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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-09-16 CAHAB MinutesCommunity Affordable Housing Advisory Board Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 8:00am, City Commission Chamber – 121 N. Rouse Ave. A. 08:06:00 AM Call meeting to order David Magestrelli – Present Melvin Howe – Present Sharon Southhard – Present Sean Maloney – Present Anders Lewendal – Present Kevin Thane – Present Hattie Baker – Present Brian Lameres – Present Wendy Thomas – Present ‐ WEbex B. 08:06:07 AM Changes to the Agenda – No changes to the agenda C. 08:06:20 AM Public Comment ‐ No public comment Please state your name and address in an audible tone of voice for the record. This is the time for individuals to comment on matters falling within the purview of the Committee. There will also be an opportunity in conjunction with each action item for comments pertaining to that item. Please limit your comments to three minutes. D. 08:06:36 AM Approval of Minutes from February 10th, 2015 David Magestrelli moves to approve Anders seconds Board approves unanimously E. 08:06:59 AM Action Items 1. Affordable Housing Fund Budget Board begins discussion on the budget. 08:09:09 AM Wendy Thomas begins presentation on the budget and the allocation of funds. 08:13:27 AM Hattie Baker questions what percentage of the emergency shelter’s budget our 25K contribution is. Wendy Thomas responds that the money is grant money and it’s not for any one particular budget. She would likely present a Grant proposal to CAHAB in the future. Kevin Thane clarifies that there is no shelter currently. This would be funding to create these shelters. 08:17:00 AM Kevin Thane questions if shelters fall under the purview of the board. Wendy Thomas responds that there is a broad spectrum that the board covers – from down payment assistance for home buyers to shelters. Shelters are a part of the Affordable Housing action plan and that by putting this in there, it addresses those needs. 08:18:43 AM Kevin Thane states that he mentions this because he would like to go into this consciously knowing that it is a part of the board’s responsibility. 08:19:43 AM Kevin Thane states that he thinks we need to – as a board – be more proactive and not so in lock step. He feels that they need more discretionary funding to follow things they support. He suggests budgeting for innovative projects and new ideas, instead of throwing the money into categories. He questions if we have allocated any funds for impact fees or down payment assistance for the incentives for the affordable housing budget. 08:23:41 AM Wendy Thomas states that we have not allocated any money for down payment assistance or impact fees. But there is money that will be allocated before the end of the year, for projects like REACH. In summary, we have spent some money 08:24:57 AM Kevin Thane questions if anyone has asked for money for the down payment assistance. Wendy Thomas states that no, they have not asked for money currently. Kevin Thane confirms that there is currently not anyone who has requested funds. Wendy Thomas states that there is a demand, but currently they have not received any applications. 08:25:58 AM Kevin Thane states that he would support adding a line item for creating innovative affordable housing projects. 08:27:16 AM Brian Lameres provides insight on the flexibility of the budget. 08:28:04 AM Kevin Thane states that he would like to add a line item for encouraging proactively searching for projects that address affordable housing. He states that we as a group might not have all the ideas, so we should encourage creativity from the builders and community. He feels that by adding it as a line item will encourage it actually happening. He feels the biggest issue we face is the cost of land, by having money set aside 08:31:12 AM Anders Lewendal states that he supports Kevin Thane’s idea. He thinks we should have a lot donation program so that organizations like Habitat for Humanity can afford to build in the city. 08:31:43 AM Brian Lameres states that presenting some concrete, creative ideas to the commission would be supported. Wendy Thomas agrees that we need to be pretty specific. She states that they will not approve money that is not designated for something specific. She states they need to have a budget that they can show to anyone in the community and they can understand where the money is going. 