Housing Commission

11/23/2020 - Minutes I. Call to Order Members Present: Robert Millar, Anna Wageling, Leslie Black-Plumeau, Jessica Bridge, Deac Decarreau City Staff Present: Heather Carrington Guests Present: Councilor Jim Duncan, Erik Hoekstra/Redstone, Nathan Dagesse/Dagesse Properties Call to Order by: Robert Millar Meeting Start Time: 6:03 PM Minutes Recorded by: Anna Wageling II. Public Comment Gwennie Talbot introduced herself and stated that she was in attendance to learn. III. City Updates This item was added during the meeting. Staff provided updates on the City of Winooski Working Communities Challenge Implementation Grant award of $300,000 for the next three years. The funds will be used to support equity work in Winooski by supporting the following: hiring an Equity Director at the City, expanding the roles of the WSD school community liaisons to include supporting access to city processes and services, and establishing an Equity Commission to identify potential changes to policies, practices, and procedures to improve equity and inclusion in Winooski. Staff also provided an update on the Building Homes Together Initiative. While overall, the initiative has not met the goal of 20% of new homes constructed being affordable homes, in Winooski we have exceeded the 20% goal with 31% of all new units constructed being affordable. Winooski continues to outperform the region for production of affordable housing. IV. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Approved. V. Discussion with Erik Hoekstra/Redstone – Rental Payments, Forecast for Evictions Erik Hoekstra of Redstone, and Nate Dagesse of Dagesse Company were invited to share what they are seeing for rent non-payment and whether they are projecting evictions. Redstone and Dagesse Company are major landlords representing a large number of rentals in Winooski. Both expressed that they are not experiencing rent non-payment issues in Winooski, and do not foresee an uptick in evictions coming. The general consensus was that the combination of federal funding for housing, enhanced unemployment benefits and economic stimulus has prevented any noticeable uptick in people not paying their rent. The sense is that Vermont’s approach is working in Winooski, tenants can afford their rent, and securing continued funds to keep these programs going should continue to hold off any major challenges in ability to pay for existing housing in Winooski. VI. Housing Stability Quarterly Report Staff presented the latest monitoring report on housing stability indicators. The latest available data indicates that renter non-payment has dropped since July, but confidence in the ability to pay rent in the future has declined slightly in recent weeks. Mortgage payers in the state are  existing housing in Winooski. VI. Housing Stability Quarterly Report Staff presented the latest monitoring report on housing stability indicators. The latest available data indicates that renter non-payment has dropped since July, but confidence in the ability to pay rent in the future has declined slightly in recent weeks. Mortgage payers in the state are reporting increasing non-payment and decreasing confidence, but in small margins. VII. Overview of Eviction Lab Project Findings – Councilor Jim Duncan City Councilor Jim Duncan presented an overview of national findings from the Eviction Lab Project. This represented data collected from cities across the nation. VIII. CCRPC Convening of the Housing Committees – Winooski Speaking Points Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission will be holding a remote Convening of the Housing Committees meeting on Monday, November 30th at 6 pm. City staff will be in attendance, as will several members of the Commission. Staff will report out to the group on the housing stability monitoring, rental registry COVID survey responses, and the Winooski Housing Trust Fund. IX. Policy Review Homework Staff asked Commissioners to consider the following for discussion at our next meeting: 1. Identify your current top housing concern. 2. What data demonstrates that it is a problem in Winooski or would be needed to confirm the issue locally? 3. What resources are necessary to address the issue you identified? (funding, policies, programs, enforcement, etc.) 4. Would the issue be best addressed at a local or state level? Why? X. Adjourn Motion by: Deac Second: Leslie Meeting End Time: 7:11 PM