Community Development Advisory Committee

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 27, 2009 3:00 P.M. Members Present: Vice-Chairperson Les King, John Mathieu, Red McKeon, and Lynn Norris Others Present: Jennifer Gottlieb, Linda Lee Smith Vice-Chairperson Les King called the meeting to order at 3:12 p.m. Motion was made by John Mathieu seconded by Demo Angelopoulos to accept the minutes of the May 11, 2009 meeting with the inclusion that “the following updates were included by Jennifer Gottlieb” to be inserted before the total available funding has changed. Motion carried unanimously. Vice-Chairperson Les King gave a brief review of the last meeting of May 20, 2009 for those that couldn’t attend. Fire Chief Scandariato gave a brief presentation on the Greeneville Fire Station in pursuit of funding. Ross Anderson and Denise Magario gave presentations for the YMCA. The committee at the May 20, 2009 only had time to approve the CDBG-R Stimulus funds. They were approved as such: Greeneville Fire Station $147,000; Norwich Housing Authority $62,750; and Energy Efficient Schools $33,250. Although these agencies received funding the committee agreed that they would also consider them for CDBG PY 35. Jennifer Gottlieb told the committee that the Norwich Housing Authority wanted to be considered for $200,000 from both CDBG PY 35 and CDBG-R Stimulus funds. The total cost for the project would be about $300,000 and it would take longer to complete with $100,00 per year. The committee allowed the Fire Chief to amend his request and in fairness they would also allow the Norwich Housing Authority to amend their application as well. Jennifer Gottlieb spoke on the 26 Shipping Street reference masonry for the façade because after putting the roof out to bid the engineer is asking for more replacement on the structural members. The original application requested was for $87,000 to do the masonry work. But since there was going to be a budget shortfall of $30,000 to finish the roof, the amount on the request should be reduced to $30,000 to finish the roof. Vice-Chairperson Les King asked if there was any other correspondence to change the request. Jennifer Gottlieb stated that she did not write any correspondence. Communications/Correspondence The Reliance House had faxed a letter from Boston Lead Company to the CD staff with an estimate of lead hazards totaling $44,600 - $47,800 and probably necessary to add 10% to those costs. The final estimate would probably be $52,000. They are 501(c)(3) nonprofit and they own the building. Demo Angelopoulos made a motion seconded by John Mathieu to accept the correspondence from the YMCA and Reliance House. Motion carried unanimously. On the CDBG PY 35 Request Sheet a correction needed to be made under the SCADD Liberty House Roof Replacement. It was stated as rejected and should read denied. It was denied because it didn’t meet the funding requirements. Occum Park was not considered under CDBG-R Stimulus because it was considered “recreation” which was not eligible under CDBG-R Stimulus funds. There were certain restrictions in the Recovery Act. YMCA There was some discussion on the YMCA and they would need the entire amount of $128,000 and it wouldn’t do very much. The committee had wished that the YMCA had a plan and they were further along with it. Firstly they need the boiler in order to do anything else. They probably need around $200,000. Jennifer Gottlieb told the committee that when the YMCA was granted consideration for CDBG-R Stimulus funds, the motion that allowed that consideration mentioned essential services, which were the childcare and homeless rooms. Now they are talking about revising the facility for the pool. It is the committee’s decision whether a pool is an essential service and fits within the scope of the motion. The YMCA did have contributors of $60,000, but with the business shut down, without a business plan and budget and a change of services to be restored services (from childcare and homeless rooms to pool) it was very difficult for the committee to give them funding. John Mathieu made a motion seconded by Red McKeon not to fund the YMCA based on the fact is no cohesive plan in place and it may not benefit low to moderate income, and did not include the eligible childcare and homeless rooms. Motion carried unanimously. Norwich Board of Education Phase III $150,750. The Board of Ed had been awarded $33,250 funds through CDBG-R Stimulus funds (on May 20, 2009) to cover numbers 1&2 on their Breakdown List. The balance to finish the project would be $117,500. Jennifer Gottlieb thought the Retro-commissioning Report seemed high compared to the one that was done recently for $17,000. They have put some money in for an engineer who works for them. Most of this funding would go to the Wequonnoc School. CD Administration The CD Administration went up $8,000 - $9,000 from when they first started receiving the sheets. CD Administration was funded $191,000 in PY 34. The original estimate of CDBG funding for PY 35 was $990,974 and $191,046 