Housing Commission

7/26/2021 - Minutes I. Call to Order Members Present: Robert Millar, Jessica Bridge, “Deac” Decarreau City Staff Present: Heather Carrington Guests Present: Councilor Jim Duncan, Shiferaw Gemeda, Brendan Sage, Jack Commo Call to Order by: Robert Millar Meeting Start Time: 6:11 pm Minutes Recorded by: Heather Carrington II. Public Comment Members of the public introduced themselves: Brendan Sage and Jack Commo are both candidates for an open Housing Commission seat, and Shiferaw Gemeda works for CVOEO’s Fair Housing Project. Shiferaw is researching best management practices in Housing Commissions/Committees. III. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Meeting minutes were tabled due to lack of quorum of members who had been present at the meeting. IV. Council Update City Manager Search Committee will be recommending finalists to City Council at their August 2 nd meeting. V. City Updates Butternut Station Construction underway City Equity Director, Yas Gordon met with Heather and CHT staff to discuss outreach methods to reach all of our community members with this shared equity homeownership opportunity. Yas will be working with CHT to assist in this process. WHA and the City will be meeting with members of our congressional delegation to advocate for the protection of WHA’s HUD allocation The memo with recommendations to the Planning Commission for changes to the parking minimum requirements in order to promote housing affordability will be delivered in the coming weeks. VI. Annual City Council Priorities and Strategies Review The Housing Commission reviewed the FY22 priorities and strategies that were set by City Council. The Housing Commission made recommendations for possible priorities, which were th  weeks. VI. Annual City Council Priorities and Strategies Review The Housing Commission reviewed the FY22 priorities and strategies that were set by City Council. The Housing Commission made recommendations for possible priorities, which were then provided to City Council for their annual priority setting retreat on June 26 th with the City Leadership Team. Priorities were set for each of the strategic vision areas, and the housing priorities are the basis for the Housing Commission annual work plan. VII. Annual Commission Work Plan Discussion Based on the housing priorities identified by City Council, the Commission reviewed a draft work plan for FY2022. The Housing Commission identified 5 potential housing priorities at their May 24 th meeting, and they were brought forward for City Council consideration. The City Council priorities included 4 of the 5 recommendations identified by the Housing Commission at their May 24 th meeting. The draft work plan includes the Council priorities as well as ongoing operational commitments including: evaluating and making funding recommendations for housing trust fund applications, monitoring incoming housing developments in comparison with affordability targets, and tracking housing trust fund outcomes. After a spirited discussion of the proposed work plan, the draft language of goal #8 was changed as follows: “Support Planning Commission in Updating Parking Recommendations and Form-Based Code Incentives” was replaced with; “Support and Make Recommendations to Planning Commission for Changes to City-wide Zoning to Support Priority Housing” The language change effectively expands the geographic area being addressed as well as the potential land use requirement subject areas to be addressed. Staff will revise the work plan as discussed to be reviewed and approved at the August Commission meeting. VIII. Housing Trust Fund Roll Out The Housing Trust Fund Policy and Procedures document was approved by City Council at their June 21 st meeting. There was one slight language modification in the final document to clarify eligibility for down payment assistance grants for Winooski residents. The document was reviewed by the City Attorney and by the new Equity Director prior to presentation for City Council approval. At the same meeting, the Memorandum of Understanding with Opportunities Credit Union for servicing the Housing Trust Fund programs was also approved. The next steps for rolling out the Housing Trust Fund include development of applications for each of the three programs and creation of promotional collateral materials. Staff has developed a preliminary approach to ensuring that the applications allow equitable access to all of our eligible residents. The approach is focused on: accessible language that accommodates people of all ages and abilities, including those with cognitive disabilities, people with low literacy skills, and speakers of English as a foreign language translated materials and easily available interpretation service trust building through direct outreach to various community leaders/elders training on the program for community partners who may be called upon to help promote the program or assist community members with applications (AALV, USCRI, school community liaisons)  trust building through direct outreach to various community leaders/elders training on the program for community partners who may be called upon to help promote the program or assist community members with applications (AALV, USCRI, school community liaisons) workshop/training with Opportunities staff on resources to assist community members with special access needs community information sessions on each of the three programs (CoRE, HIP, and DPA) throughout the fall months. IX. Adjourn Meeting End Time: 7:28 pm