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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/18/2016 Work Session i A City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY APRIL 18, 2016 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room,225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday April 18, 2016 at 6:15 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon, Moore, Ralston, Woodrow and Pishioneri. 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 Wylie was absent(excused). 1. Community Development Block Grant Updates. Erin Fifield, Community Development Analyst,presented the staff report on this item. Each spring,the City Council approves funding allocations for use of CDBG funds for the next fiscal year in a document called the One-Year Action Plan. Any proposed substantial amendments to prior year action plans must follow the same approval process. Council will have the opportunity to formally approve the 2016/17 CDBG One Year Action Plan, and the proposed CDBG Prior Year Action Plan Substantial Amendments, during the regular session on May 2, 2016. The Community Development Advisory Committee(CDAC)held a public hearing on April 7,2016 and has made recommendations to Council for the DRAFT Springfield 2016/17 CDBG One Year Action Plan, and proposed Springfield CDBG Prior Year Action Plan Amendments. CDAC recommendation to Council: • The CDAC recommends Council approve the list of substantial amendments to Council,with the condition that the additional $42,500 grant to NEDCO's Sprout! Code Improvements Project be provided so long as NEDCO finds funds for the rest of the project. • For the CDBG 2016/17 One Year Action Plan,the CDAC recommends allocating CDBG funds to assist with housing rehabilitation, down payment assistance, public services to the HSC and to the G Street Oasis Program, fund public facilities and improvements, and grant administration. All projects and programs must benefit low and moderate income persons in the community. Ms. Fifield distributed a one-page memo that provided highlighted information regarding the substantial amendments. She said this is a new process for her and may also be for the City. The substantial amendments listed in the handout under#1 go back to 2011 and are to clean up projects per HUD's requirements. The amendments listed under#2 were in part cleanup and part reallocation of funds not used. Amendments listed under#3 were funds the City would be allocating; some included funds NEDCO had not used and were being reallocated to another project. Amendments listed under #4 included funds to be allocated for FY16-17 for administration. HUD has capped what the City can spend on administration and this allocation would fill that gap. Amendments listed under#5 include City of Springfield •Council Work Session Minutes April 18,2016 Page 2 funds that were unallocated from last year, funds from FY16/17 and loan repayments. She reviewed the recommendations from the CDAC. Councilor Pishioneri asked if there would be a list of the recommendations. Mayor Lundberg said in the past,the Council would see the applications from the Request for Proposals(RFP)for funding. There are no applications due to the fact these are funds that were not allocated last year and need to be spent. Ms. Fifield said during the February work session, discussion was held regarding the outcome of the HUD monitoring which outlined weaknesses in our current process for allocating funds. Staff has focused on shoring up that process before putting out an RFP for funding for a new non-profit project. In February, staff hoped to have time to meet with Council to determine what to do with the allocations, but they learned after meeting with HUD that they had not spent money quickly enough to not lose them. Mayor Lundberg said the CDAC set the guidelines for what they wanted to do with these funds. The list in the agenda packet is where the money will go. Mr. Grimaldi said Council will see that list for approval on May 2. Ms.Fifield spoke regarding the Action Plan. The primary difference since coming to Council in January is an increase in revenue. Last year,the City received $466,000 and was projecting a lower amount for this year; however,the City was awarded $488,000 this year. That is good news,although they do have the timeliness test. They estimated program income, which are loans being repaid. That number could change slightly, but currently they are projecting about$683,000 in revenue. She referred to the chart showing the FY15/16 allocations,the FY16/17 draft allocations, and the FY16/17 CDAC recommended allocations. The difference between the FY16/17 draft allocations and the FY16/17 CDAC recommended allocations was the unallocated portions that had been moved into different projects. She explained how those funds were divided and re-allocated. Councilor Woodrow had asked about directing the extra$4,500 to the Human Services Commission(HSC)winter program. Given that amount, HSC staff said it was not given the restrictions of CDBG, but they would be happy to receive it and increase the bucket of the other services.If the full $19,500 was to be given to the HSC,then they could put it in the winter strategies program. Mr. Grimaldi said they will continue to work on that and try to figure out a way to direct it to that program. They will present the information during the May 2 Council meeting. Councilor Woodrow said if not, she would prefer they put the full $19,500 to the Oasis program. Mayor Lundberg asked if the grant was supposed to fund this program. Ms. Fifield said the winter strategies program is not funded by anyone with CDBG dollars, so they don't have the requirement attached. Mr. Grimaldi said they could possibly put the funds into another CDBG program, then reallocate non block grant funds from that account to go to that program. Councilor Woodrow said if they could work it out that would be great. City of Springfield . Council Work Session Minutes April 18,2016 Page 3 Councilor Moore asked how many families were helped with the down-payment assistance program. Ms. Fifield said it helps about 10 families. The load is repaid when the homeowner sells or is no longer the primary resident. Mr. Boyatt said over the course of the program, it has helped hundreds. Councilor Moore said it would be nice if the public was aware of these programs and how the City has helped the community. Discussion was held regarding the homeowner's responsibility. Ms. Fifield said she had been talking with Community Relations Manager Niel Laudati about getting something out to media. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m. Minutes Recorder—Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: Amy Sowa) City Recorder