08:33:58 AM Anders Lewendal questions why certain budget allocations are decreasing over time. Wendy Thomas states that we were given a LIHTC and she doesn’t see us getting another large project like that, so the cost will decrease if we are managing smaller projects. Mr. Lewendal questions the administration for the program decreases. Wendy Thomas responds that HRDC will be taking on a large portion of the administration through the HRDC contract for the affordable housing project. She continues to explain where the money in that category currently goes. 08:37:15 AM Kevin Thane states that last time Heather from HRDC was supposed to give a presentation and questions if she will still be doing that. 08:37:53 AM Heather Greenier begins HRDC budget presentation highlighting funding that HRDC will request from the City. Total budget request from HRDC is $199,700. She feels they are very optimistic targets. 08:42:42 AM Kevin Thane questions the 6 units they are interested in building. He questions what it would require to make more units available below 50% AMI. Heather Greenier states that it depends on program revenue from condo sales. They will make all of them as affordable as possible, but it is funding contingent. Kevin Thane questions if it is then a policy decision by HRDC – that they could wait longer and create more revenue to make more affordable homes. Mrs. Greenier states that they need to construct in a certain period of time or else it counts as land banking. They need to decide whether they want fewer homes at 50% AMI or more homes for higher AMI’s. 08:47:02 AM Anders Lewendal states that he remembers hearing that fewer low income individuals sell. Mrs. Greenier states that they see 1.5 units selling per month, and they have projected that forward. She states that some were deeply subsidized, so they will be harder to get out from under. She said they are seeing about $30K profit on the units and $17k net for the sellers. 08:49:28 AM Brian Lameres questions if they need to adjust the budget at all to meet HRDC’s budget needs. Ms. Greenier states that she and Ms. Thomas have discussed the budget and they think that they have come to an agreement on the budget and it will likely meet their needs. 08:50:22 AM Mr. Lameres questions how many of the West Edge units that are selling are staying in Bozeman and how many are moving out. Ms. Greenier states that it’s about 50/50. 08:50:41 AM Sean Maloney questions the status of the housing designs for the units they are attempting to build with the funds from the West Edge home sales. Heather Greenier responds on the status. 08:51:26 AM Kevin Thane questions if the units that are selling and the 50% that are staying in Bozeman, if they are moving into non‐subsidized units. Ms. Greenier states that they are in fact moving into non‐ subsidized homes. Kevin Thane questions if some of the units being built could be done by Habitat for Humanity. Ms. Greenier states that she and Mr. Magestrelli have already discussed setting aside some units for them. 08:52:54 AM Kevin Thane states that he’s going to make a proposal to amend the motion to allow for land acquisition. He wants to know if he sees an area where they should take money out and put it towards land. Ms. Greenier said it’s the same – whether they get the money for land acquisition or for other aspects of the budget. 08:55:03 AM Kevin Thane questions how much land they got for $200k. Ms. Greenier states that they got just under 4 acres in January. 08:55:29 AM Sharon Southard questions the resales of West Edge – and whether they are going to low income or who the buyer is. She states that it is currently largely going to investors. She is trying to work into the HOA covenants that the sale needs to go to an owner occupant. 08:56:32 AM Anders Lewendal questions who wrote the HOA documents. Ms. Greenier states that they were written by the original developer, but she cannot remember the name. So, they were developed when they acquired the land. Now that the property is all owner occupied, they need to work with the owners to change the HOA documents. 08:57:48 AM Mr. Lewendal states that they need to get a good cost estimate up front to avoid surprise costs in the end. Ms. Greenier said they are aware and do a lot of cost estimating internally. 08:58:43 AM Mr. Maloney questions if Kevin Thane is trying to move money from other line items. Kevin Thane and Mr. Lameres discuss how they can add this line item. 09:00:29 AM Kevin Thane moves I move to recommend the City Commission adopt the proposed affordable housing fund budget for FY 17. Second by David Magestrelli Kevin Thane would like to amend the motion to add to the budget to add $100K of the $300K that is currently expected to be left over for land acquisition. David Magestrelli seconds the amended motion. 09:02:44 AM Hattie Baker questions how the $100k would be allocated and how land acquisition would work. Kevin Thane states the intent is to move forward with ideas and projects for land acquisition. Whether we tell HRDC to buy more land or ask Habitat for Humanity to work on projects and we can give them money to make it work. He states that land is apparently a cost problem, so let’s help with that. 09:04:37 AM Hattie Baker questions who would be the owner of that land – is it a donation, a grant, HRDC, etc. Kevin Thane states the owner of the house would be the owner of the land. He said it would depend on the project. 