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04/17/2001NEIGHBORHOOD & AFFORDABLE HOUSING ADVISORY BOARD MEETING CITY OF CLEARWATER April 17, 2001 Present: Warren Hunt Chair Stephen Jeffries Vice Chair Howard Groth Board Member Milly Joplin Board Member Mayme W. Hodges Board Member Rev. William Graham Board Member Peggy M. Cutkomp Board Member Joyce Smith Board Member Absent: William Turner, Sr. Board Member Also Present: Nina Bandoni Assistant Housing Director Nina Clark Staff Assistant II The Chair called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m. in the OED Room at City Hall To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. ITEM #2 - Approval of the minutes Chair Warren Hunt moved to approve the minutes of the meeting of January 16, 2001 as recorded and submitted in written summation to each board member. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #3 - Review of Quarterly Report Nina Bandoni went over the quarterly report from October 1, 2000 to March 1, 2001. Any sub-recipient reports received in Housing were entered through March 30, 2001. During the month of April the staff will be monitoring all of the sub-recipients. Staff has recently completed re-working the monitoring process. A figure of 1.5 million dollars were allocated for Community Development Block Grant and HOME Program fund for this year’s projects. According to the monthly report, only $258,000 has been expended. It was noted that a couple of public facility projects funded in this year’s budget have not started yet or requested reimbursements. The Monthly Activity Reports and the Quarterly Reports presented to NAHAB, list the goals provided by each sub-recipient. In viewing the quarterly report, several sub-recipients are not reaching their goals. The Quarterly Report also documents that some agencies are not submitting their monthly activity reports in a timely manner. Those who are not forwarding their reports have been encouraged to do so. Member Groth questioned the report of Boys and Girls Club’s goal of serving 600 and reporting that only 81 had been serviced in the past 5 months. Mr. Holmes replied that most of their activity is done during the summer months. Member Groth also questioned the Homeless Emergency Project’s funding of $54,000 and expended $89,000. Ms. Bandoni explained that expenditure represents last and this year’s funding. The delay in expenditure was due to problems with contractors. ITEM #4 - Election of Chairman and Vice Chair for 2001/2002 Member Stephen Jeffries stepped up be the Chairman and member Peggy Cutkomp was unanimously elected to be Vice Chair for 2001/2002. ITEM #5 - Recognition of Retiring Members Chair Warren Hunt presented retiring Members Milly Joplin and Mayme Hodges with a framed certificate lauding their long-time service and dedication to the Neighborhood & Affordable Housing Advisory Board. ITEM #6 - Old Business Ms. Bandoni advised that the scoring of applications by the Technical Review Committee will take place on May 14 and then on May 15, at the NAHAB meeting, scoring results will be unveiled to all of the sub-recipients The NAHAB will then be presented two options; one would be 100% funding for each of top scoring agencies and the other option would be on the sliding scale like last year. Then they will be able to be reviewed and determined at the next meeting. Ms. Bandoni stated that the quarterly meetings this year were satisfactory, however, she finds that the time in between is a little too long. She said that in trying to prepare things and meeting with developers and potential buyers and conversations with sub-recipients wanting money, it was difficult to do on a quarterly basis. Therefore, she asked the Board if they would be willing to meet every other month starting in September. Member Joyce Smith moved to have the NAHAB meetings on a bi-monthly basis starting in September. The motion was duly seconded. Mr. Groth questioned January 16, 2001 minutes, page 2, paragraph #6. Ms. Bandoni replied that this year, Pinellas County pledged a bond for single family financing. The bond provides first-time homebuyers with a much lower interest rate. They also looked for a secondary financing for down-payment and closing cost assistance. They have, in the past, provided their own SHIP funds for the purpose of filling the gap for first-time homebuyers. Earlier in the year they contacted our office and asked if we would be interested in putting up some of our SHIP money for the purposes of participating in the Bond Program for people who want to purchase homes in the City of Clearwater. The State of Florida was contacted and they advised they had no problem with the City participating and placing the funds with Pinellas County to facilitate the program. A meeting has been set for early May to discuss further details with the County. Mr. Groth then questioned January 16, 2001 minutes, page 3, paragraph #2. Ms. Bandoni informed Mr. Groth that she has developed a proposal for the implementation of a procedure for sub-recipients not meeting their objectives, and/or spend its allocated funds. In September when the NAHAB meets, that subject can be placed on the agenda to be discussed. Mr. Groth questioned January 16, 2001 minutes, page 4, paragraph #2 regarding buildings that are abandoned and rehabilitated and the legal staff is working to modify the City’s requirements. Ms. Bandoni stated that she has met with the Assistant City Attorney regarding the issues of when we own the property, about 25 in the portfolio, and at the present we have no way of getting them out except through the competitive disposition process. She and the Assistant City Attorney are meeting on a monthly basis to talk about issues, but she has not contacted Ms. Bandoni as to what can and cannot be done. ITEM #7 - Announcements Ms. Barbara Green from Homeless Emergency Project announced that they are having an open house on May 20, 2001 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. to show their new community center located at 1260 Engman Street. Everyone is invited. Jerry Spilatro of Community Service Foundation questioned the Citizen Participation Plan. Ms. Bandoni stated that the changes in the plan currently allow her to change the meeting times of the NAHAB meetings. Therefore, the Citizen Participation Plan will not need to be amended. Ms. Bandoni will be working with the City Clerk’s Department to better synchronize the timing of members leaving and the year end. ITEM #8 - Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 11:05 a.m.