Loading...
05/06/1997 - SpecialNEIGHBORHOOD AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING SPECIAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC MEETING CITYOF CLEARWATER May 6, 1997 Present: Roger Woodruff Downtown Development Board Vicki Crouch Clearwater Chamber of Commerce Denise Unley Barnett Bank Bilal Habeeb-Ullah African American Leadership Council Dee Frye Ultimate Learning Center Mike Meidel Florida Power Corporation Gary Gray Citizens Bank Alan Ferri Clearwater Housing and Urban Development Department Michael Holmes Clearwater Housing and Urban Development Department Diane Hufford Clearwater Housing and Urban Development Department Brenda Moses Board Reporter The meeting was called to order at 10:15 a.m. by Director of Clearwater Housing and Urban Development Department, Alan Ferri, at the Clearwater Chamber of Commerce, Clearwater. In order to provide continuity for research, the items listed were not necessarily discussed in that order. Mr. Ferri explained that the City annually compiles information about 4 specific areas for the Consolidated Plan. Meetings have been held on housing and homelessness issues. The last meeting will be held on special needs issues for the handicapped and disabled. Today’s meeting will cover economic development. Three years ago the City compiled a Consolidated Plan for submission to HUD. Clearwater is in the third year of a 5-year Plan. Any and all information that community organizations can share with the City to help obtain additional funding for economic development for incorporation into the Consolidated Plan would be welcome. He noted the majority of the money received from State and Federal government is slated for housing. It was noted that the CCBG (Community Development Block Grant) Program is part of the Consolidated Plan. Other services such as code enforcement, public services, nonprofit organization staffing requirements to run programs within communities, and economic development can be accomplished through the plan. Non-profit agencies are eligible for funding for construction of public facilities. Two years ago the City began an economic development loan program. Using $176,000 in Federal money and leveraging another $4 million from the private sector, production and performance was improved in almost every area of the Consolidated Plan. Approximately 53 new jobs were created in the community. The issues of concern for the future are job development, integration of business expansion and job development services. Any and all linkages possible through employment and economic development is desperately needed to improve and enhance quality of life. As part of this year’s Consolidated Plan cycle, the City will submit a neighborhood redevelopment strategy. This strategy will include issues that the City will focus resources and energies towards, such as the Brownfields and Weed and Seed funds. This should open up additional resources from the Federal government. The area designed as Brownfields is almost identical to the Weed and Seed area, which means this will be the neighborhood revitalization strategy area. When agencies apply for outside additional resources, especially Federal funds, they can site the fact that they are in an improved Weed and Seed area, an improved Brownfield area, as well as a neighborhood strategy area. One of the possibilities the City is exploring with private sector lenders is the establishment of a CDC (Multiple Bank Community Development Corporation). This corporation is a banking device allowable by the Federal Reserve and the Office of Thrift Supervision that allows banks to act in ways they currently cannot. The two major differences are: 1) banks currently cannot be a participant or investor with a business; and 2) banks currently cannot own real estate and lease the property for non-banking purposes. Bank CDC’s can perform both these functions, providing core services to help businesses grow within the community. Bank CDC’s can also become involved in financing remediation costs. Most small businesses are undercapitalized and the City is looking at other venues to provide more capital to them. In June, Mr. Ferri will petition the City Commission to become a member of the NDC (National Development Council). The NDC is a national non-profit organization established in 1975. Over 200 communities participate in various NDC programs. By becoming a member of this organization, the City can access 2 specific areas which are vital to accomplishing the goals of the City’s Consolidated Plan: 1) access to housing financing under a federally-insured program called HUD 203K; and 2) the SBA (Small Business Association) 7A Loan Guarantee Program. The City does not currently have a market to sell secondary mortgages. Joining NDC will allow the City to sell these mortgage notes by purchasing its performing notes. It was noted that in the North and South Greenwood communities alone there are 1,200 families currently receiving public assistance benefits. Due to Welfare changes, these families will lose that assistance over the next 17 months. Any and all resources that the City and non-profit groups can put together to address this problem will be critical to preparing these families for employment. Job creation and training will be a critical element to the successful transition from public assistance to independence for these families. A question was posed regarding whether the enterprise zone would be revived. Mr. Ferri indicated that he did not foresee the enterprise zone being revived since it was reduced to the point that it was not competitive on a State basis. Given State budgetary issues, it is anticipated that the window for funding will not be open for quite some time. It was noted that the major battle with HUD over job training and placement services is that they insist that funds are allocated to pay for agency staff time because it is classified as “public service”, rather than economic development activity. Congress mandates that no more than 15% of the City’s entitlement under the CDBG Program can be utilized for public services. The competition for funding is extremely fierce. Only 1 out of 4 applicants receives funding. The last 2 years, the lion’s share of funding has gone to the Salvation Army to administer the City’s drop-in homeless facility. The second largest subgrantee receiving funding was Partners in Self-Sufficiency to run a program geared toward taking single parent households off AFDC. Mr. Ferri explained the State WAGES (Work And Gaining Economic Self-sufficiency) Program. Ms. Fry of the Ultimate Learning Center offered her services in applying for additional licenses for certification programs. She noted that although some of the existing programs are 5 weeks in duration, students must be compensated by no less than minimum wage during training. Some type of compensation is necessary to survive and ensure the success of these programs. It was noted that the City is in the process of conducting an inventory of existing job training and placement services currently available throughout the City. Recommendations regarding gaps will be presented to the City by August 8, 1997. At that point, the City will be able to determine where additional programs are needed. The City has been relying on United States Census information from 1990 for incorporation into the Consolidated Plan. Community program records can supply more specific trends and problems that could not be identified through Census records. Mr. Ferri requested that all community agencies submit in writing to his office, no later than June 6, 1997, any pertinent program specifics which would assist the City in obtaining additional funding for economic development in the community. The meeting adjourned at 10:51 a.m.