for administration. After receiving confirmation from HUD of the exact amount of CDBG PY 35 funding would be $1,003,051 the administration was raised accordingly. Because of the NSP and all the new programs a significant amount of Jennifer Gottlieb’s salary now comes out of CD Administration. The committee was concerned with administration line item being close to the 20% administration cap. A portion of Jennifer Gottlieb’s salary from the City budget is going to be coming out of the CDBG administration budget. John Mathieu asked Jennifer Gottlieb if the money was originally allocated for salary from the City Manager’s budget. Jennifer Gottlieb claims that 70% of her time is spent on CDBG and other HUD programs. John asked what use the City is making of money they saving by reducing City funding to her position. Jennifer Gottlieb said that a part time Clerk’s position in the City Manager’s Office and the City’s general budget is assisted by any savings and it is difficult to pinpoint where exactly they savings are applied. Jennifer Gottlieb told the committee that the City Council wanted aggressive budget cuts this year. Vice-chairperson Les King questioned the $280.00 for water delivery, $500.00 under temporary services, $2,500 conferences. Sometimes there are required conferences. Sometimes they are out of town and airfare and hotels are required. The committee wants a better breakdown of conferences for last year. Jennifer Gottlieb said that there are sometimes conferences that HUD requires the staff to attend. Vice-Chairperson asked in reference to last years budget how many people went to conferences and what was the cost. Two people attended a required conference in Florida. If the funding for conferences is not used the funding goes back into the budget. Vice-chairperson Les King asked how much administration funding was left from last year and Jennifer Gottlieb stated almost nothing. The committee would like a breakdown of how the money was spent for CD Administration. Vice-chairperson questioned the $13,500 for rent. Jennifer Gottlieb stated that this this year the City started to charge the CD office rent, which goes into the General Fund. Jennifer Gottlieb stated that the CD staff has brought in $2.6 million dollars in grants this year that is for Lead Grant funding and NSP funding and does not include CDBG. The committee doesn’t want the perception that CDBG is funded admin heavy being close to the 20% cap of the CDBG PY 35 of $1,003,051. Jennifer Gottlieb explained to the committee that part of Linda Smith, Wayne Sharkey, and Susan Goldman’s salary comes out of Lead funding. The CD Admin budget covers staff to bring in new grants that have no little to no admin so those CDBG dollars are leveraged to bring in more funds. On the CD Administration breakdown it states that 75% of the Secretary and Program Assistant comes out of administration and the other 25% from Lead funding. The $190,00 listed for administration only represents a portion of salaries and Jennifer Gottlieb’s salary is partly covered by the City Manager’s office. Les King asked Jennifer Gottlieb how much admin money is available out of the $1.6 million lead grant. Jennifer Gottlieb said that to be competitive for the grant they could not load it up with admin so they did not charge any of Wayne or Sue’s salary to the lead grant but are charging the salaries for two new hires, making it a good job creation tool for eth Recovery act. Jennifer Gottlieb thought that the bare bones number for administration was $190,000. Les King said that they shouldn’t have to go line item by line item but everyone is looking at all budgets and spending. With the CDBG-R Stimulus funds totaling $269,000 and $26,000 for administration there would be $243,000 left for projects. Jennifer Gottlieb stated that with the NSP Grant $867,000 she was allowed to ask for 10% of the grant in administration which would have been $86,000 and she thought it would make it a competitive application and more appealing for the application and she put in only $17,000 for administration. Demo Angelopoulos made a motion seconded by John Mathieu to adjust the CD Administration to $190,000. Motion carried unanimously. In the future the committee would like to be aware of the entire breakdown package with CD Administration. Property Rehabilitation Program - $460,000 Jennifer Gottlieb explained to the committee the CD office is receiving $1.6 million of lead grant funds to be administered over 3 years and committed to doing more units. Les King asked how many units did the Program Manager commit to do? Jennifer Gottlieb said that she didn’t have the exact numbers in front of her but that they would be doubling the production. The CD office will be hiring a lead person and this person will be paid out of lead funding. Les King stated that last years application for Rehab was $400,000 to do about 25 units, provide construction loans for 20-25 structural and 30 – 40 individual dwelling units. Jennifer Gottlieb stated that when they wrote the lead grant they