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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHousing & Redevelopment Authority Minutes 02-28-2013APPROVED MINUTES PLYMOUTH HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY February 28, 2013 PRESENT: Chairman Jeff Kulaszewicz, Commissioners Paul Caryotakis, Carl Runck, Toni Jelinek and Jim Willis ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Housing Program Manager Jim Barnes, HRA Specialist Kip Berglund and Office Support Representative Janice Bergstrom OTHERS PRESENT: Grace Management Representative Jody Boedigheimer 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Kulaszewicz called the Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approve January 24, 2013 HRA Meeting Minutes. B. Plymouth Towne Square. Accept Monthly Housing Report. C. Vicksburg Crossing. Accept Monthly Housing/Marketing Report. MOTION by Commissioner Caryotakis, seconded by Commissioner Willis, to approve the consent agenda. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved. 3. NEW BUSINESS A. Community Development Block Grant. Chairman Kulaszewicz introduced HRA Specialist Berglund who gave an overview of the Community Development Block Grant program allocations staff report. Chairman Kulaszewicz opened the public hearing. Chairman Kulaszewicz introduced Jill Pautz, who represented Tree House. Ms. Pautz said Tree House served an estimated 350-450 teens. Ms. Pautz said the four goals of the Tree House program are to help teens reduce adverse behaviors, build healthy relationships, graduate from high school and make plans for the future either through education or vocational school. Ms. Pautz noted the slight decline in residents served was due to a staff opening for most of the year, which has now been filled, and they are already seeing growth. She said they did not have the Approved Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority February 28, 2013 Page 2 number of students served by school district but will get that information. Ms. Pautz said most of the teens served have no transportation and Tree House has three, 12 -passenger vans which provide barrier free access that these kids need. Ms. Pautz stated the $10,000 they are requesting covers the costs of a van for one year. Chairman Kulaszewicz added one of the Board's goals is to serve residents of Plymouth so when providing the statistics on the number of teens served to be mindful of that. Chairman Kulaszewicz introduced Tim Morin, Senior Community Services. Mr. Morin reviewed the program services, which are provided on a sliding fee scale, and include outside maintenance, lawn mowing, snow removal, and minor repairs. He said leaf raking and window washing are provided by volunteers. Mr. Morin said 30 Plymouth seniors were served in 2011, 43 in 2012, and their goal is to serve 44 seniors in 2013. Mr. Morin stated the ten-year census indicates an increase of 5,200 seniors in the city. He said the Senior Community Services help residents to remain independent and helps to maintain the housing stock. Commissioner Caryotakis asked how they draw volunteers for the projects. Mr. Morin responded they could use thousands of volunteers. He cited Breck School, United Health Corporation, and Allianz Corporation as some volunteer sources. Mr. Morin said the focus has been shifting to technology with E -newsletters to make information available for volunteers. Chairman Kulaszewicz introduced Courtney Whited, People Responding in Social Ministry, PRISM). Ms. Whited said the PRISM Express is a door to door, dial -a -ride transportation service for suburbs including the eastern portion of Plymouth. Ms. Whited said 50 persons were served for a total of 120 rides which can be for medical, social, shopping, recreational or volunteering. Ms. Whited said they hope to expand their services to St. Louis Park and Edina. Chairman Kulaszewicz asked how they make the public aware of this transportation service. Ms. Whited responded this a faith -partnered program with 29 churches in the area and most of their volunteers are from Mount Olivet in Plymouth. Ms. Whited says she does a blog, there are Facebook entries, a regularly updated website, and brochures are posted at coffee shops, Plymouth Creek Center, etc. Commissioner Runck asked if they have considered serving residents at Vicksburg Crossing and Plymouth Towne Square. Housing Program Manager Barnes said these two senior buildings are out of the service district for PRISM Express as I-494 is the cutoff. He said Interfaith Outreach Community Partners IOCP) is the social service agency for the western portion of Plymouth, but does not have a transportation program. Housing Program Manager Barnes said we try to make residents in our buildings aware of Dial -A -Ride and the Metro Link. Approved Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority February 28, 2013 Page 3 Ms. Whited added they do individual contracts with senior high rises outside their service district. She said these contracts can be negotiated for services based on their needs and how often transportation is needed. Ms. Whited said they try to keep it affordable, i.e. $40.00 per hour for a group trip service. Ms. Whited said she is working with LaDonna Hoy as IOCP recently formed a task force to determine how to serve residents in the western suburbs. She said Wayzata is very interested as Presbyterian Homes is going in. Housing Program Manager Barnes asked about the size of the vans. Ms. Whited said they have a new 14 -passenger bus that has slots for grocery bags. She said they need to be able to set up for individual shopping trips and configure the buses for walkers and grocery bags. She said their largest bus is for 20 people (18 + 2 wheel chairs). Housing Program Manager Barnes expressed interest in this option to provide needed transportation for our seniors. Chairman Kulaszewicz introduced Eric Hauge, Home Line. Mr. Hauge said Home Line, a non- profit tenant hot line served 232 Plymouth renter households for an estimated total of 580 residents in 2012. He said they assist renters