Community Development Commission Meeting

UNAPPROVED MINUTES COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MEETING Tuesday, April 24, 2018, City Council Chambers 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, IL 61801 Call to Order: Commissioner and Acting Chairperson Diana called the regular meeting to order at 7:04pm. Roll Call: Kelly Mierkowski called the roll. A quorum was present. Commission Members Present: Michael Braun, Chris Diana, Rev. Robert Freeman, James Winston, Abdulhakeem Salaam, and Jerry Moreland. Commission Members Excused/Absent: Fred Cobb, Anne Heinze-Silvis, Karin Hodgin-Jones Others Present: Kelly Mierkowski and Matt Rejc, Community Development Services; Ben Miller, Champaign-Urbana Friends and Allies, Immigrants and Refugees. Approval of Minutes: Commissioner and Acting Chairperson Diana asked for approval or corrections to the March 27, 2018 minutes. Commissioner Salaam moved to approve the minutes as written and Commissioner Braun seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Petitions and Communications: Commissioner and Acting Chairperson Diana asked if there was any written communication to the Commission, there were none. Audience Participation: Commissioner and Acting Chairperson Diana stated that audience members could speak if they so wished or after a particular item is presented, no one from the audience stepped forward to speak. Staff Report: Kelly Mierkowski, Grants Management Manager, provided a brief overview of the staff report provided to the Commissioners that evening, which included HUD activities, staff activities, meetings attended, the FY 18-19 Annual Action Plan process, the completion of Supportive Housing Program (SHP) monitoring, the CDBG Timeliness reports and various projects and programs. Old Business: Commissioner and Acting Chairperson Diana asked if there was any old business. No old business items were presented for discussion. New Business A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE CITY OF URBANA AND URBANA HOME CONSORTIUM FY 2018-2019 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN Ms. Mierkowski stated that the Grants Management Division (GMD) has produced a draft of the Annual Action Plan (AAP). The Department of Housing and Urban Development sent out a notice to instruct grantees on the AAP process every year. Because the budget comes from Congress, and approved and signed by the President, it can take a while before grantees know their exact funding amount. The federal fiscal year ends on September 30 and starts on October 1. In recent years, they never had the budget ready for the grantees before the new City fiscal year starts. As a result, HUD sent guidance to the City on what to do regarding the AAP. Part of the AAP process is that the City is required to have public comments and citizen participation regarding proposed projects and neighborhood needs. Per HUD instruction, GMD needs to include the estimated funding amount and different scenarios (increased funding and decreased funding). After the AAP is approved by the Commission and then Council, the AAP is ready to be submitted to HUD as soon as the City is contacted by HUD with the allocation amount. Based on FY17-18, GMD estimated the amount for HOME grant will be the same at $641,206. Ten percent of the grant would go towards administration, fifteen percent would be required to go towards Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs) for affordable housing. Habitat for Humanity is currently the only CHDO that operates in the City of Urbana. The rest of the allocation is divided between the City of Urbana, City of Champaign and unincorporated Champaign County based on population. The estimated amount for CDBG is $364,676. Twenty percent would go towards administration and no more than fifteen percent can go towards Public Service activities. The rest of the allocation would go towards program delivery and housing- related activities. Also included in the AAP are the objectives, executive summary, different programs and sources. Ben Miller, president of Champaign-Urbana Friends and Allies, Immigrants and Refugees addressed the Community Development Commission. He stated that he is working with a number of organizations to provide better housing of foreign-born individuals. He said that Urbana has the highest amount of foreign-born persons in Champaign County. One in five people in Urbana is foreign-born. Many of these people are international students, but there is also a signification population of refugees, diversity visa immigrants and people from south of the border. One in three of these people do not have work permits, so it is very difficult for them to find housing. He said that he would like the AAP to take into consideration of these families in order to help them find proper housings or be more aware of these opportunities. Commissioner and Acting Chairperson Diana asked which organization within the City of Urbana and Champaign County that C-U FAIR is working directly with. Mr. Miller said that he just undertook the position six months ago, so he does not have many connections. Commissioner and Acting Chairperson Diana recommends Mr. Miller to get to know all the different local programs since GMD can only work with individuals in the targeted areas. 2 Commissioner Braun asked if there is any big changes in the upcoming AAP compared to the last AAP. Ms. Mierkowski said that there is none. Staff recommends that the Community Development Commission forward the Resolution to the Urbana City Council with a recommendation for approval. Commissioner Braun moved to recommend approval of the Ordinance as written. Commissioner Winston seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. A REOLUSTION APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING AN URBANA HOME CONSORTIUM SUBRECIPIENT AGREEMENT (ROSECRANCE TBRA FY 2018-2019) Mr. Rejc stated that the resolution will allow GMD to continue to fund Rosecrance’s Tenant- Based Assistance (TBRA) Program. The agreement would allocate $35,065.72 towards their program. The reason for the amount is that GMD would have exactly this amount left after committing funds to a housing rehabilitation project. The amount is higher than what Rosecrance has requested because this will help the City to meet the commitment deadline and their contract will last longer. Staff recommends that the Community Development Commission forward the Resolution to the Urbana City Council with a recommendation for approval. Commissioner and Acting Chairperson Diana asked why the last agreement ran out faster than expected. Was it because of higher demand or higher costs? Would the City lose the money if the money does not get committed on time? Mr. Rejc said that costs have not increased, so it is because of higher demand. The commitment deadline is currently suspended, so the City would not lose the money, but HUD can un-suspend the deadline anytime and we would lose the money then. Commissioner Salaam moved to recommend approval of the Ordinance as written. Commissioner Moreland seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. A SOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ILLINOIS HOUSING DEVELOPMENENT ABANDONED PROPERTY PROGRAM. Mr. Rejc stated this is a continuation of a program that was awarded previously by IDHA for the Abandoned Property Program. The last award amount was $71,000 and the new award amount is $55,000. The process for being allocated these funds require a resolution passed by a local body, then submitted to IDHA before an agreement is signed. The deadline is June 1st and the agreement has not been provided to GMD. The attached agreement is the template from previous funding round. IDHA did not state any new requirements in a recent webinar. GMD expects the agreement to be the same, but it is subject to change. Primarily, GMD anticipates using the grant for blighted and abandoned structure. There would be no relocation involved. If it is a structure that has someone living in there, it is not eligible for 3 the program. These funds are for abandoned and blighted structures. There are other eligible expenses including cutting grass and boarding up structure. In terms of fiscal impact, this grant would be additional money coming from the state. GMD expects to tie together with CDBG. They go hand to hand with activities of that nature. We could acquire properties with CDBG and demolished them with APP. Staff recommends that the Community Development Commission forward the Resolution to the Urbana City Council with a recommendation for approval. Commissioner and Acting Chairperson Diana asked how the list is looking right now. Are there a lot of abandoned and blighted properties? Are there any good targets for Habitat? Are there any commercial property on this list? Mr. Rejc said that the City has a few properties. GMD has been working with the Building Safety Division to come up with a list of properties. The list has twelve properties that could work with AAP. There are priorities in place. Some would be more immediate threats because of safety and some might be difficult to acquire and work with. Mr. Rejc said these are also good targets for Habitat to build new houses. The City cannot use this grant on commercial properties. Commissioner Freeman moved to recommend approval of the Resolution with suggested changes to reflect whatever form the proposed agreement with IHDA eventually takes. Commissioner Salaam seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Study Session: No items for this agenda. Adjournment: Seeing no further business, Chairperson Cobb adjourned the meeting at 7:52 p.m. Recorded by Don Ho Grants Compliance Specialist, Grants Management Division UNAPPROVED 4