Loading...
07/13/2021 Neighborhood and Affordable Meeting Minutes July 13, 2021 Housing Advisory Board City of Clearwater Main Library- Council Chambers 100 N. Osceola Avenue Clearwater, FL 33755 e Meeting Minutes Tuesday, July 13, 2021 9:00 AM Main Library - Council Chambers Neighborhood and Affordable Housing Advisory Board Page 1 City of Clearwater Neighborhood and Affordable Meeting Minutes July 13, 2021 Housing Advisory Board Roll Call Present 6 - Board Member Peter Scalia, Board Member Gabby Camacho, Vice Chair Kevin Chinault, Chair Camille Hebting, Board Member Carmen Santiago, and Board Member Linda Kemp Absent 1 - Board Member Lindsay Dicus-Harrison Also Present - Denise Sanderson — Economic Development & Housing Director, Chuck Lane — Economic Development & Housing Assistant Director, Patricia O. 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 2.1 Approve the Minutes of the March 9, 2021; April 13, 2021; and May 11, 2021 NAHAB Meetings Member Scalia moved to approve minutes of the March 9, April 13, and May 11, 2021 Neighborhood & Affordable Housing Advisory Board meetings as submitted in written summation. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 3. Citizens to be Heard Regarding Items Not on the Agenda: None. 4. New Business Items 4.1 Recommend City Council approval of the Advantage Pinellas Housing Compact between the Municipalities within Pinellas County, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners and Forward Pinellas; and authorize appropriate officials to execute same. Pinellas County staff organized a Countywide Housing Strategy Tactical Team to establish the framework and terms of a Countywide approach to affordable housing. City staff from the Economic Development and Housing Department and the Planning and Development Department participated in the Tactical Team meetings. The goal was to create an organized, countywide approach to meeting residents' needs for rental and ownership housing affordability. Under the Compact, the parties agree to work toward developing strategies on several issues that impact availability and quality of housing as well as racial, social, economic, and geographic equality. Strategies include partnering with various stakeholders to implement the Compact and Page 2 City of Clearwater Neighborhood and Affordable Meeting Minutes July 13, 2021 Housing Advisory Board coordinating among jurisdictions to develop goals, and shared terminology/definitions addressing affordable housing. The partners also agree to work toward developing a centralized data repository and performance metrics to identify needs and measure progress. While the Compact creates a coordinated framework for addressing affordable housing needs, the partners agree to do so while respecting the autonomy of each local jurisdiction. City Staff is scheduled to recommend City Council approval of the Compact at the July 15 City Council Meeting. Economic Development & Housing Assistant Director Chuck Lane said local housing costs were soaring. He will continue serving on the County's affordable housing tactical team, working to meet its goal for a countywide approach to affordable housing. Pinellas County Planning Division Manager Evan Johnson provided a PowerPoint presentation on Advantage Pinellas Housing, the countywide effort to coordinate multi jurisdictional planning for affordable housing. He reviewed the Compact which will operate under the Forward Pinellas umbrella of transportation and housing. He said Compact strategies consider financial and regulatory incentives for public private relationships and multi- jurisdictional investment corridors. He said the Compact was being presented to partner governments for approval and an early 2022 start. He said digital outreach will continue and occasional discussions will be scheduled with the industry. Mr. Johnson said the regulatory toolkit will depend on each jurisdiction's flexibility. He said the County was updating its affordable housing Code. By late fall, the Compact will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners for approval and for outreach work to begin to add partners. In response to questions, Mr. Johnson said the County would support Clearwater if it updates its Code in response to developer requests to reduce timelines. He said development of a formal tool kit will be completed by mid- 2022 and posted on the web. He said the network will share successes and roadblocks and the County will help to determine which methods work and which do not. He said Compact partners will cooperate and work together on problems. He said the County will provide participants with technical assistance and help with community initiatives. He said Forward Pinellas will begin the corridor planning process and then bring the plans local. He said the Compact proposes creative solutions, with each jurisdiction determining its own Code mechanics,jurisdictions will not be required to adopt Compact regulations. He said the Compact will encourage affordable housing development with less regulations where possible, starting in unincorporated Pinellas County. Page 3 City of Clearwater Neighborhood and Affordable Meeting Minutes July 13, 2021 Housing Advisory Board Mr. Lane said the process will parallel the City's current efforts to update its comprehensive plan which will include items in the Compact. It was commented that the Compact was a great idea, sharing information will serve County residents. Support was expressed for a countywide effort to develop workforce housing due to high local housing costs that force many employees to commute here from other counties. Member Scalia moved to recommend City Council approval of the Advantage Pinellas Housing Compact between the municipalities within Pinellas County, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners and Forward Pinellas. