City Council

December 14, 2016 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting City Council Room 1:00 PM 1:00 PM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES CONSENT AGENDA 1. Nothing at this time. MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT 1. Affordable Housing Workshop Introduction 2. AFFH: Affirm Furthering Fair Housing Presentation, 1968 Law and final Rule 2014 3. HUD’s Assessment of Fair Housing, Consolidation & AFH Plan 4. Housing Accomplishments in Past 10 Years 5. Housing Needs Analysis/Market Study Results 6. Discussion: Possible Affordable Housing Tools & Solutions ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. FINANCE DEPARTMENT 1. Update: Saratoga Springs Housing Authority Affordable Housing Study 2. Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Sign Addendum One to Time Warner Agreement for Internet Connection Speed PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. SUPERVISORS 1. Nothing at this time. ADJOURN City Council Meeting 12/14/16 December 14, 2016 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting City Council Room 7:00 PM PRESENT: Joanne Yepsen, Mayor Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Christian Mathiesen, Commissioner of DPS STAFF PRESENT: Meg Kelly, Deputy Mayor Lynn Bachner, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Maire Masterson, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Eileen Finneran, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Vincent DeLeonardis EXCUSED: John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Tim Cogan, Deputy Commissioner, DPW Matthew Veitch, Supervisor Peter Martin, Supervisor RECORDING OF PROCEEDING The proceedings of this meeting were taped for the benefit of the secretary. Because the minutes are not a verbatim record of the proceedings, the minutes are not a word-for-word transcript. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Yepsen called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m. PUBLIC COMENT Mayor Yepsen said the public comment period is limited to a total of 15 minutes and individuals are limited to two minutes. Mayor Yepsen opened the public comment period at 1:06 p.m. John Witt, builder in Saratoga Springs, stated he supports Sustainable Saratoga but has conflicts with their mission. To build to code in the city can cost over $200 per square foot. Inclusionary zoning doesn’t work. He suggested Sustainable Saratoga work with the City and local builders to come up with a plan. Page 2 of 5 City Council Meeting 12/14/16 Darlene McGraw of Saratoga Springs stated with housing comes other needs. Can people get to affordable housing, work school? What is affordable housing? Nickie Williams stated she works in the City for a not-for-profit. She was forced to buy in Malta as she couldn’t afford to live here. Harry Moran, chair of Sustainable Saratoga, thanked the Council for holding the workshop. The affordability gap is growing. There are diverse housing needs in the City and multiple approaches will need to be taken to meet those needs. The ordinance would guarantee more diverse housing opportunities. Sherri Gray of Saratoga Springs asked what is affordable housing? Seniors have monthly income of $1,100 and are paying $800 a month for rent. Pastor Peter Barrios of Saratoga Springs asked who has really taken a look at the people who live on disability. He lives on disability at $1,013 per month. He lives in public housing. You have to make is affordable for everyone. Renee Keeler stated she works in Saratoga for a non-profit that offers housing for seniors. She moved here from downstate 8 years ago and couldn’t afford to line in Saratoga and settled in Ballston Spa. What is this community going to look like in 50 years if there is no control? Mayor Yepsen closed the public comment period at 1:21 p.m. FINANCE DEPARTMENT Update: Saratoga Springs Housing Authority Affordable Housing Study Commissioner Madigan advised this item was placed on the agenda so the document could be attached to assist with the mayor’s agenda. Discussion and Vote: Authorization for Mayor to Sign Addendum One to Time Warner Agreement for Internet Connection Speed (16-485) Commissioner Madigan advised this is to increase the internet connection speed for the Wi-Fi network for 36 months. The amount of the contract is $1,300 for the first year and $1,100 for each remaining 2 years. Commissioner Madigan moved and Commissioner Mathiesen seconded to approve the mayor’s required signature on addendum one to Time Warner agreement for internet connection speed as distributed with the agenda. Ayes - All MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT Affordable Housing Workshop Introduction Mayor Yepsen stated the definition of affordable housing is changing. The HUD definition is a person does not spend more than 30% of their annual income. We need to act on HUD standards and the lower to middle new affordable housing definition, we will be economically challenged and possibly legally challenged. According to the study we need an additional 180 affordable units. The first step for Council is to put together a plan for how they are going to deal with it. The Council has not introduced any