Housing and Human Services Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Housing and Human Services Commission Wednesday, March 26, 2014 7:00 PM West Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CALL TO ORDER Chair Chiu called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. SALUTE TO THE FLAG ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Chair Dennis Chiu Vice Chair Diana Gilbert Commissioner Younil Jeong Commissioner Chrichelle McCloud Commissioner Barbara Schmidt Commissioner Navpreet (Ruby) Sidhu Absent: 1 - Commissioner Patti Evans Council Liaison Gustav Larsson present Commissioner Evans (absence excused) PRESENTATION 14-0366 Presentations by Applicants for Housing Mitigation Funds Peter Villareal, MidPen Housing Senior Portfolio Manager, gave a brief overview of the proposal submitted to rehabilitate 35 apartments owned by MidPen, located on Morse Avenue in Sunnyvale. The proposal includes a request for $1 million in Housing Mitigation funds. Jan Lindenthal, MidPen Housing Vice President of Real Estate Development, presented the second proposal submitted by MidPen, which requested $3 million for acquisition and rehabilitation of a 16-unit rental property in central Sunnyvale. Following the presentations, staff explained that the proposals have not yet been evaluated by staff, but they will be evaluated by the next meeting, at which time the Commission will consider them and make funding recommendations. City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final March 26, 2014 Commission PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS None CONSENT CALENDAR Chair Chiu asked if anyone wanted to pull an item from the consent calendar for discussion. No one did. He then asked for a motion to approve the consent calendar. 1.A 14-0319 Draft Minutes of the Housing and Human Services Commission Meeting of February 26, 2014. Vice Chair Gilbert moved and Commissioner Schmidt seconded the motion to approve the consent calendar which included the minutes of the Commission's meeting of February 26, 2014. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Vice Chair Gilbert Commissioner Jeong Commissioner McCloud Commissioner Schmidt No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Evans Abstain: 2 - Chair Chiu Commissioner Sidhu Chair Chiu and Commissioner Sidhu abstained because they were not present at that meeting PUBLIC COMMENTS None PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 14-0340 CDBG Capital Project Funding Recommendations Chair Chiu asked Housing Officer Suzanne Isé for a staff report. Housing Officer Suzanne Isé gave a brief presentation on the three rehabilitation proposals and one economic development proposal that were submitted in response to the CDBG Request for Proposals (RFP). She described the results of staff's evaluations of the proposals, and staff's funding recommendation for each proposal. She explained that staff did not recommend fully funding the proposal City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final March 26, 2014 Commission submitted by the Bill Wilson Center (BWC) to rehabilitate three transitional housing properties for several reasons: All of the properties are located in Santa Clara, not Sunnyvale; and one of the properties did not need housing rehabilitation, only routine repair and maintenance, which does not qualify for CDBG rehabilitation funding; and because funds for these projects are available from several other sources, such as the City of Santa Clara or the Housing Trust. Therefore, staff recommended funding half of the cost for eligible rehabilitation of two of the properties which serve as a maternity group home/transitional housing for homeless young mothers, conditioned on the applicant securing matching funds for the other half of the project cost. Staff recommended funding the full amount requested by all the other proposals. She noted that there are enough CDBG funds to fund all the proposals in the amounts recommended by staff. Chair Chiu opened the public hearing at 7:32 pm. Pilar Furlong, Bill Wilson Center (BWC) Director of Community Resources, spoke about BWC's proposal to rehabilitate its youth maternity transitional homes, which serves women ages 18-24. She thanked staff for the recommendation, and added that those funds, along with other matching funds, will enable them to make much-needed repairs to the leaky roof of this home and correct other safety code deficiencies. She noted that it can be difficult to identify the residency of the young women who are housed at this facility, since many times they move around from one foster home to another, and this can mean from one city to another. The property is a regional facility serving clients from anywhere in the County, and currently houses two tenants who originally came from Sunnyvale. Sunnyvale Community Services (SCS) Executive Director Marie Bernard and Downtown Streets (DST) Project Manager Greg Pensinger spoke about their economic development proposal, known as the Work First Sunnyvale program, which is in its second year of implementation in Sunnyvale. During the current year, DST has achieved all its goals in implementing this program, and has successfully partnered with Bon Appetit, Whole Foods, Equinox and other local businesses willing to hire DST's team members who have completed the program. Charities Housing (CH) Director of Property Management Cynthia Alvarez briefly described the two proposals she submitted: one to rehabilitate a 22-unit apartment building and one to rehabilitate two group homes. The first proposal involves Stoney Pine, a 22-unit apartment complex that houses developmentally disabled adults and their families. The proposed improvements at Stoney Pine include: replacement of flooring for 10 units, refacing cabinets, exterior painting, and installation of solar power. The other proposal is to rehabilitate two group homes City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final March 26, 2014 Commission that provide housing for extremely low-income seniors.The proposed improvements include: installing solar panels at both homes, so those utility savings can be reinvested in the properties, lowering entry steps or installing ramps, installing grab bars in the bathrooms, making the kitchens more accessible, painting, and re-roofing one of the homes. All of the presenters answered questions from the Commissioners. Chair Chiu closed the public hearing at 7:59 pm. After a short discussion and some clarification of commissioners questions by staff, Chair Chiu asked for a motion. Vice Chair Gilbert moved to approve staff's recommendation, with the provision that staff can remove the condition included with the Bill Wilson Center's recommended award (to secure all needed matching funds for the project) at staff's discretion, if that condition would cause a delay in implementing the project. Motion died for lack of second. Commissioner Schmidt moved and Commissioner Jeong seconded the motion to approve staff's recomendation as presented. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 5 - Chair Chiu Vice Chair Gilbert Commissioner Jeong Commissioner Schmidt Commissioner Sidhu No: 1 - Commissioner McCloud Absent: 1 - Commissioner Evans Commissioner McCloud dissented because she did not agree with funding a project not located in Sunnyvale [the Bill Wilson Center proposal]. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS None COMMISSIONER ORAL COMMENTS Chair Chiu welcomed new commissioner Chrichelle McCloud. Commissioner Jeong inquired about next year's CDBG allocation. City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final March 26, 2014 Commission STAFF ORAL COMMENTS Ms. Isé explained to the commissioners why they had all received a copy of a letter from the Office of the City Manager written in response to a letter the City had received from the Cities Association regarding boomerang funds. The Commission was receiving the City's response letter as a courtesy copy. INFORMATION ONLY REPORTS/ITEMS None ADJOURNMENT Chair Chiu adjourned the meeting at 8:25 pm. City of Sunnyvale Page 5