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06/19/2001NEIGHBORHOOD & AFFORDABLE HOUSING ADVISORY BOARD MEETING CITY OF CLEARWATER June 19, 2001 Present: Stephen Jefferies Chair Joyce Smith Board Member Rev. William Graham Board Member Howard Groth Board Member Warren Hunt Board Member William Turner, Sr. Board Member Absent: Peggy Cutkomp Vice Chair Also Present: Nina Bandoni Assistant Housing Director Nina Clark Staff Assistant II The Chair called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. in the Commission Chambers at City Hall To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. ITEM #2 – Introduction of Members Each member introduced himself or herself. Nina Bandoni introduced Ms. Laurel Braswell who has agreed to join the Board. Ms. Braswell will be presented before the Commission on July 12, 2001 and will represent North Greenwood. Nina reminded the members that there is still the need for an additional member to represent South Greenwood. ITEM #3 – Approval of the Minutes Board Member Mr. Groth moved to approve the minutes of the meeting of April 17, 2001 as submitted in written summation to each board member. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #4 – Citizens to be Heard None ITEM #5 – Sub-Recipient Monitoring Report Nina Bandoni informed the Board that the Housing Division is in the process of finalizing the monitoring reports of all of the sub-recipients for 2000-2001 funding year. Clearwater Housing Services and Tampa Bay Community Development Corporation were scheduled after June 19th. The agencies in general, are in very good shape. The agencies are monitored not only on financial soundness, but financial record keeping, program administration and their record keeping in terms of the client, insuring that the client meets the criteria of the program that they set forth and are achieving their goals. ITEM #6 – Old Business Update on County Bond Program/SHIP Funds Nina Bandoni reiterated to the Board that the City was approached by Pinellas County and asked to participate in the Pinellas County Bond Program. The program is offered to low-income families for the purchase of a home. Twice a year a housing bond is issued. The bond offers a lower interest rate than would be obtained through normal financing sources. The client is offered a conventional fixed rate mortgage, with a 30-year term. Secondary financing is allowed in the form of down payment and closing cost assistance. We have been asked to provide up to $150,000 that creates a blended interest rate. At the present time, the bond rate is 5.9% versus 7%. At the present time there is about one million dollars in the housing pool and although last year we were struggling to use up the money, this year there are a variety of projects and sub-recipients that draw from the pool. Rather than providing the County with $150,000, we would start by providing $75,000; $37,500 in January of 2002 and then another $37,500 in July, 2002. Member Groth moved to approve the two installments of $37,500 for a total of $75,000; one in January 2002 and one in July, 2002 to Pinellas County for the Bond Program are accepted. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Report on Housing Development Nina Bandoni stated that there are many interesting projects. The Community Service Foundation is rehabbing single-family homes in the North Greenwood area that were purchased through HUD. The properties are offered for sale after being repaired. Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services is in the process of constructing 5-6 new family residences. They are also partnering with the Bank of America, the City of Clearwater and Pinellas County to renovate the Greenwood Apartments, which are very unattractive, and barely meeting the code standards. The last renovation was done in the 1950’s. In the next six months, major streetscaping will be done; a new library and an aquatic center will be erected. The renovation of the Greenwood Apartments will make a significant improvement in the community. The City of Clearwater’s Housing Division is working on renovating the Fulton Apartments which are 16 units located on Douglas Avenue. The Clearwater Housing Authority owns 4 one-bedroom units on an adjacent parcel, which the City is working with the Authority to acquire these units to create a family center on the site. The City is in the process of preparing a RFP for a property management company. The City of Clearwater is also cooperating with Largo Area Development Corporation to do a mini subdivision in South Greenwood at Woodlawn and Greenwood. The project will be made up of 12 single-family residences for home ownership. There is another mini subdivision in very preliminary developmental stages with Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services. Last report showed that $360,000 had been expended in single-family down payment and closing cost assistance, but now it is up to a little over $500,000. We are very proud of the hard work and creativity of our housing pool providers as they embark on these projects. Member Graham questioned as to when the Greenwood renovation will begin. Ms. Bandoni replied that the plans need to be reviewed by the Bank of America, Clearwater Neighborhood Services and the Building Department. The contract between the buyer and the seller should be finalized in July, 2001 and hoping to start work in September, 2001. The Bank of America will be the owner of the property. Member Groth asked if it is feasible to have a manager managing the 20 units. Ms. Bandoni replied that she is looking for a property manager that specializes in small properties and they would not just do Fulton Apartments, but would have other apartment complexes that are of similar size with similar type of tenants. Member Graham questioned the interest that was shown by the Clearwater Police Department to use the Fulton Apartments for transitional housing. Ms. Bandoni stated that the neighborhood came forward and expressed concern over having a transitional housing project in their neighborhood. Chief Klein decided not to pursue transitional housing in support of the desire of the community. ITEM #7 – New Business Outcome of HUD Monitoring Visit Ms. Bandoni informed the members that HUD monitored the Housing Division in the month of April, 2001. The last monitoring was in June, 1999. During the June monitoring several concerns and findings were identified. HUD was very happy with the condition of the division, its management, sub-recipient record keeping and everything is moving forward in a positive way. All findings and concerns have been released. Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services’ Request for Allocation of 2000/2001 Additional Funds Ms. Bandoni advised the members that CNHS has requested additional funding for economic development loans. In 1999-2000, Clearwater Neighborhood Housing was allocated $115,000 to provide Economic Development loans in Clearwater with a focus on North Greenwood. One hundred percent of the funds were expended and the business loan portfolio has been exemplary. In 2000-2001, we allocated $150,000 for small business loans and set aside $60,000 for a Small Business Association (SBA) matching funds program earlier this fall. Because of the success of their regular lending programs, they have asked for an additional $50,000 to do two more loans. Ms. Bandoni proposed that the $18,000 be moved from public services and put in $32,000 from the program income and fund them an additional $50,000 for the two loans they would like to do between now and the fiscal year. Member Graham asked what they would do with the additional money. Ms. Bandoni stated that Clearwater Neighborhood Housing has two potential borrowers that are waiting to be funded. Chair member Jefferies asked how the borrowers are being approved. Ms. Bandoni replied that they have a loan committee and the committee is made up of bankers, business people and we also have a seat on their loan committee. There are 20 loans in the portfolio and of the loans that have been initiated, only one is in default. Vice Chair Member Smith moved to allow $18,000 be moved from public services and $32,000 from program income to fund an additional $50,000 to the Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Change of NAHAB Monthly Meeting Ms. Bandoni stated that the Clerk’s Department who handles our board reporters and the use of this room, has respectively requested that we change the meeting from the 3rd Tuesday of the month to: The 4th Monday of the month, the 2nd or 4th Tuesday of the month or the 3rd Wednesday of the month. Member Graham moved to hold the NAHAB future meetings on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. Final Scoring of 2001/2002 Applications with Funding Options Ms. Bandoni presented two options to vote on this year. The primary activity is in the public services category and those are the people that are affected most by the decision that you make today. Proposal #1 – 100% funding for public service high scores. The total amount of funds available is $150,000 and the agencies that would be funded under this scenario would be Clearwater Homeless Intervention Program (CHIP), Mustard Seed – Turning Point, Gulfcoast Legal Services, Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services and a partial funding of Partners in Self-Sufficiency. The second category is Public Facilities and Improvements. Staff recommends 100% funding for those applicants. The total funding would be $169,000. Staff is also recommending one hundred percent funding for those who applied in the Economic Development category for a total amount of $445,000. The administrative budget is yet to be determined. Program income will affect the total funds available. Requests for studies such as our Economic Development team, internally and the Community Service Foundation’s Fair Housing, will not know for a couple weeks whether we will be able to be funded as we are in the process of balancing out the program income money carried forward into the budget. The third category is Rental Housing. Staff recommends funding the Fulton Apartments, which has already been budgeted but the budget is being increased to $480,000. With the purchase of the additional four units, the budget would have to be adjusted. Bank of America has requested $700,000 for the renovations, which would be distributed over a period of three budget years. The Community Service Foundation has asked that we set aside $50,000 for rentals and Homeless Emergency Project has asked for $150,000. Current funds are not available for single-family rental projects. The Homebuyer Education Program is yet to be determined. Regarding Housing Pool participants, one-year term and the contracts will begin October 1, 2001 and a requirement would be that they would have to attend the Housing Pool Class that is provided annually. Recommended are: Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services Community Service Foundation Pinellas Homestead Project Tampa Bay Community Development Corporation Pinellas Housing Agency for the Home Ownership Program only. Proposal #2 – In the Public Service Category we are proposing instead of 100% funding, it would be a 70-60-50% funding which would allow us to serve a larger number of agencies as follows: The Mustard Seed $14,700.00 Clearwater Homeless Intervention Program $50,000.00 Gulfcoast Legal Services $6,000.00 Clearwater Neighborhood Housing Services $25,800.00 Partners in Self-Sufficiency $25,000.00 Greenwood Health Resource Center $28,000.00 All the other elements of the budget as presented in Scenario #1. Member Hunt moved to approve the 70-60-50% funding as stated in Proposal #2. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #8 - Announcements The next NAHAB meeting will be held the 2nd Tuesday in September, which is September 11, 2001. At that meeting we will be welcoming Ms. Braswell and hopefully someone from South Greenwood. Mr. Jefferies requested that he be called prior to his NAHAB packet being delivered so he will look for it, as he doesn’t use his front door on a regular basis. ITEM #9 – Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 10:50 a.m.