Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutHousing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes 01-24-2019APPROVED MINUTES PLYMOUTH HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY January 24, 2019 MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Michelle Soderberg, Commissioners Robert Huddleston, and Marty McCarthy ABSENT: Commissioners Jeff Kulaszewicz and Matthew Plec STAFF PRESENT: HRA Manager Jim Barnes and Office Support Representative Michelle Rumrey OTHERS PRESENT: Jody Boedigheimer, Grace Management; Pam Bandy, Realtor, and James Wesley Hagen, homeowner of 3411 Pilgrim Lane North 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Soderberg called the Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. PUBLIC FORUM Chair Soderberg opened and closed the public forum. No one was present to speak. HRA Manager Barnes added an item to the agenda under New Business as Item #4A and moved the HRA Strategic Plan to Item #4B. 3. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approve HRA Meeting Minutes for November 15, 2018. B. Plymouth Towne Square. Accept Monthly Housing Reports. C. Vicksburg Crossing. Accept Monthly Housing/Marketing Reports. MOTION by Commissioner Huddleston, seconded by Commissioner McCarthy, to approve the consent agenda. Vote. 3 Ayes. MOTION passed unanimously. 4. NEW BUSINESS A. 3411 Pilgrim Lane North Consider the removal of restrictive covenants on the property. HRA Manager Barnes gave an overview of the information related to this property about restrictive covenants. He stated the restrictive covenants, originally placed on the property due to participation in the First Time Home Buyer program, would be removed Approved Minutes Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority January 24, 2019 Page 2 in the year 2024. He informed the Board that in the past ten years covenants have been removed on similar properties and also staff considers this property to be naturally occurring affordable housing. Commissioner Huddleston asked about provisions of the First Time Home Buyers program related to restrictive covenants. HRA Manager Barnes replied the Board has the ability to waive conditions. Chairman Soderberg inquired about the number of housing units in the city that have restrictive covenants. HRA Manager Barnes answered there are about twenty. Chairman Soderberg requested a list of properties with restrictive covenants in place. HRA Manager Barnes indicated he would send the list out to the Board. Commissioner McCarthy inquired if there is a financial reason causing the owner to sell prematurely. Ms. Bandy asked what the commissioner meant by moving prematurely. Commissioner McCarthy clarified that previously restrictive covenants have been removed from properties due to circumstances such as the loss of a job. Ms. Bandy replied at this time there are no financial reasons for Mr. Hagen to sell the property. She explained that due to the size of the property there will not be a large pool of buyers. She added the covenants will further limit the number of buyers. Commissioner Soderberg said the Board has removed covenants before. Ms. Bandy declared the reason is to obtain fair market value for this property and the best way to ensure that is to make the property available to the largest pool of buyers. HRA Manager Barnes stated this program is a government program that is not meant to get fair market value for properties, but to aid the first time home buyer. He said in this instance the covenants do not add anything because the market is already dictating the purchase price. Commissioner Huddleston stated unless it is a tear down. HRA Manager Barnes replied this is a townhome and it is not likely to be torn down. Approved Minutes Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority January 24, 2019 Page 3 MOTION by Commissioner McCarthy, seconded by Commissioner Huddleston, to remove the restrictive covenants on the property located at 3411 Pilgrim Lane North. Vote. 3 Ayes. MOTION passed unanimously. B. HRA Strategic Plan. HRA Manager Barnes gave an overview of the staff report. HRA Manager Barnes asked the Board to consider the goals, strengths, weaknesses, and focus of the HRA. He posed the question of potential achievements in the next five years that will change the look of the City. He reminded the Board that economic development now is a separate division in the city with its own staff so the HRA will not be as involved in that aspect. However, the HRA will still be involved with redevelopment activities. He informed the Board that staff recommends looking at a completely new strategic plan. Chairman Soderberg said after reviewing the document it would be best to coordinate our efforts with the Comp Plan. She said she was intrigued by using a facilitator if we can find the right one. HRA Manager Barnes stated there are a few potential options for facilitators. One such person is Jon Gutzmann, Executive Director for St. Paul Public Housing Authority who used to live in Plymouth. He also sat on the HRA Board and helped with the Plymouth Towne Square project. He is well respected in the housing industry. He added we would want to consider what their fees would be. Commissioner Huddleston said to help decide we could have an informal RFP to determine what services are available for what price. We could develop a menu of scope items and then decide if a facilitator is worth the cost. He said we should determine what will be really helpful and what should be an integral part of the plan to discover what is missing to aid in doing a better job. HRA Manager Barnes replied the audience is staff, HRA Board, City Council, and the citizens of Plymouth. Commissioner