who have questions on their rights, offer basic and common sense advice for any situation with neighbors or landlords, and provide legal forms. Mr. Hauge said the primary issues for Plymouth residents were security deposits, evictions and repairs. Mr. Hauge said they saved or recovered for renters an estimated $38,000 in repairs, rent abatements, or return security deposits, and helped prevent 19 evictions. Chairman Kulaszewicz introduced Carol Watson, Community Action Partnership of Suburban Hennepin (CAPSH). Ms. Watson said they provide service for a full -cycle home ownership program and make a significant difference for people buying their first home, maintaining and holding on to that home, repair services, and providing seniors information to make financially sound decisions about reverse mortgages. In 2012 CAPSH served 63 Plymouth households (142 residents). Ms. Watson said 26 were foreclosure prevention, and statistics indicate the sooner a homeowner seeks financial counseling, the more positive the resolution to mitigate financial burdens and remain in their homes. Ms. Watson said other services include energy assistance, legal services, tax filing, and immigration services. Chairman Kulaszewicz closed the public hearing. Commissioner Willis thanked the speakers for presenting their programs and the important work they do to make the lives of our citizens easier. Chairman Kulaszewicz said we are limited to 15% of CDBG money for certain social services, but he would like to see that money spread out to more people, i.e. ten rather than five agencies. Approved Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority February 28, 2013 Page 4 Commissioner Caryotakis questioned if there will be a point where funding would be prioritized as available funds decline. Housing Program Manager Barnes said in our 10 -year history CDBG funds have decreased by 100,000 and with sequestering, we could possibly lose another $20,000. Housing Program Manager Barnes added the city funds social service agencies with approximately $112,000 a year. He said we do not advertise as there are limited funding sources and there are many non- profits who need money, but geographically it is difficult to fund more organizations. Housing Program Manager Barnes added only six responded of the 10 who were notified of the request for proposal. Commissioner Jelinek asked if the recommended amounts were requested by the non-profit or are they the same amount they received in the previous year. Housing Program Manager Barnes said the recommended amounts listed in the action plan were the amounts requested by each agency with the exception of CAPSH. He said their requested amount was reduced by $1,000 but did result in an increase over the 2012 allocation. Commissioner Jelinek said the $2,300 amount to PRISM Express is small, and asked how it would affect them if they did not get this amount. Housing Program Manager Barnes said their budget information is provided with their application. He said if PRISM Express did not get the $2,300 they might not be able to serve Plymouth to the extent they currently do. Commissioner Willis noted PRISM is expanding so they must have other funding sources. Commissioner Jelinek said the amounts do not seem large for the work they do and she was curious what percent of their overall budget these amounts represent. Commissioners Willis and Commissioner Caryotakis concurred this could be useful information if we are going to be looking at funding cuts. Housing Program Manager Barnes asked if this year's CDBG funding allocation is reduced, whether there is a preference by the Board to reduce all programs equally or reduce only the rehab and first time homebuyer programs. Chairman Kulaszewicz said the latter would be his preference as the first time homebuyer program serves one or two people while the other programs serve more people. Chairman Kulaszewicz asked if there would be funds paid back from loans in other programs. Housing Program Manager Barnes said we estimate $20,000 per program each year, but it is difficult to predict what funding we would get back from the rehab or first time homebuyer programs as we don't know when someone is selling or moving out. Approved Plymouth Housing and Redevelopment Authority February 28, 2013 Page 5 Chairman Kulaszewicz asked if there are reserve funds we are allowed to use. Housing Program Manager Barnes said the HRA general fund reserves could be used to supplement the two programs. He said the HRA Board would be kept informed if any programs were out of funds and the Board could discuss funding options at that time. Chairman Kulaszewicz asked if funding for transportation for senior buildings would come out of the social services budget and asked if it could come out of CDBG. He questioned reducing a current program and specifying dollars toward our residents in senior buildings. Housing Program Manager Barnes said funding would not come from CDBG. He stated that the CDBG funds are to be available for the entire community of Plymouth. MOTION by Commissioner Caryotakis, seconded by Chairman Kulaszewicz, to forward the recommendation on 2013 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program allocations to the City Council. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION passed unanimously. 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Election of Officers. MOTION by Commissioner Caryotakis, seconded by Commissioner Willis, nominating Chairman Kulaszewicz as chair. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION passed unanimously. MOTION by Chairman Kulaszewicz, seconded by Commissioner Willis, nominating Commissioner Caryotakis as vice-chairman. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION passed unanimously. MOTION by Chairman Kulaszewicz, seconded by Commissioner Caryotakis, nominating Commissioner Runck as secretary. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION passed unanimously. 5. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Chairman Kulaszewicz, without objection, to adjourn the meeting at 7:52 p.m.