Community Development Commission Meeting

APPROVED MINUTES COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MEETING Tuesday, July 22, 2014, City Council Chambers 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, IL 61801 Call to Order: Chairperson Cobb called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Roll Call: Kelly Mierkowski called the roll. A quorum was present. Commission Members Present: Fred Cobb, Janice Bengtson, Chris Diana, and Jerry Moreland Commission Members Excused/Absent: Lisabeth Searing, and Anne Heinze Silvis Others Present: Kelly H. Mierkowski, Community Development Services. Approval of Minutes: Chairperson Cobb asked for approval or modifications to the June 24, 2014 minutes. Commissioner Bengtson noted that the minutes were well done and Chairperson Cobb commended staff. Commissioner Moreland moved to approve the minutes as written and Commissioner Diana seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Petitions and Communications: None. Staff Report: Kelly Mierkowski, Grants Management Division Manager, provided a brief overview of the staff report provided to the Commissioners that evening. The HUD activity was an email received that stated HUD had released the new Low/Moderate Income Summary Data, which staff has been waiting for, and had issued two companion CPD Notices explaining the transition to using this new data. The information can be used to update the CD Target Area Map, which staff will work on with interns in the Dept. Also noted on the staff report were activities that staff completed and meetings staff attended since the last meeting. Commissioner Diana asked a question re the bid amounts for the demolition of Urbana Townhomes. Ms. Mierkowski stated that she did not know the amounts, but would check with Mr. Burgett, Housing Rehabilitation Coordinator. Old Business: None New Business: A Resolution Approving Modifications to the City of Urbana and Urbana HOME Consortium, FY 2012-2013 Annual Action Plan (HOME County TBRA Amendment) Per the HOME Regulations, HOME funds have to be committed within 48 months of signing a contract with HUD. The deadline for FY 2012-2013 funds to be committed is August 31, 2014, as the contract for those funds was signed around that time two years previously. Since 301 Thompson is delayed due to requirements per HUD policy for Environmental Reviews, the only HOME activity that will meet the deadline and comply with the ERR request process is the Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program. Staff contacted Darlene Kloeppel, Social Services Director, Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC), to see if her agency would be willing and able to take additional TBRA funds to supplement their No Limits TBRA program. Ms. Kloeppel agreed to take the additional funds, which helps with the commitment issue. It also furthers the goals of the Consolidated Plan to assist households with incomes at or below 60% of the area median income. Chairperson Cobb commented about the statement in the memo, in which “the proposed amendment to allocate an additional $115,000 to CCRPC will allow them to continue their program for an additional year.” Ms. Mierkowski stated that at a minimum it could be at the minimum of one additional year, but possibly more than one year. It depends on the number of clients as to how much of the funds would be spent each year. Chairperson Cobb also asked where the $115,000 would be coming from, and Ms. Mierkowski stated that it is unobligated HOME funds, and is not being taken from any other programs. Commissioner Diana asked what is the plan for 301 Thompson, and Ms. Mierkowski responded staff is still working on the Environmental Reviews (ERR) for this project. Once Ms. Gonzalez returns from vacation, the ERR information will be reviewed and completed, then the next step will be discussed. The ERR review needs to be completed first before any action can take place. Commissioner Bengtson asked if there were any concerns regarding the property and Mrs. Mierkowski stated no, that it is a requirement of HUD that any entitlement community who receives Federal funds (i.e. CDBG or HOME), is to do an Environmental Review (ERR) for all activities and projects that are listed in the Annual Action Plan. Some of the activities that are considered “exempt” or “categorically excluded” have no concerns, but with new construction or demolition, there is more that has to be done. Commissioner Bengston followed up with a comment that this project had been on the agenda for a while and wondered why it was taking so long, and Ms. Mierkowski stated that it is because of the way in which HUD interprets the regulations. With staff recently having attended an ERR training, more information about the process and requirements was received, as well as HUD’s interpretation of the regulations and policies having changed, which is why there is more that has to be done for an ERR to be completed. Staff are also working on other ERR’s for other projects, including Urbana Townhomes; environmental reviews can be pretty in depth, more has to be done than what was done in the past. Commissioner Diana stated he was not clear on the amount listed in the memo, which shows an allocation of an additional $115,000 to TBRA, which is more than what is normally allocated in a year. The Commissioners then discussion the allocation of $115,000, and that normally, $90,000 is allocated each year to the TBRA program, so it appears that the total allocation is being more than doubled, (i.e. the additional amount of $115,000, together with the $90,000 makes the TBRA allocation to CCRPC more than double.) Also discussed by the Commission was where the funds were actually coming from, as far as what projects were not being funded. With there being a possible delay of 301 Thompson, it appears that $80,000 of the $115,000 comes from 301 Thompson. However, it was also stated that the allocation comes from unobligated funds. The amount that needs to be obligated is $115,000, which comes from HUD. There are carryover funds from previous years, as yet to be allocated to a particular project; budgets have also come through which account for every dollar amount. Recently, a budget amendment was taken to Council for carryover that was previously unaccounted for, which was thought to take of the problem, so there was confusion regarding this particular amendment. 2 Questions arose regarding what other projects, in addition to 301 Thompson, were not being funded now. Staff had discussed the best way to take care of the commitment problem, which was to allocate additional unobligated funds to CCRPC for their TBRA program, and that unobligated funds would be used. The project, 301 Thompson, will be delayed as far as transferring the property to Habitat for Humanity until FY 1415 funds are available. Only one of the four lots will be transferred to Habitat, the others will be delayed until the fall; two were in relation to 301 Thompson. Questions arose regarding transferring lots without funds; staff will be looking at FY 2014-2015 funds; one question in particular was about the resolution and no funding listed in the document, which is a standard form. Ms. Mierkowski apologized for not having enough information about this amendment to present to the Commissioners and suggested meeting with staff to obtain more information to bring back to the Commissioners. Several suggestions were made to rectify the situation and give more information. Chairperson Cobb stated that the questions could be answered better in the fiscal and programmatic impact sections of the memo, as more information could be added to those sections. The question was posed what to do next; the deadline for commitments is August 31, 2014, which is not enough time to come back to the Commission at the August meeting. The amendment would need to go to City Council as well, and would not occur before the August 31 deadline if the item was brought back to CDC at the August meeting. The money would then be returned to HUD if not committed by the deadline, per HUD regulations. Ms. Mierkowski suggested that upon Ms. Gonzalez’s return, she send an email to the Commissioners outlining further information regarding where the funds were coming from. Contracts have to be signed and the project has to be funded in the IDIS system. Discussion continued regarding what to make a motion on, a motion with changes, not approve the resolution, etc. Chairperson Diana made a motion sending the Resolution Approving the Modifications to the City of Urbana and Urbana HOME Consortium FY 2012-2013 Annual Action Plan to Council with a recommendation to approve contingent upon detail of the sources of the funds and an expanded Programmatic Impact section in the memo. Commissioner Bengtson seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Adjournment: Seeing no further business, Chairperson Cobb adjourned the meeting at 7:40pm. Recorded by Kelly H. Mierkowski, Manager APPROVED 3