MEETING SUMMARY Neighborhood Revitalization Board

Transcription

1 Call to Order/Roll Call Meeting called to order at 5:15 p.m. by Mark Cooper. Roll Call by Tammy Keiter: Present: Mark Cooper, Josh Hellyer, Tammy Keiter, Kelly Kennedy, Natasha Newcomb (arrived at 5:30pm), Frank Owens, Alex Piedras, Marge Ramsey Absent: Staff: Guests: Ben Brackett, Russ Cross, Seth Johnson, Ethan Standard, Tom Vlassis Chris Johansen (CD), Anuprit Minhas, (CD) Michelle Wall (CD) Tony Filippini, Downtown Neighborhood Association Approval of Agenda Motion to Approve: Kelly Kennedy; seconded by Frank Owens Motion carried (8-0). Approval of Minutes: Report from the Chair / City Council Actions Motion to Approve: Kelly Kennedy; seconded by Alex Piedras. Motion carried (8-0) Chris Johansen: ACCENT Neighborhood Association had asked to be de-recognized at the City Council Meeting. Council Member Linda Westergaard asked for a sixmonth suspension of the association while she will work to get new members on the board. They will have to go through the process of electing a board and submitting a new survey to be reinstated. Please note for the August NRB meeting, another meeting will be proceeding the NRB Meeting and not to enter early. Neighborhood Revitalization Program Program Evaluation RFP Chris Johansen: City is still working with consulting group to set up schedules and timelines over the next nine months. They will be coming in August and will be setting up meetings with partners, public meetings, and times with the Steering Committee as well as the NRB. The contract has been signed but nothing new to report. Greg Lewis: Questioned if the process will involve the NRB. Chris Johansen: The recommendations will come to NRB before going to City Council for approval. Recertification of 2017 Neighborhood Association Anuprit Minhas: Presented information regarding the Recertification process for the 2017 Neighborhood Associations. She noted that last month the NRB had questions on the survey responses on how the number of meetings each neighborhood association had comparing board, meetings as opposed to open meetings, were looked at on the survey responses. There were six neighborhoods that fell short of four member meetings. She did make contact with each of these groups (Downtown Des Moines, Greenwood Historic, Linden Heights, Union Park, Oak Park and Waterbury) and their responses were basically the same that their board meetings were open to all neighborhood residents. They sent out notices or advertised on Facebook or their own website. Essentially, all board meetings are open to the 1

2 public. Greenwood Historic and Linden Heights had not necessarily done this in the past, but both were open to doing this in the future. Union Park had strongly questioned the language of the survey question stating in their by-laws, their board meetings are always open to all residents. They feel they go over and beyond requirements and wanted it noted as such. A list of 50 Neighborhood Associations were presented (excluding #51 ACCENT while they recertify) and were recognized by staff in good standing meeting the requirements of the Neighborhood Revitalization Policy. As such, it was recommended that all 50 Neighborhood Associations be recertified for the year going forward. Frank Owens: Questioned how the public would be notified that they residents could also attend board meeting in the future. Anuprit Minhas: Going forward more emphasis will be put on outreach to notify residents that board meetings are open to all. This to be done by Facebook, website notifications, signs and flyers. Oak Park, for example, has a new board and plans to restructure by-laws to open to the public and increase meetings to once a month to attempt to grow their low attended meetings. Greg Lewis: Questioned if ACCENT should be included in the recertification. He hated to see them go after all these years. Anuprit Minhas: ACCENT can be brought back in after six months if they are able to reach the minimum requirements. Staff is only recommending the 50 associations at this time. Kelly Kennedy: City Council made this decision and ACCENT can be reinstated in six months. Motion for Recertification of the 50 Des Moines Neighborhood Associations as listed was moved by Kennedy, seconded by Lewis. Motion carried. (9-0) Downtown Neighborhood Association Tony Filipini, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association attended meeting to share comments on the Neighborhood Survey. The survey and city staff reaching out to them has been greatly appreciated as they are learning how to fulfill requirements. They have a large number of residents and have changed the language on their Facebook page to be more open to inviting residents to board meeting as opposed to just the board. They have seven board members and typically have just a few residents that attend. They do monthly socials that draw members. They are hopeful to continue to meet the requirements and become a strong neighborhood association. Frank Owen: Stated he has attended the socials and they are very well done. Approval of CBDG Funding Chris Johansen submitted the follow recommendation and budget: 2

