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05/11/2021 Neighborhood and Affordable Meeting Minutes May 11, 2021 Housing Advisory Board City of Clearwater Main Library- Council Chambers 100 N. Osceola Avenue Clearwater, FL 33755 e Meeting Minutes Tuesday, May 11, 2021 9:00 AM Main Library - Council Chambers Neighborhood and Affordable Housing Advisory Board Page 1 City of Clearwater Neighborhood and Affordable Meeting Minutes May 11, 2021 Housing Advisory Board Roll Call Present 7 - Chair Camille Hebting, Vice Chair Kevin Chinault, Board Member Linda Kemp, Board Member Gabby Camacho, Board Member Carmen Santiago, Board Member Peter Scalia, and Board Member Lindsay Dicus-Harrison Also Present - Denise Sanderson — Economic Development & Housing Director, Chuck Lane — Economic Development & Housing Assistant Director, Patricia Sullivan - Board Reporter 1. Call To Order The Chair called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. at the Main Library. To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. 2. Approval of Minutes 2.2 Continue approval of the March 9, 2021 and April 13, 2021 NAHAB Meeting Minutes Member Camacho moved to continue approval of minutes of the March 9, and April 13, 2021 Neighborhood & Affordable Housing Advisory Board meetings. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 3. Citizens to be Heard Regarding Items Not on the Agenda: Councilmember Kathleen Beckman thanked board members for the important work they do. She expressed excitement re U.S. Treasury guidelines on spending American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 funds. Economic Development & Housing Assistant Director Chuck Lane estimated the City would receive $21 million for COVID relief, the funds qualify for broad and flexible uses. The City Council will provide direction. Pinellas County also was anticipating significant funds from the ARP Act. City Clerk Rosemarie Call said the City Council had not identified uses for the funds. Mr. Lane will report to the board if any funds are directed to NAHAB (Neighborhood &Affordable Housing Advisory Board) interests. 4. New Business Items 4.1 Approve the staff recommended funding allocations in preparation of the 2021/22 Annual Action Plan Approve the staff recommended funding allocations in preparation of the 2021/22 Annual Action Plan Page 2 City of Clearwater Neighborhood and Affordable Meeting Minutes May 11, 2021 Housing Advisory Board Member Kemp declare a conflict of interest re Tampa Bay CDC dba Suncoast Housing Connection. Mr. Lane reviewed the TRC's (Technical Review Committee) recommended funding allocations for the FY(Fiscal Year) 2021/22 Annual Action Plan. TRC members City Clerk Rosemarie Call, Neighborhood &Affordable Housing Board Member Kevin Chinault, Neighborhood Services Coordinator Jordan Morang, Homeless Leadership Council representative Dominique Randall, and Clearwater Urban Leadership Coalition representative Bilal Habeeb-Ullah ranked the applications and averaged the scores. TRC members also made suggestions to improve the application. Mr. Lane said NSP (Neighborhood Stabilization Program) 3 funds were closed out and converted to CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funds. He reviewed agency plans for their Public Facilities funding requests. City staff determined that HEP's (Homeless Empowerment Program) application for housing improvements did not qualify for Public Facilities funds. All Public Services requests will be nearly fully funded for the first time, with top tier applications funded in full while 2nd and 31 tier applications receiving slightly reduced funding. The TRC also recommended funding St. Vincent de Paul and Pinellas Ex-offender Re-entry Coalition's combined request by determining sharing one employee would be cost effective. Board/TRC Member Chinault reported the TRC did not score the 3 Education/Counseling applications for traditional Homebuyer Education classes, applications were dramatically apart with some combining Homebuyer Education with Down Payment Assistant services. He said staff agreed to provide equal funds to each organization. Mr. Lane said applicants had agreed to reimbursements of$150 for initial consultations. Each organization will be funded to process 7 down payment assistance applications although funds can be moved to successful organizations from underperforming ones. It was felt the process was fair as each organization served different communities and people. Mr. Lane said administration funding was based on CDBG, SHIP and HOME guidelines. The TRC recommended full funding for both applicants serving microenterprises which will provide entrepreneurial training and business support. Under the Economic Development goal, staff is planning to expand its fagade improvement program. Mr. Lane said for the Housing Pool the City had opted for the high tier contribution of$610,000 in support of Blue Sky's tax credit application for its proposed affordable housing project at the former Fire Station 45 site, the tax credit application was approved by the Florida Housing Corporation. Page 3 City of Clearwater Neighborhood and Affordable Meeting Minutes May 11, 2021 Housing Advisory Board With up to an additional $5-million in anticipated construction costs, the developer was requesting additional funds from Pinellas County. The Washington Street development was not sustainable as property taxes were much higher than budgeted. The City was willing to wait, this was not the only project affected by higher than anticipated property taxes. He hoped next year's legislation will allow County governments to be more flexible in valuing workforce housing project property values for taxing purposes. He reviewed types of projects