HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-05-26 Housing & Human Services MIN
Ashland Housing and Human Services Commission
Minutes
May 26, 2022
Call to Order
Commission Chair Linda Reppond called the Zoom meeting to order at 4:00pm .
Commissioners Council Liaison
Rich Rohde Gina Duquenne
Echo Fields / Vice-Chair
#3 vacant SOU Liaison
Linda Reppond / Chair Reese Rosenburg
Joy Fate
Kathy Kali absent Staff Present:
Heidi Parker Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist
Chris Mahan Liz Hamilton, Permit Technician
#9 vacant Joe Lessard, City Manager
Public Forum
Ashland Mayor / Julie Akins – brought forth a proposal for the use of the 1-million-dollar SB-5561 grant. Possibly
for Rogue Retreat to become our Children and Families center. This plan would be to secure a property that
could work as an emergency shelter and a section for children and families for long term housing.
Approval of Minutes
Commissioners Echo Fields / Joy Fate m/s to approve the minutes of April 28, 2022 with
amendments. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion passed
Housing Production Strategy (HPS) Community Outreach Plan-Workgroup Update
Monday 5/23 & Wednesday 5/25, Echo Fields surveyed SOU students for additional data.
Rich Rohde and HPS workgroup are going thru list of existing policy options in the current HPS and are
revamping those policies for the new HPS.
Commission talks about when and where they could have tables and canvassing to hand out materials and get
public feedback.
SB 5561 Grant Process Discussion
Joe Lessard, City Manager talks about what the city needs most and what can be done with this grant. He gave
an overview of the criteria that city staff have come up with to find a property for Emergency Weather Shelter with
this Grant. City wants to make sure there is a solid plan to have a long-term solution with this grant.
Rich – suggestion to move forward having open process with RFP to all groups to see what city can collaborate
with.
Echo – biggest need is emergency weather shelter. But whether this grant should be used for that is the
questions.
Heidi – thought there would be more public input on how the money would be spent. But feels that City Staff has
done a good job identifying the needs and criteria for moving forward.
Linda Reppond – if and when the Rogue Retreat area closes, there will be a great need for women, children and
family shelter and housing.
Joe would like to send the criteria to the commission and get feedback from the commission on its priorities and
then combined ideas for a final draft to move forward on a plan.
2022 Annual CDBG Action Plan Public Hearing
Linda Reid-Housing Program Specialist calls to order the Public Hearing.
The city anticipates a revised allocation of $185,899 in Community Development Block Grant funds for Program
Year 2022 (July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023) by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The City Council has identified that a total of $153,266 in grant funds in the 2022 grant year is to be awarded to
two projects: $128,266 to Options for Helping Residents of Ashland for to assist in the conversion of an existing
hotel to be used as an emergency shelter and the new home of the resource center to serve homeless and at-risk
populations, and $25,000 to Maslow Project for outreach and case management for homeless youth enrolled in
the Ashland School District.
Commissioners Rich Rohde / Chris Mahan m/s to accept the CDBG Action plan for 2022.
Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion passed
Rent Burden Meeting Brainstorming Discussion
Moving this agenda item to a later meeting.
Liaison Reports
Council (Gina Duquenne) gave update on tour of city property.
Next Housing Commission Regular Meeting June 23, 2022 at 4pm
Up Coming dates
June 6, 2022 – City Council Study Session on Severe Weather Shelter
June 7, 2022 - City Council regular meeting Agenda item SB-5561 grant
June 9, 2022 – Grand Opening of OHRA Resource Center and Shelter
July 11, 2022 – HPS meeting
Adjournment: adjourned the meeting at 6:10p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Liz Hamilton