City of Lawrence, KS

Community Development Advisory Committee

March 11, 2010 Minutes (City Commission Room)

MEMBERS PRESENT:		Chris Marshall, Quinn Miller, Julie Mitchell, Vern Norwood, Brenda Nunez, Aimee Polson, Patti Welty

MEMBERS ABSENT:		Susan Adams, Marci Francisco

STAFF PRESENT:		Danelle Dresslar, Margene Swarts

PUBLIC PRESENT:

Chair Norwood called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm.

1. Introductions

Members and staff introduced themselves.

2. Approval of the February 25, 2010 Minutes.

There were several typographical corrections noted regarding the February 25, 2010 minutes. Staff will correct the minutes accordingly.

Welty moved to approve the CDAC meeting minutes from the

February 25, 2010 meeting with corrections. The motion was seconded by Norwood and passed 7-0.

3. Continue Deliberations – CDBG Public Service.

Swarts said that although Francisco was not able to attend the meeting, she relayed an additional cut that could be made to the Oread budget to consider during deliberations. Francisco indicated that since most of the neighborhood was on an email list serve, telephone costs could be deleted.

Swarts noted that the Oread Neighborhood Association request was for a total of $10,586 and the telephone was $447, so the amount remaining is $10,139.

Norwood expressed concern about providing funding for a web page, and inquired about what the $880 that the Oread Neighborhood contributes to their expenses was paying for.

Swarts said that the budget just gives a list of the expenses and the Oread kicks in $880 of their own funding to pay for some of the expenses. It does not appear to be broken down by the budget provided as to what exactly the $880 is applied to. In removing the telephone costs, the telephone will either be picked up by the neighborhood or it will be disconnected. It is possible the web page is coming out of that $880, but one cannot be sure. This is just a list of the operating costs, they are paying $880 of that, and they are asking for the balance.

Marshall asked what they had decided to do in terms of the office expenses for the neighborhoods at the last meeting.

Swarts said that the newspaper fee and the LAN dues were subtracted from the Brook Creek request, and there were office expenses cut for East Lawrence.

Norwood asked where the office for the Oread coordinator was located.

Swarts said that the coordinators normally worked from their homes. Most neighborhood associations do not have an office.

Mitchell said that in Brook Creek the mail and correspondence goes to the coordinator’s house.

Discussion ensued regarding the web page.

Swarts said the neighborhoods have guidelines for the neighborhood association in the Citizen Participation Plan. This plan is the guideline for the CDBG funded neighborhood operations. In the past, the CDAC has not dictated where the funding can go. Since the CDAC has not dictated what can or cannot be done with their newsletters and other correspondence, it might not be a place that they want to dictate how they handle their social media or websites either.

Marshall said that he was in favor of the webpage, and if the Committee is concerned about the additional fee, they might want to look at duplicated communication opportunities within the neighborhood.

Polson said that there is a lot of history on the website for the Oread. She suggested they look at the office expenses category.

Norwood asked Swarts where they stood on the allocation amounts for Public Services.

Swarts reminded the group that they have not allocated Oread and Pinckney Neighborhood Associations, Emergency Services Council, The Salvation Army, and Lawrence Community Shelter yet. The amount that remains as requested is $186,162 and the amount they have to work with is $67,648.

Norwood commented that there were going to be some deep cuts in requested amounts, and there is a chance that someone will not get funded.

Mitchell said that they ended up with North Lawrence last time. She had a question regarding the $1800 for the cleanup. One service that is part of the clean up is already being paid for by the City. North Lawrence is paying Lonnie’s for the pickup of the recycling. This appears to be a place where a cut can take place.

Miller asked Swarts if there are any agencies left that have a program that if they are not fully funded, the program might not happen.