that can be funded, including revolving loan funds for Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation and Owner- Occupied New Construction. He anticipated no project funds would carry over to next year. Mr. Lane said Clearwater would receive approximately$779,230 in SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) funds for FY 2021/22. SHIP and HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds will be distributed to the Housing Pool for new construction, rehabilitation, and down payment assistance. The City was awaiting HUD (Department of Housing & Urban Development) guidance for$1,637,567 in ARP Act funds which will be tied to housing, these funds have not been allocated. Some CDBG funds can be dedicated to a newly created category for slum and blight property acquisition that could be used to purchase a troubled neighborhood bar from a willing seller. Minor changes to the budget sheet could occur. It was commented it would be nice if the City was able to fund every project at 100% and last month's presentations were helpful to compare the amount of funds requested with the number of City residents that programs will help. Member Scalia moved to approve recommended funding allocations for the FY 2021/22 Annual Action Plan less Tampa Bay CDC dba Suncoast Housing Connection. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Member Santiago moved to approve recommended funding allocation for the FY 2021/22 Annual Action Plan for Tampa Bay CDC dba Suncoast Housing Connection. The motion was duly seconded. Members Chinault, Santiago, Camacho, Scalia, Dicus Harrison, and Chair Hebting voted "Aye"; Member Kemp abstained. Motion carried. 4.2 Staff Presentation by the City of Clearwater's Neighborhood Services Coordinator Neighborhood Services Coordinator Jordan Morang provided a PowerPoint presentation. He said he runs the City's Placemaking Program, acting as liaison between the City and Neighborhood Associations, assisting residents with issues and questions via clear and continual communication and linked responses from multiple departments. Page 4 City of Clearwater Neighborhood and Affordable Meeting Minutes May 11, 2021 Housing Advisory Board Mr. Morang said the placemaking program referenced people-oriented public spaces driven by community action. Placemaking activities included replacing damaged sidewalks with new concrete etched with poems, neighborhood residents painting sidewalks with rain art, and the Clearwater Arts Alliance signal box art wrap program which attracted business participation. Mr. Morang reviewed Lake Belleview Neighborhood successes where residents identified issues and concerns and worked together with the City to focus their efforts. Residents participated in a walk audit of the community, organized and engaged in mural installations on the North Greenwood Recreation Center and Woodlawn Street/S. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue intersection, created sketches and painted neighborhood storm drains, accessed community partnerships, encouraged 100 businesses, organizations and service providers to commit to keep Lake Belleview clean through the Friends of the Belle petition, and participated in Lake Belleview and community clean-up events, residents collected more than 1,000 pounds of trash from the lake. The Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which moved into a warehouse across the street, adopted the lake and park. He was assessing how each City department could participate. Mr. Morang was thanked for his community involvement. 5. Old Business Items It was stated the Homeless Leadership Alliance of Pinellas County had presented its Racial Disparities in Homelessness Report which found racial disparities in Continuum of Care services. It was commented the report indicated more than 25% of Black homeless individuals were lifelong Pinellas County residents, compared to less than 10% of White homeless individuals. It was stated that Blacks reported their homelessness had begun with lost jobs, imprisonment etc. while Whites attributed their homelessness to alcohol and drug abuse. It was felt the differences in provided benefits were upsetting. It was reported the presentation ended with stakeholders breaking into groups to discuss next steps. Community Development Coordinator Gabe Parra said the Homeless Leadership Alliance of Pinellas County was the umbrella organization for homeless issues. Based on racial disparity findings, HUD mandated all Continuum of Care services, their employees, managers, etc. to review each agency's provision of services for inequities. He represented the City on a new committee tasked with this review. Whites and their families escape homelessness in much shorter time frames than Blacks. He hoped more committee meetings soon can be scheduled to explore the disparities before discussing next steps. Page 5 City of Clearwater Neighborhood and Affordable Housing Advisory Board Meeting Minutes May 11, 2021 It was noted the study indicated a shortage of case managers. It was suggested that COVID relief money could help with salaries, which might move the needle. Mr. Lane will distribute copies of the report to NAHAB members. 6. Director's Report Mr. Lane said the Board of County Commissioners would consider the City's request to authorize a CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) in North Greenwood that morning. Mr. Lane said while the June meeting may be cancelled, it was important for members to attend the July 13, 2021 meeting. He thanked board members for their efforts. 7. Board Members to be Heard: None. 8. Adjourn Attest: The meeting adjourned at 10:10 a.m. Chair Neighborhoo Page 6 City of Clearwater . _ Affor. able Housing Advisory Board