legislation yet. We follow a land use process. The Council does not decide what gets built and where. We follow the laws and ordinances. She asked everyone to think about 3 things: 1. Cities and counties that receive Page 3 of 5 City Council Meeting 12/14/16 funding from HUD need to adhere to their new laws; 2. Don’t want to be a community that only the elite can afford; and 3. Look at data and possible solutions based upon coming in. Affirm Furthering Fair Housing – 1968 Law and Final Rule 2014 Vince DeLeonardis, city attorney, defined the affirmative fair housing (AFFH) rule as a process recipients of HUD funding will use to help them meet their obligations to further fair housing. Program participants are public housing agencies in jurisdictions that are required to submit a consolidated plan in connection with the receipt of funding. AFFH rule will apply to the City of Saratoga Springs. The goal of the rule is to make sure program participants understand the responsibilities in the area of fair housing planning and perform an assessment of fair housing. An assessment of fair housing (AFH) will include a summary of fair housing issues in capacity; an analysis of HUD provided data; local data; an assessment of fair housing issues and contributing factors; and identification of fair housing priorities and goals. He went on to provide details of information required as part of the AFH. The AFH is required to be submitted by the City to HUD 270 days prior to the submission of our next consolidated plan. Our AFH will be due 2019. We could submit our own AFH or join with other jurisdictions and submit a joint AFH. Due to the change in administration in HUD and the White House, we will have to wait and see what happens in regards to the future and proceed as if it is going to be a requirement. HUD’s Assessment of Fair Housing, Consolidation & AFH Plan Brad Birge of the Planning Department advised this is not new. The consolidated plan is federally required and is a plan of how we want to spend our federal dollars; what our priorities and issues are and how we are going to achieve those goals. The AFH will provide guidance and will be woven into the consolidated plan and the citizen participation portion of the consolidation plan. We have 5 areas of high priority for funding: the most vulnerable in population (i.e. - seniors, veterans, at risk youth); homeless prevention/emergency shelter; transitional housing and related support services; rehabilitation of existing housing stock; and creation of new permanent affordable housing. Housing Accomplishments in Past 10 years Cindy Phillips of the Economic Development Department advised of the various public services that received money from CDBG and the type of services they provide. Mayor Yepsen asked how long the City has been receiving CDBG money. Brad advised as of the 1990 census, the City’s population crested 25,001 which made the City eligible for grants rather than competing for it. Brad also advised we have 4 PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes) programs; we also provided a loan guarantee for the purchase of Allen Drive; and approved zoning amendments giving a developer a density bonus in exchange for that developer providing 10 units of affordable housing. Additional opportunities provided by the City include density bonus and flexible zoning regulation. Housing Needs Analysis/Market Study Results Paul Feldman, director of the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority, advised the 200+ page market analysis is on line. They had the market analysis done to look at developing some of the property they own. GAR Associates did the study for them; which is more of an overview of the needs. They used the supply and demand model to determine what is needed. They looked at rents and rent thresholds; local market conditions; demand; affordability for middle income and mixed income projects; lease-up/absorption; and a summary of conclusions. GAR’s conclusion is there is a strong demand for affordable housing in Saratoga Page 4 of 5 City Council Meeting 12/14/16 Springs and recommend mix use development. We want to try to avoid lower income being consolidated in one area. A development of mixed income would alleviate that. A lot of the renters are rent burdened. Inclusionary zoning would help spread the affordable housing throughout the City. Possible Affordable Housing Tools & Solutions Cheryl Hage-Perez stated one of the strongest points in the AFFH is integration not segregation. The not- for-profits are pooling their resources to develop areas in the community. They are not looking for large development. The citizen survey done in 2016 showed the #1 comment is there is a need for affordable housing. ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT Nothing at this time. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT Nothing at this time. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT Nothing at this time. SUPERVISORS Nothing at this time. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Yepsen adjourned the meeting at 3:04 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 01/17/17 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 5 of 5