Swarts said that the Ballard request for the Emergency Services Council is $50,000 this year, which is nearly twice the amount they normally request. This money goes directly to client services. If you give them $1,000 or $100,000 that funding is dictated by how far it stretches. There are no operations charges in there or salaries. It is direct client benefit. The Committee can decide how far they want to stretch the funding, and base their number on that. The requests for Lawrence Community Shelter and The Salvation Army have not been funded yet either. The Salvation Army is not doing an emergency shelter anymore. They are asking for funding for their feeding program. Lawrence Community Shelter is trying to relocate the existing shelter to a new location on Franklin Circle. If the SUP is approved, LCS will serve breakfast, lunch, and an evening meal at the new site. Part of the feeding program request for the Salvation Army is their lunch program. The Salvation Army provides lunch three days a week, and LINK provides lunch the other four days of the week. Between the two agencies lunch is covered all seven days of the week. These CDBG funds will become available in August of 2010. If the Lawrence Community Shelter receives approval from the Planning Commission and the City Commission on the relocation, that may affect the feeding program at The Salvation Army. Swarts said that staff is unsure if LCS has moved from downtown there will still be a need or a desire to provide a feeding program downtown.

Swarts said that another part of The Salvation Army request was for emergency rent and utility assistance, and the final piece was for funding for their Transitional Housing program. Swarts said that staff is not sure where that program is in terms of operations. The Salvation Army applied for funding through the Balance of State Continuum of Care and was not awarded funding for the Transitional Housing program. Lawrence Community Shelter was recently awarded an extension of one year at their current location at 944 Kentucky. They will have until April of 2011 at that location. If the proposed shelter site is approved LCS will begin their capital campaign and work to move out there. Their operations will continue no matter what the site.

Norwood moved to zero fund 5a, Pinckney Neighborhood Association. Welty seconded the motion, which passed 5-2.

Polson moved to eliminate the charges for the phone, social security for the coordinator, and to reduce the office expenses to $200 and fund 4a, Oread Neighborhood Association in the amount of $9,479. Norwood seconded the motion.

Marshall asked if the social security charges are part of the other coordinator salaries for other neighborhoods.

Swarts said that they can either take the taxes out when they pay them or they can pay them as an independent contractor so the coordinator is responsible for the social security taxes.

The motion passed 7-0.

Mitchell moved to reduce the funding allocated to the North Lawrence Improvement Association by $1,800 for the neighborhood cleanup and fund 3a, North Lawrence Improvement Association in the amount of $5,585.00. Polson seconded the motion, which passed 7-0.

Marshall commented that the Ballard Center in 2008 received $7,829.00 and their request this year is $50,000. That is a very large difference.

Swarts said that previous to 2008, the Ballard Center had been steadily funded between $18,000 to $20,000. For 2009, they were basically allocations what was left after other allocations.

Miller moved to zero fund The Salvation Army. Nunez seconded the motion.

Marshall asked Swarts to clarify The Salvation Army request.

Swarts said that they are requesting funding for their feeding program, rent and utility assistance, and their Transitional Housing program. The feeding program may or may not be in operation in the coming months depending on the approvals for LCS. The rent and utility assistance is the same type of program as the request from the Ballard Center.

Marshall said that there was a lot of question marks still out there in terms of the LCS relocation.

The motion passed 5-2.

Marshall asked Swarts how many people have been helped in the past by the Emergency Services Council when they received their usual amount of $20,000 in funding.

Swarts said that they could help a minimum of 100 families or individuals with $20,000 in the program as it is structured. Each payment has a maximum amount of $200. Not everyone uses the maximum amount allowed, so the 100 number is variable dependent on the average that people use. The service is offered once a year, so there is no duplication of funding.

Miller moved to fund 6a, The Ballard Community Center Emergency Services Council in the amount of $15,000. Norwood seconded the motion, which passed 7-0.

Polson said that she wanted to look at providing some funding to The Salvation Army.

Norwood moved to fund 10a, The Salvation Army Feeding Program in the amount of $11,871. Marshall seconded the motion.

Welty asked Swarts what will happen to the funding if the Salvation Army does not do the feeding program.