committed CDBG funds as a share and committed to a certain number of units, which is more than the 25 units. With the request for $460,000 in lead funds and to decrease the amount to $400,000 the Program Manager might have trouble meeting his unit production that he is committed to under the Lead Program. CDBG Property Rehab funds are used to leverage lead grant funds to produce a certain number of units otherwise the City would be in default on the obligation for lead. Jennifer Gottlieb said that she would trust his number because he is under obligation so you could decrease his amount to $440,000. Les King said that last year the Rehab funds had gone to a certain building that had gone through the program years ago and the committee wanted some answers. Jennifer Gottlieb told the committee if they would like to see a policy change that the CDAC committee members should address the RRC Committee. Les King asked if there was a list of buildings waiting to be done? Jennifer Gottlieb said that they will open the applications up when the money becomes available. Wayne Sharkey is currently putting out projects to bid. The NSP partners, nonprofit housing developers they will be able to apply to the Rehab Program for the properties they buy with NSP funds. They will be rental units restricted to people that earn less than 50% AMI. They will benefit from deep subsidies so they can keep the rentals low. Les King asked if they are going to give preference to the nonprofit developer over the regular developer. There is no policy in place for that. They are on a first come first serve basis. The committee was concerned that out of the total amount of money of $1,003,051, half of it goes for the Rehab Program and there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. Jennifer Gottlieb said that if after the Lead Program is over and they would like the Program revamped they could after three years. Les King said that for next year the committee requests that CD Rehab do a complete application and that they want to able to ask questions of the Program Manager. Les King said that they have never seen the Program Manager and he is receiving half of the allocated funding. It has been a very successful program. The committee asked last year why the same building was done and didn’t get an answer. The CDAC was also concerned if the Rehab Review Committee was doing blind reviews and who has done inspections and documentation. Jennifer Gottlieb said that she could ask for a policy change. Les King said it is a successful program and the money will be spent. John Mathieu made a motion seconded by Lynn Norris to reduce and approve the CD Rehabilitation Program to $450,000. Motion carried unanimously. The remaining balance of $148,051 of construction funds left to be allocated. John Mathieu made a motion seconded by Red McKeon to allocate the remaining $148,051 to the Norwich Board of Ed/Phase III Control System and the Norwich Housing Authority. The total amount approved for the Norwich Board of Ed/Phase III Control System of $67,500 to do #3, #4, #5 from their breakdown list submitted to include the following: Install on demand water heaters $12,500; Convert reverse to direct $15,000; and Install individual room controls $40,000. The total amount approved for the Norwich Housing Authority was $80,551 for bathroom renovations at Rosewood Manor. Motion carried unanimously. John Mathieu made a motion seconded by Demo Angelopoulos to deny the remaining projects funding due to a lack of funding #21 AHEPA, #22 TODAP, #23 26 Shipping Street, #28 Norwich Recreation Occum Park Improvements, #29 Taftville Fire Dept. Roof Replacement, #30 Norwich Dept. Public Works Thamesville Sidewalks, #31 Reliance House Lead Stabilization at Penobscot Street. Motion carried unanimously. Committee members were concerned at a later date that there may be recaptured funds for some of the other projects that didn’t get funded this year. Les King had asked Jennifer Gottlieb to write a letter to the Rehab Review Committee requesting more information on the Rehab Program Policy Change. The CDAC members would like to be notified of the Rehab Review Committee meetings. Les King had requested that the CDAC committee receive a list of buildings that had been funded in the last 10 years. On next years application a change will be made on the Capital projects. The budgeted amounts requested will need to be accompanied by estimates from licensed contractors. The committee had some concerns on the projects being done and who has final approval. The CDAC office bids through the City and some of the larger projects have their own architect to sign off on stating the work is completed. Sometimes Dept. of Public Works as well as Dept. of Public Utilities will also sign off. Norwich Human Services hands in quarterly reports The Council meeting for the CDBG PY 35 Allocations will be presented on June 15, 2009. Red McKeon made a motion seconded by Demo Angelopoulos to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. The CDAC meeting ended at 4:41 p.m.