Huddleston stated a smaller group may be better to work with. Chairman Soderberg asked what everyone thought about the mission and vision. She said we have a fairly narrow scope. HRA Manager Barnes stated there are a couple of newer items such as education and how the housing situation for children impacts performance. He said this has been going on for years and is finally emerging to a higher level of interest. He said it is also relevant to discuss the baby boomers generation as they age. These people are getting older and Approved Minutes Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority January 24, 2019 Page 4 want to stay in their houses longer. He asked how we help them. He gave examples of funding programs for accessibility ramps and modifications to their houses such as grab bars. He asked if the Board should consider transportation options. He said a facilitator may be helpful with revisiting the mission and vision statements and goals. He suggested the facilitator begins the process and then the HRA Board works with a focus group. He also stated we will want to hear from educators, teachers, businesses, and others about how housing situations affects them. Commissioner McCarthy affirmed that businesses cannot find employees. HRA Manager Barnes advised there are also the social services to consider and asked if we are missing something in the western suburbs that we need. Commissioner McCarthy stated numerous aspects to consider, such as the mission statement and goals, which are internal and which are part of an action plan. He asked if this is the role of the facilitator. He also inquired about rental housing, redevelopment, and economic opportunities. Chairman Soderberg provided the example of the facilitator assisting with establishing goals and then we finalize the items to achieve goals. In other words, the facilitator gets the shell in place and then the people decide how to implement. Commissioner McCarthy stated the facilitator aids with deciding goals and then we talk about those goals. Commissioner Huddleston said the mission statement will include the goals and action. Then we agree to tactics and strategy to fulfill the mission statement. Chairman Soderberg stated there are different paths to follow. HRA Manager Barnes asked if the three commissioners present are interested in revisiting the entire strategic plan. He said staff feels it should be revisited as it has been sixteen years and many things have changed in the community. Commissioner McCarthy asked if developing a new action plan will require input from the City Council. HRA Manager Barnes clarified the HRA Board will need approval from the City Council. He said the City Council will have access to the meeting minutes to stay updated. He said staff is considering a formal presentation to the City Council midway through this process that outlines the direction the HRA is moving and will ask the City Council if there are questions or concerns and what adjustments are needed. Approved Minutes Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority January 24, 2019 Page 5 Chairman Soderberg said I don’t think this can be accomplished on Thursday nights. There needs to be a dedicated meeting time. The use of a facilitator might have an impact on the schedule. Commissioner McCarthy said his preferred option is to conduct these meetings on a separate date from the HRA meeting. Commissioner Huddleston stated the availability of a facilitator may modify our scheduling. HRA Manager Barnes asked about public involvement. Commissioner McCarthy stated it is beneficial to involve the citizens. He said we could ask the Economic Development division to solicit business involvement. Commissioner McCarthy asked if an open house would occur first to discover the goals and priorities of citizens and afterwards compile an action plan. Chairman Soderberg questioned in which order to proceed. She said is there a state of the city session so people can tell us what they are thinking about and what they want to see happen. Then do we compose a mission vision statement and invite some of the same people to return to finalize the goals. She said a facilitator would be helpful especially if there is only minor participation. Commissioner Huddleston said the facilitator could assist with planning and guiding and also to mediate the meetings. He said there may be a lot of data to filter and the facilitator could provide a structure in which to gather information in categories. Chairman Soderberg stated these are the pieces and what we need from a facilitator is a process because we cannot drive the process. She said the facilitator will help with proceeding from here is what we have to here is where we want to get to with these ideas. Commissioner Huddleston said he would assist with drafting a letter indicating what the Board is considering and inquiring about costs. Commissioner McCarthy asked about having an open house. HRA Manager Barnes said there has been varied success with open houses as the previous one hosted by the Planning Commission related to the Comp Plan was attended by a small number of citizens. Commissioner Huddleston stated he liked the idea of having someone to help the Board. Chairman Soderberg concurred. Approved Minutes Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority January 24, 2019 Page 6 Commissioner Huddleston said he would prefer to have quarterly check-ins from the facilitator to ensure there are not oversights and nothing is missed. He said the first step will be a timeline to accomplish all this. 5. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Chair Soderberg, with no objection, to adjourn the meeting at 7:55 p.m.