Swarts said it would be best to give the Salvation Army a choice. The CDAC can award them this funding and if the feeding program does not happen for the entire duration of the year then The Salvation Army can determine how to spend the remaining funds.

Nunez said that The Salvation Army receives their food from donations. She questioned why the CDAC would give them money for the feeding program when the food is donated.

The motion failed 7-0.

Polson suggested they make the allocation more flexible so The Salvation Army can decide how to spend the funding.

Welty asked Swarts when The Salvation Army turns in their reimbursement paperwork what are they writing down for their feeding program requests.

Swarts said that she will have to pull the file and she can report back to the Committee at the next meeting.

Norwood suggested putting the decision on The Salvation Army on hold until staff can let the Committee know how the funds are being utilized for the feeding program currently if the food is all donated. Norwood said that she would be in favor of funding LCS with all the remaining funding if it is determined that the food is all donated.

Miller said that he made his original motion to zero fund The Salvation Army because of the reality of the situation as it is now.

Swarts said that if there is not a new shelter in a year, then there may not be a shelter in Lawrence. It is all a guess at this point. If the committee feels like they want to fund both agencies, they can settle on a figure and make a motion, and staff will bring the information to the next meeting. Swarts said that The Salvation Army probably does receive some food donated, but they also probably have expenses that are not covered. This is what they use to partially subsidize the feeding program.

Marshall said that there was not a vast increase in their request from last year. He said he was very interested to see their reimbursement requests to see what the funding is going towards.

Marshall moved to fund 10a, The Salvation Army Feeding Program in the amount of $11,871, and to fund 9a, The Lawrence Community Shelter Operations in the amount of $33,548, contingent on staff response to question regarding feeding program reimbursement for The Salvation Army. Norwood seconded the motion, which passed 7-0.

Swarts said with that motion, the balance remaining in Public Services is zero and all funds have been allocated except for the CDBG Administration.

Norwood moved to fund 18f, The City of Lawrence Community Development Division Administration in the amount of $161,564. Miller seconded the motion.

Polson asked what would happen if the CDAC did not fully fund this amount.

Swarts stated the administration amount is capped by Federal Regulations. The cap is 20%, and historically the department has asked for the full 20% for salaries and program administration. As a general rule, expenditures do not take the full 20%, for 2-3% of the funds are reallocated for the next program year.

Norwood said that this is true of any grant awarded. There is always an administration cost.

Swarts said that up to this year, staff has administered CDBG, HOME, and the Emergency Services Grant (ESG). This year staff is administering those programs, as well as the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), CDBG-R, and the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing program (HPRP). There have been more citizen participation costs, as well as more expenses with the additional programs being administered.

The motion passed 7-0.

4. Miscellaneous/Calendar.

Swarts said that there was one more meeting in March. Prior to that meeting staff will provide the CDAC with the Annual Action Plan for their review. The April 8 meeting will be the public hearing. That meeting will start at 5:45 p.m.

The CDAC can look at the rest of the schedule and determine what they would like to do with the summer meetings. There will also be a meeting scheduled to review the Step Up to Better Housing Strategy that will be held with the Community Commission on Homelessness. There will be more information to follow on the scheduling of that discussion.

5. Public Comment.

There was no public comment.

6. Adjourn.

Mitchell moved to adjourn the March 11, 2010 meeting of the CDAC at 6:35 pm. The motion was seconded by Polson and passed 7-0.

Attendance Record

Members

Jan 14

Jan 28

Feb 11

Feb 25

Mar 11

Mar 25

Apr 8

Apr 22

May 13

May 27

Jun 10

Jun 24

July 8

July 22

Aug 12

Aug 26

Sept 9

Sept 23

Oct 14

Oct 28

Nov 11

Nov 25

Dec 9

Dec 23

Susan Adams

Marci Francisco

Chris Marshall

Quinn Miller

Julie Mitchell

Vern Norwood

Brenda Nunez

Aimee Polson

Katherine Pryor

Roberta Suenram

Patti Welty

* Resigned prior to meeting.