3 In June 2017, the City was notified of federal entitlement funding the City of Des Moines will be receiving for its Consolidated Plan. The following is staff s recommendation for this funding along with the attachment illustrating the funding available for reprogramming: CDBG For 2017, the City received $20,940 more in funding for 2017 as it did in It is recommended this additional funding will be allocated to demolition funding for public nuisance properties. After administration funding (20%) is subtracted, this funding would equate to an increase of $16,752. The following funding is being recommended for reprogramming: $137, NCS Homeowner Rehab $99, Unspent Administration $147, Unspent Code Enforcement $900,000 Unspent OED Financial Assistance Program and Revolving Loan $1,283, Staff is recommending for this previous years unspent funding be utilized to fund more demolitions ($1,183,360.09) and for Neighborhood Revitalization Plan Implementation ($100,000). Habitat for Humanity is receiving much of this for infrastructure for a new project in the Birdland Area. HOME For 2017, the City received $19,902 less in funding as it did in After administration costs are subtracted, this equates to $17,912 less for projects. Staff is recommending this funding be allocated to the Neighborhood Conservation Services for the projects and administration. ESG For 2017, the City received $4,618 less in funding as it did in After administration costs are subtracted, this equates to $4,134 less for programs. Staff is recommending to have the ESG Funding Committee meet to reduce this funding from an agency that responded to the most recent request for proposals. The ESG Funding Committee recommendation will then be approved by the City Council. Frank Owens: How much money allocated to the ESG funds and asked if some of this was used for rental assistance? Chris Johansen: The ESG fund is $304k and around 50% goes to Rapid Rehousing. Frank Owens: What does the city charge for inspections of these units? Chris Johansen: City administration does this with the cost only wrapped in their salaries. No specific charge for the inspections but guessing the actual cost is between $50 and $100. Only one staff member does the inspections for about a dozen programs. This helps to keep the cost down, but does keep this staff person very busy every week. Mark Cooper: How many homes have been demolished or scheduled for demo? Chris Johansen: There are over 200 homes on the Public Nuisance list which staff has it narrowed down to those that are fire damaged. There are others that are being targeted, but in some cases still trying to work with the owners for rehabilitation of the home. The money on the budget today will get all the fire damaged homes and then several that have been on the list for a very long time. About 38 properties. Greg Lewis: Asked for the average cost of home demolition. 3

4 Chris Johansen: Demolition costs can vary based on asbestos, but average should be around $20k, but can go as high as $30k based on conditions. All of these are private owned and not owned by the city. In the budget numbers, it is skewed as one property will be nearly $300k and that is Wallace School. He was not sure exactly which fund this will come out of, but the rest will all be single family homes. Wallace School is privately owned and currently going through the court system. Marge Ramsey: Questioned why the owners of Wallace School are still being allowed to work on the building if it is going to be demolished. Chris Johansen: Stated that the ownership has been made aware many times and they have exhausted every legal recourse. They have been advised that they cannot change the condition of the building without doing something drastic that will require permits Projected Recommendations 2017 (Actual) Recommendations ACTIVITY NAME CDBG HOME CDBG HOME GOAL: Affordable Housing & Neighborhood Development NCS - Housing Opportunities - HOME NCS - Housing Opportunities - CDBG CDD - NH Revitalization Plan Implementation NID - NH Based Service Delivery NBSD $ - $ 678,136 $ - $ 660,224 $ 633,816 $ - $ 633,816 $ - $ 100,000 $ - $ 200,000 $ - $ 1,416,184 $ - $ 1,416,184 $ - ENG - Demolition $ 156,388 $ - $ 1,356,500 $ - GOAL: Economic Opportunity & Development OED - NH Commercial Revit. Loan Program $ 75,000 $ - $ 75,000 $ - GOAL: Public Services PW - SCRUB $ 100,000 $ - $ 100,000 $ - IMPACT Community Action Agency $ 150,000 $ - $ 150,000 $ - GOAL: Continuum of Care Homelessness Strategy Polk County Health Services Continuum of Care Coordinator $ 75,000 $ - $ 75,000 $ - Totals: $ 2,706,388 $ 678,136 $ 4,006,500 $ 660,224 Motion for approval of CDBG Funding was made by Ramsey. Seconded by Newcomb. Motion carried. (9-0) 4

5 Business of the Board Board Liaison Updates Polk Co Housing Continuum: Marge Ramsey Did not attend meeting do to hospitalization. Rebuilding Together: Kelly Kennedy Did not have meeting. Housing Services Board: Tom Vlassis: was absent- no report Neighborhood Finance Corporation: Josh Hellyer NFC met on June 22, 2017 and elected new officers. Frank Owens will serve as President, and Chris Johansen as Vice President. A well-received event was hosted in the Drake area as a block party. A new loan product is now being offered called Project Reinvest and has received $3.6 million grant funds for Des Moines home improvements. Neighborhood Development Corporation: Ben Brackett was absent-no report. GDMP: Russ Cross was absent- no report Corporation for Economic Development: Mark Cooper: CED met last week and there is still a large of amount of money the city has to loan for small businesses. Have potential business owners contacted the City of Des Moines CED. Comprehensive Plan/Steering Committee: Frank Owens No report given. Adjourn the Meeting Motion to Adjourn: Greg Lewis, seconded by Kelly Kennedy. Meeting was adjourned by consensus by Mark Cooper at 5:54 p.m.;. Meeting adjourned at 5:54 pm. 5