Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/26/2015 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD OCTOBER 26, 2015 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday October 26, 2015 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon, Wylie, Moore, Ralston, and Woodrow. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilor Pishioneri was absent (excused). 1. Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Interviews. Emma Newman, Transportation Planner, presented the staff report on this item. The Springfield Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) had fourteen voting committee members in December 2014; however, seven committee members' terms expired at the end of December 2014. The vacated positions were not filled at that time as the Transportation Planner staff position that supports the committee was also vacant. The Planner position was filled on July 15, 2015. Currently the committee consists of the seven remaining voting members, whose terms will expire at the end of December 2015. This first round of recruitment is primarily to fill the three positions necessary to have full membership again, with terms ending on December 31, 2016, in order to maintain staggered terms of service on the committee. A second round of recruitment is currently underway for new applicants and current members wishing to reapply, to ensure the committee continues to maintain full membership for the start of 2016. Three applicants have expressed interest in serving December 2015 through December 2016. Two applicants are willing to serve either the 2015-2016 or 2016-2017 term. Council is requested to interview four applicants at this work session and consider appointing three to the 2015-2016 term at the November 2, 2015 regular session. Interviews for the 2016-2017 term will be held during the November 23, 2015 work session with appointments scheduled for the December 7, 2015 regular session. Ms. Denton's application has been rolled to the November 23rd work session since she is unable to attend the October 26d' work session and expressed interest in the 2016-2017 term. Council may choose to delay recommendations from the October 26, 2015 work session until the November 23rd interviews are concluded with all appointments occurring at the December 7, 2015 regular session. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 26, 2015 Page 2 Discussion was held regarding whether or not to appoint from this first group now or wait to hear all of the candidates and make a final decision after the second round of interviews. Council will wait to appoint all members on December 7, 2015. Council chose which questions they would ask. The Mayor and Councilors introduced themselves and interviewed the following applicants. • Allison Camp • Jerry Hooton • Ronna Frank • Steven Braun 1. Why are you interested in serving on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC)? (Mayor Lundberg) 2. Describe your experience as it relates to your desire to become a BPAC member. (Councilor Ralston) 3. What initiatives are you interested in working on if you are appointed as a BPAC member? (Councilor Moore) 4. Describe your familiarity with the City's walking and biking infrastructure and amenities. (Councilor Woodrow) 5. What is it about pedestrian and bicycle issues that interest you most? (Councilor VanGordon) 6. Have you attended a BPAC meeting? If so, what were your impressions? (Councilor Wylie) The Council asked the applicants if they had questions for them. 2. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Program Update. Erin Fifield, Community Development Analyst, presented the staff report on this item. HUD's recent monitoring of the CDBG (2015) and HOME (2014) programs have resulted in ongoing changes to the City's community development and housing programs. CDBG program: HUD has identified the need for the City to more formally develop policies and procedures for its program, in line with federal requirements. HUD has also identified a number of past projects funded by the City which need additional documentation, and/or changes to the contract in order to be eligible for HUD funds. Springfield and HUD staff are working together in order to address HUD's concerns, and develop policies to ensure compliance and efficiency for future funded programs and projects. In the meantime, there is some delay in staff s ability to respond to certain requests. The CDBG program is a non-competitive formula grant the City receives from HUD. The work is guided by a five-year Consolidated Plan that is adopted by both Springfield and Eugene. The goals of the program are to benefit low and moderate income community members through job creation, assisting folks with fair and affordable housing, or assisting non-profit organizations with efforts to with housing. The activities the City can fund with CDBG money are somewhat flexible. Over the last ten years, funding has declined substantially. The funds are dependent on Congress and the funding they allocate for this program, as well as a formula grant between all of the cities across the country who are eligible for these funds. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 26, 2015 Page 3 Ms. Fifield described some Springfield programs that have received funding through CDBG including Emergency Home Repair (EHR) Program, NEDCO's Sprout! and Springfield Renaissance Development Corporation (SRDC) fagade improvement. She described the performance and allocation of CDBG over the last five years. Ms. Fifield said staff is working on the following CDBG efforts: • Downtown Redevelopment Area updating o In order to use CDBG funds for revitalization purposes, HUD requires the City designate an area for redevelopment and document the need. Staff is in the process of updating the 2003 designation. • Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) recruitment o The CDAC advises Council on matters related to the City's housing and community development activities funded by CDBG dollars, for the purposes of benefiting low and moderate -income residents, as well as downtown redevelopment. Staff is currently recruiting to fill three vacancies of the Committee. • Administrative changes to the program o HUD recently monitored Springfield's CDBG program and found the need for increased documentation of policies and procedures. Staff is working with HUD to address how to best improve program administration, including working with subrecipients to ensure their compliance with HUD requirements. Staff is also thinking about the 2016/2017 funding allocations and will be meeting with the CDAC early in 2016, and then to Council to discuss priorities and the RFP process. HOME program: Due to HUD requirements, the Eugene -Springfield HOME Consortium has moved away from Springfield as a sub -recipient model. Eugene now serves as the Lead Entity, and will administer the funds for the region. The HOME IGA outlines the roles and responsibilities under the new Consortium, including use of funds and project selection, and will come to Council during Regular Session on November 2, 2015. The Fall 2015 RFP will be the first RFP under this new model. Ms. Fifield provided an over view of the HOME Program. It is a non-competitive formula grant administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The five-year Consolidated Plan guides how the funds are used. The goal of the HOME program is to provide affordable housing for low-income residents through the acquisition of an apartment complex and providing rental units for affordable housing, or building new affordable housing. Ms. Fifield reviewed the HOME Program performance over the last five years, including a few issues that are now being addressed. Last year, Council decided to use limited CDBG dollars to fund the Down Payment Assistance Program because of the value to the community. This program was formerly funded by HOME. Given the HUD requirement, Eugene is lead entity and will administer the program for the region. There will be a joint committee made up of members of Eugene and Springfield elected officials, as well as the governing committee made up of the Mayors of both cities and one elected official of each. Next week, the Council will receive a copy of the HOME IGA that outlines the consortium in detail. Councilor Moore said this is the same agreement that was discussed with Council last Spring. Ms. Fifield said they would put out the RFP for projects late November, and the review and governing body would meet in early 2016 to review and approve projects. Long term, because of the declining City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 26, 2015 Page 4 HOME funds, Springfield staff will working to evaluate what Springfield can do to meet our affordable housing needs aside from these funds. Councilor Wylie asked how the City would respond to the RFPs and who would come up with the ideas or projects. Mayor Lundberg said the projects come from the developers and non -profits in the community. It will go through the review committee and the governing board. Ms. Fifield said the evaluation committee will have a councilor from each jurisdiction appointed by the Mayor, and other community members chosen by the governing bodies. Last Springfield, Councilor VanGordon and CDAC member Mike Heckard served on the committee for Springfield. She described how the funds might be distributed between the two cities. Mayor Lundberg referred to Attachment 3 and noted that the City has given out money to agencies who have not met their goals, such as NEDCO. She would like a better mechanism to track what the recipients are doing with the funds. When making new allocations, she would like to know the track records of those applying so they could take that into consideration before allocating them more funds. It reflects on the City as the reporting agency. Ms. Fifield said staff will be meeting with the CDAC to work on the RFP. Other questions around priorities or what to take into consideration can be part of that discussion. Councilor Wylie asked if there are timelines when recipients have to use the funds. She felt there should be deadlines that need to be met. Ms. Fifield said there currently is no requirement, but the City could decide to make that part of the criteria. Mayor Lundberg agreed, and said criteria, guidance and boundaries are needed. It would be a track record for future allocations. Councilor Woodrow said it would be in fairness to the other applicants. Mayor Lundberg said there has been concern from the federal government of how the cities had been tracking or administering projects. Having good guidelines would help to address those concerns and also help those receiving the funds. Ms. Fifield said the HOME program has a two-year turn around, but CDBG is more flexible. Mayor Lundberg said it helps to have boundaries. She asked if each City needs to approve the HOME allocations. Ms. Fifield said the evaluation committee meets to identify which projects meet the minimum requirements. The projects in Springfield and those in Eugene will go to the cities for review, perhaps in a work session. They would then go back to the governing board for a decision. Mayor Lundberg said she has concerns about this process. She confirmed there is no City approval after the governing board makes their decision. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 26, 2015 Page 5 Councilor Moore said she appreciates evaluating what Springfield can do for affordable housing. The Housing Policy Board is also looking into that issue. Mayor Lundberg said they will have to get through the first go around to see how it works. Ms. Fifield said the funds available are about $1M, although Congress is still determining their budget and Senate has proposed a 92% cut in the HOME program. They are waiting to see what happens. Councilor Moore asked if funding was still available for the pending projects, and if so how they decide where those funds are spent. Ms. Fifield said those projects were put on hold when HUD came in 2014 and found problems. The city is a required to do environmental review of those projects before moving forward. Eugene and Springfield staff are working together on those projects. Councilor Moore asked if ARC was still planning on moving forward with their pending projects. Ms. Fifield said the funds on hold are available to reallocate. There had been a number of staff transitions at ARC which has delayed their project. Staff will meet with them to discuss what to do with the funds. She said staff could put together recommended criteria to bring to the CDAC. Councilor VanGordon asked if staff could put together a Communication Packet memo outlining the projects that are still pending and if they have a plan to spend the funds. Council may want to discuss those projects and re-allocate the funds. Community Development Manager Tom Boyatt said staff would bring ideas for guidelines to the CDAC to process, and then back to the Council for formal approval. Having those guidelines should make the process more efficient. 3. G Street Project Update. Erin Fifield, Community Development Analyst, presented the staff report on this item. The G Street project is a collaboration of multiple organizations, including Catholic Community Services, the Springfield School District, First Baptist Church, City of Springfield, Willamalane, Head Start, among others. The goal of the G Street project is to serve 15-20 homeless families with children by providing access to a coordinated set of services offered at multiple locations within the immediate G Street neighborhood in Springfield. The G Street project is currently seeking start-up funding. The one-year budget is $76,601. So far, $3,500 was awarded by the Autzen Foundation and they just learned today that $25,000 was awarded by the Collin Foundation. Ms. Fifield introduced KarLynn Akins (City of Springfield), Tom Mulhern (Catholic Community Services) and Janet Beckman (Springfield School District), who are also working on this initiative. The School District estimates there are about 600 children at some point each school year that are homeless in the district, touching about 250 homeless families. The goal of the G Street Oasis Project is to provide an oasis of stability for families who are at these stress points and meet some of their basic needs and provide services. Many of these programs are on G Street between 10'b and 11th City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 26, 2015 Page 6 Streets. The goal is to have the program run by a program coordinator with a volunteer staff. The City's Volunteer Coordinator, KarLynn Akins, would help manage the volunteer program. Councilor Wylie asked who would be coordinating or overseeing this program. Ms. Fifield said Catholic Community Services (CCS) would be the umbrella agency and hire a coordinator. Catholic Community Services Executive Director Tom Mulhern said the planning committee looked at setting up a new entity, but felt it made more sense to use CCS as the financial manager. It is a collaborative project. Councilor Moore asked if the neighbors had been brought in and informed of the project. Mr. Mulhern said to a limited extent, but the next step is to reach out to the neighborhood. The impact should not be significant as these families are already coming into the area to get services. Councilor Moore said it would be good to get the neighborhood involved and volunteering. She knew they already had a great relationship with the neighborhood. Councilor Woodrow said homeless children and families is a critical issue and needs attention and focus for the whole community. When she volunteered with the SMART reading program, she saw kids that lived in hotels, cars, etc. You don't have to look hard to find these families. This collaboration was great and she is excited to see this program get going. Councilor VanGordon asked if this program would be eligible for any CDBG funds that might still be available from last year. Ms. Fifield said it would qualify and there are funds available. Councilor VanGordon asked if there were TEAM Springfield funds available. Mr. Grimaldi said they were available. Councilor VanGordon said this should go in front of the School District Board. Having a place to go keeps people housed longer and alleviates long-term stress. He would like the City to look for opportunities with CDBG funds or TEAM Springfield funds. Mr. Grimaldi said someone would just need to write a letter to him requesting TEAM Springfield funds, and he could put it through the process. Mr. Mulhern said it is important to keep the project going. A longer term strategy for funding this program will rely on getting a couple of key public entities to put up the funds on an ongoing basis. His vision is to have the City and School each provide $20,000 annually, and then they could fundraise and apply for grants for the rest. Mayor Lundberg said she is happy they are at this point. They are working hard on economic development and quality of life, and part of that is stabilizing families and children who will be part of the community fabric that are eligible for family wage jobs. Stability is the first piece in making that work. The City has prioritized other funds through the Human Services Commission (HSC) and this is City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 26, 2015 Page 7 a priority for our community so it would seem appropriate to make that request. She thanked all of those that have worked to get to this point. Mr. Mulhern acknowledged the people from many agencies who are pulling together in a very positive way to put together this project. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 p.m. Minutes Recorder — Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: JW A— Amy Sov< City Recorder