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 4.2 Recommend City Council approval of the City of Clearwater's FY2021/2022 Annual Action Plan, which is the second Action Plan of the FY2020/2021 - FY2024/2025 Consolidated Plan, to implement the goals and objectives set forth in the Consolidated Plan, and authorize the appropriate officials to enter into agreements with HUD and organizations approved for funding, together with authorization to execute administrative adjustments to same as needed. On July 16, 2020, City Council approved the 2020/2021 - 2024/2025 Consolidated Plan (Consolidated Plan) identifying the city's goals and objectives with respect to the city's administration of HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program funds. Under the Consolidated Plan, the City is required by US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create and implement a plan each year to identify the sources and uses of these funds for housing, community programs, and economic development. This plan, referred to as the Annual Action Plan, provides HUD with the City's housing budget and proposed expenditures based on the entitlement funds and estimated program income that the City will receive in the upcoming fiscal year to meet the goals and objectives established in the Consolidated Plan. Funds will be used to develop viable communities and sustain existing ones. In addition, the funds will be used to provide safe, decent and affordable housing to assist extremely low- to moderate-income households. This year's Annual Action Plan allocates federal funds to provide housing opportunities to extremely low- to moderate-income households for new and existing homes, construction and/or renovation of public facilities, and to fund public services programs. In FY 2021-2022, the City will receive $922,626 in entitlement funds for the CDBG Program and $452,259 in entitlement funds for the HOME Program. The City is also reprogramming: $3,358,202 in prior year HOME entitlement and program income funding; $150,000 in anticipated FY 2021-2022 HOME program income; $543,634 in prior year CDBG entitlement and program Page 4 City of Clearwater Neighborhood and Affordable Meeting Minutes July 13, 2021 Housing Advisory Board income funding; $27,500 in anticipated FY2021-2022 CDBG program income; and $1,180,058 in CDBG Revolving Loan Program funds. Funds provided through the CDBG Program may be used for housing, community and economic development, public services and facilities, acquisition, relocation and administration. Funds provided through the HOME Program are limited to housing-related activities and administration. The City partners with several non-profit agencies to implement the goals and objectives established in the Consolidated Plan. To obtain these partners, the City annually publishes in February a Notice of Funding Availability in the local newspaper and on its website. This notice informs the public of the resources the City will make available and the eligible uses of these resources. It also informs them of the 30-day application period for requesting funds. The applications were due on March 18, 2021 with the City receiving 23 applications; 23 applications received an allocation of funding. A Technical Review Committee (TRC) comprised of a professional in the social service and grants community, a member of the City's Neighborhood and Affordable Housing Advisory Board (NAHAB), a representative of the North Greenwood Community, the City Clerk and the City's Neighborhood Coordinator reviewed and ranked the applications. Applicants were provided an opportunity to present their proposed projects at the April 13, 2021 NAHAB meeting. City Housing staff also reviewed each application to ensure it met HUD's baseline requirements. With guidance from the TRC and NAHAB and based on available funding, City staff prepared recommended funding allocations. The NAHAB met on May 11, 2021 and approved the recommended allocations. Each year the City may allocate up to 15% of its CDBG funds for Public Services activities. This year the City received fourteen requests for funding of public services from eleven public service providers in the amount $2407230. $226,560 was available to fund the fourteen activities. This amount is unusually high because the City converted