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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-04-23 Housing & Human Services MIN Ashland Housing and Human Services Commission Minutes April 23, 2015 CALL TO ORDER Chair Joshua Boettiger called the meeting to order at 4:30 pmin the Siskiyou Room at the Community Development and Engineering Offices located at 51 Winburn Way, Ashland OR 97520. Commissioners Present: Council Liaison Joshua Boettiger Pam Marsh Coriann Matthews SOU Liaison Heidi Parker Vacant Regina Ayars Sue Crader Staff Present: Rich Rohde ConnieSaldana Linda Reid, Housing Specialist Leslie Gore, Housing Program CommissionersAbsent: Assistant Gina DuQuenne Approval of Minutes Saldana/Ayars m/sto approval of minutes of the April 2, 2015 Housing and Human Services Commission meeting. Voice Vote: motion passed unanimously; minutes were approved as presented. Public Forum No one was present to speak. Review Council’s CDBG Funding Decision(added to agenda by request of Commissioner Rohde) Linda Reid, Housing Specialistreviewed the Council’s allocation of CDBG funds. Commissioner Parker acknowledged theimpact of the grant process on individuals on the commission, and expressed the hope that there were no hard feelings. She also had concerns, echoing Councilor Lemhouse, that the commission’s and staff’srecommendationswere verydifferent. Parker wanted to know how often commission’srecommendations were overturned by the council? How much communication is there from staff to the council and if the staff’s recommendations outweigh the commissions and if so, what is theroll of the commission? Council LiaisonPam Marsh spoketo Parker’s concern speaking to the importance of the commission’s work in the final outcomeof the awards. The councilors generally accepted the final conclusions but had concernswith the process, and felt the commission’s recommendations were not well represented at the council meeting. It was noted the commissioner scheduled to be at the meeting was not able to make it. It was suggested that in the future staff allocate more time for the Commission to review and make recommendations for the CDBG grant award process. Crader said she appreciated the award for Ashland Supported Housing (ASH). Crader also mentioned that Interfaith Care Community of Ashland(for whichCrader wrote the initial application and received CDBG grant funds to establisha day center for homeless populations) undertook a similar pathto that that ORHA is embarked on now and offered to help with grant writing for ORHA. Housing Trust Fund Subcommittee Report Rohde presented the subcommittees’Housing Trust Fund (HTF) Presentation (to the council’s study session). The commission reviewed the document. Rohde explained that the essential piece missing from Ashland’s HTF is adedicated funding source. Henoted that House Bill 2564, regarding inclusionary zoning, has been passed in the house and might provide mechanism to promote a permanent funding source. It was concluded that Boettigerwould make the presentation to the study session. The commissiondiscussed edits, generally concerning the order item in the presentation. Rohde/Matthewsm/s, the adoption ofthe presentation with editsas discussed. Voice vote:motion passed unanimously. (Matthews offered to attend the Council Meeting in June to represent the Commission when the Social Service recommendations were reviewed) Report on Inclusionary Zoning Legislation(Item addedto agenda by request of Commissioner Rohde.) : Liaison Reports Council (Pam Marsh):(Marsh had to leave at 5:30 so the liaison report was advanced in the schedule.) Marsh related the following council actions; -Set regulations regarding “AirBnB” short term rentals with the hope that they would not displace long term renters. -The Clay Street property was intended to develop low income housing. There is public concern about the removal of a “tree of the year” tree. The council has moved forward with the commitment to sell the parcel of land to the Housing Authority. The City has been notified that the tree is in failing condition, and while there is conflicting expert opinions, now that the City has been notified about the condition of the tree it is unlikely to be able to stay in public ownership.Marsh recognized there is a conflict of community values. There was discussion about the where the revenue for thesale of the property would go, and while the revenue would not be a continuing source the approximate $300,000 would be a good kick start for the HTF. -The developer of the Normal neighborhood has made a statement that he cannot do the 25% affordable housing requirements, and they are at an impasse at the moment. Rental Registry Update: Leslie Gore, Housing Program Assistant, gave an update of the Rental Registry. The formpresented will be a supplement to the business license renewal. Itrequests basic information that will be used tobuild a database of the rental inventory. The database would then be used to do additional surveys. Review of Council Direction regarding the Student Fair Housing Issue Reid met withKristy, the SOU liaison.Kristy will be moving on but believes Megan is committed to moving forwardwith applying for the student liaison position and with continuing to work on the student fair housingissue. Reid advised creating an implementationplan with a time line forpresenting to the council. Including, what other options might mitigate the impact of housing discrimination based on student status other than includingstudent status as a protectedclassunder the City’s fair housing ordinance. What are the issues for property owners and can anything be done to address these issues. Whatare the potential unintended consequences of any suggested policy changes. Kristy will be submitting the original survey, mailing listsand research. Reid believes that many of the itemsthe council asked the commission to explore have been addressed but need to be consolidated into a presentable form. For example;apotential “Ready to Rent”trainingprogram for students that could be offered byLouise Dix from the Fair Housing Council of Oregonand Jenea Hass, the SOU professor who deals with landlord tenant law. Commissioner Boettigerobserved that it was difficult to progress on this issue with the continual turnover of the SOU students, and the commission might proceed without direct SOU involvement. Parker thought that the trainings would be an effective measure. : Liaison Reports(continued) Staff (Linda Reid): Consolidated Plan was adopted. Reid noted that Rich Rosenthal was very complementary. General: Boettiger announced that he would be unable to attend the Mayor’s brown bag lunch, and asked if any other commissioner would like to go in his place. Process of Social Service Grant:(Item added to the agenda at the request of staff) Reid discussed the process of assessing the Social Service Grants. There is a spread sheet that the commissioners will fill in the amount of their award, in advance of the meeting. An average will be taken, with a tentative recommendation. After the presentations the recommendations will be reviewed. Reid will also provide a matrix to evaluate theapplications. Thematrix will reflectthe Strategic Planpriorities. It was noted that the United Way application was not very in line with the Strategic Plan and should be redone going forward. Quorum Check: There was discussion about the scheduling and it was decided to add and additional meeting for presentationson thth May 27and reserve the regular meeting date (May 28) for deliberation and recommendations. Additional Discussion about the Social Service Grant: There werequestions and replies including: -This process is for two years. -There will not be a staff recommendation and the Commissions will be the only recommendations before the council. -There are fewer requirements for the Social Service Grants as opposed to the CDBG grants -There is a restriction on the amount offunding dedicated to publicservice activities withCDBG grantfund,so the Social Service Program is a better optionfor many organizations. -The StrategicPlan states: 20% of the overall grant allocation will be made available to small grants, under 5K. ($26,000) -The intent was to have grants with bigger impacts. -The commissioners would like to know the history of the awards. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 6:00p.m. The nextmeeting will be May 27, 2015 in the Gresham room of the Ashland Public Library, and the regular meeting will be May 28, 2015 inthe Siskiyou Room of the Community Development buildingat51 Winburn Way. Respectfully submitted by Leslie Gore