50% low to moderate individuals. (Note: this documentation could only take place after the fact since there is no program operational). The committee minutes reflect that the committee only entertained the application due to the importance of “essential services” and they did not consider the pool to be the essential service. The Childcare Center and SRO rooms were the essential services. It is an open question if that motion is still valid if the pool is the only thing proposed. Ross said that the YMCA needed to rebuild the organization based upon sustainability and not based around the requirements for CDBG. Jennifer replied that this was true but to access the CDBG funds, you must comply with the requirements of the grant. The Friends of the Y are working on a pledge of membership. Ross Anderson said that he didn’t think he could come up with an agreement with the Ocean Community Y within the next two weeks. They also don’t have anything signed with NFA. Ross Anderson will ask if they can get a written commitment. They have $50,000 committed and $15,000 from another foundation that continuously give funding to the summer camp and they don’t want it back this year. The Council will have to vote on the PY 35 recommendations no later than the second Council meeting in June 15, 2009. Motion was made by John Mathieu, seconded by Red McKeon that the funding that they provisional had set aside to look at the YMCA be rescinded because of ineligible funding and restrictions on the CDBG-R Stimulus funds. Motion carried unanimously. Because it doesn’t meet the timing that is required the committee would like to consider the YMCA under the PY 35 requests. Norwich Housing Authority Charles Whitty sent a letter stating that he wanted funds for the bathroom considered for CDBG-R Stimulus funds. Jennifer Gottlieb sent him a letter informing him that his application would also be considered for PY 35 as well as CDBG-R Stimulus funds. Norwich Public Works - Thamesville Sidewalks John Mathieu said that if they don’t do the sidewalks in the City the people wouldn’t be able to walk on them. Les King stated that they’ve funded Thamesville sidewalks in the past. They did Greeneville and then running up and down Thamesville. There also are the car dealerships in the vicinity. With a request for $200,000 the committee felt they didn’t have enough funds to do the job completely and the committee didn’t want to give a limited amount of money to a large number of applicants. SCADD Tamara Lanier said there was previous stated concerns on SCADD’s application on eligibility. They should they have applied to the Property Rehab Program. There is no written rule on this but the CD office has a Property Rehab Program and they should go through that to avoid inconsistent rules applied to other investor owners who comply with the share requirement of eth Rehab program. The committee asked the staff to come up with a written rule so this type of application did not come up again. Motion was made by John Mathieu and seconded by Lynn Norris not to fund the SCADD Liberty House Roof Replacement for CDBG PY 35 or CDBG-R Stimulus funds, and they could apply to the Rehab Program. Motion carried unanimously. TODAP They were requesting funding for the exhaust at TODAP for their food pantry so they could provide hot foods. When asked if they could use less funds they had said they needed all of the funds. CD 26 Shipping Street The original amount requested was $87,000 and this amount could be reduced to $30,000 for the roof. The application is changing from masonry to add more money to finish the roof. This is an empty city owned building not being used now. Reliance House The Reliance House is requesting roughly $50,000, rather than the amount originally listed because that is the price estimate given by their consultant for what it will cost to do all the lead stabilization work necessary. Last year, they were given funds for a window replacement job they could not complete because they must address the lead hazard at the property while doing the windows due to HUD’s “lead safe” rule. They can still run their program without completing this work but if they use any HUD funds, they have to do the whole project, due the requirements of the lead safe rule. Stimulus Funds The City has received $269,000 in CDBG-R Stimulus funds, and will use $26,000 of those funds for Administration. The Action Plan for these funds is due to HUD by June 5, 2009. The CDBG-R Stimulus funds Act does not allow funding recreational projects or pools. The Act encourages funding projects that will create or maintain jobs (temporary jobs are acceptable), promote energy efficiency, help those people most affected by the recession and foster economic independence. John Mathieu made a motion seconded by Lynn Norris to fund the Norwich Public Schools Energy Efficiency $33,250, Greeneville Firehouse Rehab $147,000, Norwich Housing Authority $62,750, and administration $26,000 from the CDBG-R Stimulus funds. Motion carried unanimously. Motion was by John Mathieu and seconded by Tamara Lanier to reallocate $25,000 from PY 32 Greeneville Fire Rehab to Greeneville Fire Dept. and $9,000 from the Fire Dept. Lighting Efficiency job balance to the Greeneville Fire Dept. Rehab to do C1 Structural Repairs/upgrades to flooring & 2 Epoxy concrete floor. The next CDAC meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, 2009 3:00 p.m. Motion was made by John Mathieu seconded by Red McKeon to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting ended at 4:57 p.m.