remaining Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds to CDBG and was able to direct a portion of those funds towards public services. Staff recommends the following: allocation of funding at 100 percent to housing services providers to support housing program needs. Allocation of funding for the remaining eight organizations based on the tiered ranking of TRC scoring for which the three highest-ranked applicants are granted 100 percent funding, the next three highest-ranked applicants are funded at approximately 90 percent and the two lowest-ranked applicants are funded at approximately 85 percent. The City received eight requests for funding of Public Facilities improvements. The TRC reviewed each application and recommended funding of each request as appropriate. Staff is recommending funding of all eligible components of each request. The total staff-recommended allocation of the eight projects is $671,925. This investment will help daily Page 5 City of Clearwater Neighborhood and Affordable Meeting Minutes July 13, 2021 Housing Advisory Board operations of each public Service Provider with improved facility functionality, efficiency, and safety features. The Annual Action Plan serves as a budget for planned projects and identifies unallocated funds available for additional project(s) throughout the budget year. Staff requests authorization to make administrative adjustments during the budget year to fund additional project(s), including shifting funds between projects within budgetary segments. Staff will request Council approval for any administrative adjustments that exceed City Manager authority of$100,000. The FY2021/2022 Annual Action Plan is due to HUD on August 15, 2021. All organizations that will be receiving an allocation will have agreements prepared and executed by October 1, 2021. Staff will perform compliance monitoring with funded organizations on an annual basis. At the City Council Meeting on July 15, 2021, staff will present the FY2021/2022 Annual Action Plan in a public hearing forum and will recommend City Council approval of the Plan. Mr. Lane provided a PowerPoint presentation on the Annual Action Plan. It was commented that the TRC had done a great job and it was helpful that the City was able to distribute Action Plan funds to every nonprofit organization that submitted an application. Member Camacho moved to recommend City Council approval of the City of Clearwater's FY2021/2022 Annual Action Plan, which is the second Action Plan of the FY2020/2021 - FY2024/2025 Consolidated Plan, to implement the goals and objectives set forth in the Consolidated Plan, and authorize the appropriate officials to enter into agreements with HUD and organizations approved for funding, together with authorization to execute administrative adjustments to same as needed. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 5. Old Business Items: None. 6. Director's Report Mr. Lane reported the City had meetings scheduled in July throughout the City seeking community input for updates to the comprehensive plan. In response to a question, Economic Development & Housing Director Denise Sanderson said the meetings will break into small interactive groups. It will take another 20 months to finalize the comprehensive plan updates. Page 6 City of Clearwater Neighborhood and Affordable Housing Advisory Board Meeting Minutes July 13, 2021 Mr. Lane said he would report on responses to the RFP (Request for Proposals) issued for the development of 80 units on Cleveland Street. Mr. Lane said the City had received half of the $22 -million anticipated from the American Rescue Plan Act. He anticipated receipt of $1.6 million for housing; funds will be directed to struggling people facing the risk of homelessness. A City Task force was considering projects based on a list of objectives and constructive outcomes. Board member suggestions were welcomed. Mr. Lane reported the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee would begin meeting in September. The website was upgraded as recommended by last year's committee. Mr. Lane reported he would meet with Homeless Leadership Alliance of Pinellas CEO Amy Foster tomorrow regarding establishing a countywide list of housing resources for residents. The alliance meets monthly. Concern was expressed that funds need to be set aside to help residents when the foreclosure moratorium is lifted; shelter space is inadequate to serve all of the families that will require help in the next few months. It was noted that all mortgage lenders handled foreclosures differently. Mr. Lane hoped to expand the number of mortgage holders the City can help to include those earning more than 80 AMI (Area Median Income). It was difficult to prove that lost income was COVID related. Mr. Lane said the August NAHAB meeting may be canceled. 7. Board Members to be Heard: Member Scalia thanked staff for NAHAB's successful year. 8. Adjourn Attest: 1 B. and Repo City of Clearwater The meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m. Chair Neighborhood & Affordable ousing Advisory Board Page 7