March 9, 2006 Minutes (City Commission Room, City Hall)
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MEMBERS PRESENT: |
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Jeanette Collier, Donna Duncan, Janet Gerstner, Paula Gilchrist, Greg Moore, Mike Randolph, Kirsten Roussel, Patti Welty |
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MEMBERS ABSENT: |
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marci francisco, Curtis Harris, Carol Nalbandian |
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STAFF PRESENT: |
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Lesley Rigney and Margene Swarts |
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PUBLIC PRESENT: |
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Robert Baker |
Roussel called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm.
Introductions
Members, public and staff introduced themselves.
Approval of February 23, 2006 Minutes
Gilchrist moved to approve the February 23, 2006 minutes. Moore seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Continue CDBG/HOME Deliberations
Roussel said they would continue with Public Service deliberations. There is $8026 left to allocate.
Moore said historically the group has funded Housing and Credit Counseling, Inc.(HCCI) and First Step House. He moved to fund 14A HCCI Tenant/Landlord Counseling and Education for $8026. Gilchrist seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Gilchrist moved to zero-fund 1C Brook Creek Neighborhood Association (BCNA) Park Cleanup, 1D BCNA Community Garden, 2C East Lawrence Neighborhood Association (ELNA) ELNA Work Day, 4C Oread Neighborhood Association (ONA) Neighborhood Cleanup, and 5C Pinckney Neighborhood Association (PNA) Neighborhood Cleanup. Moore seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Gilchrist noted that neighborhood associations have received 35% of Public Service allocations.
Welty moved to zero-fund 12A First Step House Operating Expenses. Randolph seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Randolph moved to zero-fund 18B Pelathe Community Resource Center Housing First. Gilchrist seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Gerstner apologized for coming in late and asked what was left for Public Services.
Roussel said the remainder had been applied to HCCI. Unless anyone wishes to consider shifting funds, deliberations are concluded.
Gilchrist asked staff how not receiving CDBG funds impacted DCAP last year.
Swarts said she did not know. She thinks they meant to apply and didn’t.
Gerstner hoped to consider neighborhood cleanups which are relatively small amounts. The BCNA request was $2,427 that included a community garden – without it would be $2200. She is looking at DCAP.
Gilchrist said BCNA cleanup and community garden already had been zero-funded.
Moore said the NA’s were already taking up 35% of Public Services and that is substantial.
Randolph said NA salaries and operating expenses were the only 2006 requests fully funded by the Committee.
Gerstner said that is a good point. The biggest changes will be with HCCI, from $24,000 in 2005 to $8,000 in 2006.
Roussel said regarding NAs, on behalf of NAs, she wanted to thank the Committee for the funding. Coordinators are extremely vital to maintaining communication. They funded extra operating expenses for 2006 and now there may be some extra wiggle room.
Swarts said with regards to cleanups, if NA’s want to have cleanups, they can contact sanitation and talk about how they can be coordinated. Depending on what day of the week the NA’s pickup is, they may be able to coordinate that as part of regular pickup. Trucks can pick up trash from cleanups if properly packaged or bundled at the curb.
Roussel said they have received bags by sanitation when they have done cleanups.
Randolph asked Swarts if any allocations regarding agencies were off base.
Swarts said that is very difficult. HCCI has historically been funded at a much higher level and that will have an impact on the organization, but she could not recommend who they could take away from to give to them. Every applicant is eligible; it is just a difficult decision.
Roussel said if there was no further discussion, the Committee could move on.
Miscellaneous Items/Calendar
Swarts said they had talked about holding the Public Hearing April 13. Staff will be working on the Annual Action Plan and will try to finish it by April 6 or 7. There will be a new Investment Summary. Typically, the Public Hearing starts at 6:00 pm and the Committee meets at 5:45 to approve minutes and address miscellaneous items and depending on time, can recess for a few minutes until 6:00 and when the hearing is complete, the can reconvene to make changes and adopt the final recommendation to send on to the City Commission (CC). The Public Hearing publication in the newspaper opens the 30 day comment period, during which comments will be added to the document, which should go to the CC May 2. There would still be time before the HUD deadline should the CC wish to send anything back to the Committee for reconsideration. The HUD deadline is June 15, but staff always submits it closer to the end of May and then moves forward with Environmental Review so the City is ready to go by August 1, which is the beginning of the Program Year. There will not be a Public Hearing May 2, but the CC will hear public comment because it is on the regular agenda. The Chair will address the CC. She asked the Committee if there was any reason to meet between now and the Public Hearing. Staff has no reason to meet with the Committee unless they want to.
Moore clarified that if something would come up, they could meet.
Swarts said yes.
Roussel clarified that the Public Hearing will be the next time the Committee will meet.
Swarts said it will be held at 5:45 pm in the CC Room at City Hall. Staff will notify the Committee if they need to meet prior to the Public Hearing. She also noted the NRAC did not approve the CDBG administration allocation for the Department.
Gilchrist moved to fund 23F Neighborhood Resources CDBG Administration for $163,396. Moore seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Gilchrist said Douglas County receives information about groups being worried about CDBG cuts. It was tough this year but it could get really bad in the future.
Swarts said the City is precluded from lobbying, but the Mayor signed a letter to be sent to the Lawrence delegation supporting CDBG and explaining what cuts have done to our community and what they will continue to do. Agencies have asked what they can do. She always urges supporters to contact legislators. That is the means, no matter what side of the fence you are on. She recently provided a summary to the City Manager about CDBG accomplishments. The number of Capital Improvement projects funded and Public Services have decreased significantly since 2001. Interestingly, funding for NA’s has continued to increase despite the cuts. Department programs have held their own although there have been some cuts and the number of people helped has stabilized although she knows there has been a decrease in the Comprehensive Rehabilitation program.
Gilchrist said they really need to start focusing on performance.
Swarts said it will be difficult because those that do not perform well have already fallen out of CDBG consideration because they quit applying or some have fallen by the wayside who could not continue to manage the organization. For the most part, these applicants are the high performers who are resilient. It is going to help a bit but on the other hand, it is still going to be difficult.
Public Comment
Roussel asked for Public Comment.
Baker said he agrees with Swarts. There is no longer adequate funding. The Committee has a tough job and he thanked members for their service.
Adjourn
There being no further business, Gilchrist moved to adjourn the meeting. Moore seconded the motion, which passed. The meeting adjourned at 7:10 pm.