09:05:41 AM Wendy states that the attorney would recommend making this as fair as possible and that it should be presented as a grant – and that there would be contingencies about how long the money could be held She states that we don’t need to be that specific about who owns the land, but the city attorney would Anders Lewendal states that he would like to support getting Habitat for Humanity to build within the City. Board agrees to add the line item of $100K 09:08:12 AM Board unanimously agrees on the amendment to the motion to add $100K for land acquisition. Board unanimously approves the motion to approve the budget for FY17 as presented with the amendment. F. FYI/Discussion 1. 09:09:21 AM Meeting Minutes on City Web Page – Update – Wendy Thomas provides insight on how meeting minutes are loaded to the web. 2. 09:11:22 AM City Land for Affordable Housing Wendy Thomas states that she distributed the city land map to the board to review. She states that they presented the idea to the City Commission and it was not a priority as a whole for the City or Community Development, but that the board could visit sites and make recommendations. She states that she’s not sure the City owns enough land that could be utilized, but she appreciates any input from the board. 09:13:54 AM Anders Lewendal question if North Park closed their sale. Mr. Lameres states that even with the eagle, the buyers are still interest and the price has increased. Mr. Lameres questions if the City is selling the entire piece of land or a portion. Wendy Thomas responds that the City is selling the whole piece of property. Mr. Lewendal questions if there are county land holdings within City limits that the county would like to sell or contribute. Mr. Lameres states that there is land that is county owned, but we would need to discuss that with the county. 09:15:46 AM Kevin Thane appreciates Ms. Pomeroy taking the idea to the Commission and states that it is #12 on the list, and that the board can still move forward as a group to explore the properties on the map. Mr. Thane presents examples and ideas on how to explore whether pieces of property are available for affordable housing. Wendy Thomas agrees that allowing the board to look through the map and visit the sites is the best way to move forward. If the board selects a top 5 for sites we would like to explore, she would explore their availability. She does not suggest the board contact various City departments and ask for them to give the land for affordable housing. 09:20:53 AM Hattie Baker states that she would support doing what Kevin Thane recommended and reaching out to private owners to see if they would like to donate or get tax incentives for giving up their land for affordable housing. 3. 09:22:40 AM Land donation to meet goals for affordable housing creation Ms. Thomas states that land donation is an option under the mandatory program, not the voluntary program. Mr. Lewendal questions if someone donated land and Habitat for Humanity built 10 homes if that would count. Ms. Thomas states that yes – the built units would count. Not just the land. 09:25:36 AM Lucy Pope with the Alliance for Building Communities begins public comment. She states that her goals would be entirely different from what the board is discussing. She states that she is looking beyond just home developers. She thinks that she is more interested in commercial developer donating land. She feels this would remove some of the burden from organizations like HRDC, etc. 09:27:38 AM Kevin Thane states that when individuals are meeting with Economic Development and are interested in developing in the City, there should be an opportunity for them to contribute to affordable housing. He questions how we can get involved with that discussion. 09:30:02 AM FYI items – Ms. Thomas states that the architect from Stoneridge will be coming in to talk about how building “green” allowed the project to work. 09:30:34 AM FYI Item – Ms. Thomas states that she has been having a discussion with Architects at MSU to create a program to help create green affordable housing. 09:32:12 AM FYI Item – Kevin Thane states that he presented our proposal for changes in the qualified allocation plan to Montana Board of Housing and our proposals have been heard and is having some effect. 09:33:07 AM FYI Item – David Magestrelli states that Habitat for Humanity is completing a project and they are interested in having individuals come out to see the project. G. 09:33:44 AM Adjournment For more information please contact Alicia Kennedy at akennedy@bozeman.net This board generally meets the second Wednesday of the month at 8:00am Committee meetings are open to all members of the public. 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