Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-11-14 Community Affordable Housing Advisory Board MinutesCity of Bozeman Community Affordable Housing Advisory Board (CAHAB) June 11, 2014 8:00 – 9:00 am City Commission Room, City Hall Attending:      Brian LaMeres, Mary Martin, Anders Lewendal, Melvin Howe, SharlaRae Stuber, Dave Magistrelli, Commissioner Carson Taylor Absent: Ann Kesting, Kris Keller, Staff: Tracy Menuez, HRDC; Wendy Thomas, Community Development Director Public: Jeff Rupp, President/CEO HRDC; Marie Lowe, Community member The meeting was called to order at 8:00 am by Chair Brian LaMeres. Changes to Agenda: None Approval of Minutes from 5-14-14 Tracy directed the board to suggested amendments submitted by Kris Keller. Melvin Howe moved to approve the amended minutes from 5-14-14; Dave Magistrelli provided the second. Motion was approved unanimously. Public Comment: None Action Items FY15 Affordable Housing fund budget recommendations to City Commission Tracy Menuez reviewed updates to the presentation made from the previous meeting, specifically changes to the FY15 budget outlook (attached). The FY15 budget has been re-organized to reflect items in the proposed budget, items already approved by the commission, and anticipated requests. This was done to provide the board with a clearer picture of likely expenditures from the fund. In proposed budget: $40,000 request from Road to Home for support of Homeownership Center (CAHAB recommended approval to commission at May 2014 meeting) $14,400 Contract with HRDC for administration of affordable housing programs $50,000 for WFH ordinance evaluation Not included in budget but approved by commission Up to $160,000 for down-payment assistance for households earning less than 60% AMI at West Edge Phase 3 Not included in budget, not yet requested, but anticipated (FYI only) Summit Housing LIHTC ~$24,000 Brian LaMeres noted that the $14,400 paid to HRDC for affordable housing programs’ administration usually comes out of the repayment of Community Development Block Grant loans, however; this fund will not support that contract in FY15. Should the board make a recommendation as to what fund the commission should use for the proposed expenditures? Carson Taylor asked that the board provide the commission with insight regarding the needs, what activities to fund, and potential funding sources. Brian LaMeres asked what the mayor meant when he said that when looking to cut the budget that housing comes to mind, particularly as this seemed different than his comments in earlier discussions. Wendy Thomas provided clarification: in the budget there were two separate housing sections, however; one of these items was a residential infill project funded via certificate of appropriateness applications outside of the general fund. Carson Taylor cautioned the board to not be guided by what any individual commissioner would do, rather, provide your counsel to the commissioners as an advisory board. Anders Lewendal asked for clarification of the Workforce Housing ordinance evaluation line item. Wendy Thomas replied that they would use those funds to hire a qualified consultant to review our current ordinance and market conditions and, using the public process, make recommendations to our community to meet our affordable housing needs. Anders replied that before we spend money to evaluate an ordinance, we should study other communities and determine if an ordinance is right for Bozeman. Wendy replied that is what the consultant does, however; they have the advantage of already being an expert in their field. Mary Martin commented that she did not believe that she had the expertise to determine if the ordinance was right for Bozeman or not. Melvin Howe asked if this was something that could be done within the planning department. Wendy replied that it was not, as they are already relying on consultants to meet the current workload, and they do not have the specific expertise necessary on staff. Since this is a very specific type of task, she would prefer to hire an expert that would have a knowledge base in this area. Dave Magistrelli added that bringing in a new employee to do this work would have a long learning curve, overhead, and the question of how to fund them in future years. Brian LaMeres asked about the scope of the previous housing study, and how this was different. Tracy Menuez reviewed the scope of the 2012 study, which was to update the City’s Affordable Housing Needs Assessment and create a Five-year Affordable Housing Plan. As part of that study, the consultant recommended criteria for market conditions to be met prior to reinstatement of the ordinance and guidance for what should be achieved through any amendments made. The scope of the study did not include a rewrite of the ordinance. Tracy reminded the board that the market conditions benchmarks have been exceeded. When the board met with the commission in January, it was expected that these benchmarks would be met, and with the knowledge that the WFH ordinance would be under review again in December 2014 the commission noted a desire to review this issue in October 2014. Wendy Thomas added that she made this request part of the budget so funds would be available for this when needed; if the board does their own research and decides that this does not need to move forward we have that ability. Anders Lewendal asked if the proposed consultant will review other methods of providing affordable housing, or are they just going to be an inclusionary zoning (IZ) expert that will naturally only recommend (IZ). He added that as an advisory board we should determine if this is a good idea for Bozeman. Brian LaMeres added that if IZ was determined to not be a good fit for our community, he would want to know what alternatives exist, but his first question would be if an IZ ordinance is appropriate for our community. Wendy Thomas replied that we will seek an expert in affordable housing, not just an inclusionary zoning expert, and if they come back with the recommendation that IZ is not an appropriate mechanism in our community the commission should expect a recommendation from the CAHAB to permanently remove our WFH ordinance. If, with public input, the consultant finds that an ordinance is appropriate, then they will recommend changes. Chair LaMeres requested any public comment. Marie Wolf commented that she has worked with several communities in Wyoming on these types of issues. The consultant will come, review what is present, talk with key stakeholders, research similar communities, and provide a list of alternatives. Essentially, the consultant will use public input to provide a menu of options for our community to explore. Jeff Rupp, President/CEO of HRDC commented that HRDC is partnering with Summit Housing in their application for Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) again, and will be submitting an application for the impact fee reimbursement as in the previous year. He commented that there were 16 letters of intent submitted to the Montana Department of Commerce for this year’s LIHTC round, with 2 projects coming from Bozeman and small projects in Belgrade and Manhattan. He asked that the CAHAB be supportive of the project this year, as he believes that this project is likely to be funded this year after being passed over last year despite a perfect score. He thanked the board for including the proposed impact fee reimbursement amount in their FY15 budget discussions. Public comment was closed. Brian LaMeres asked Tracy Menuez if a memo of CAHAB’s recommendations would be submitted to the commission; Tracy replied she would complete the memo and submit it to the Clerk’s office. Mary Martin moved to recommend approximately $290,000 in FY15 expenditures to the commission, including: $40,000 request from Road to Home for support of Homeownership Center $14,400 Contract with HRDC for administration of affordable housing programs $50,000 for workforce housing ordinance evaluation Up to $160,000 for down-payment assistance for households earning less than 60% AMI at West Edge Phase 3 (previously approved by Commission) Approximately $25,000 for impact fee support for LIHTC development Dave Magistrelli provided a second to the motion. Anders Lewendal commented that his studies show that the workforce housing ordinance is not effective or equitable, and he will be voting no if the budget includes evaluation of the ordinance. Dave Magistrelli asked Anders if he thinks the board has the expertise to make this determination. Anders replied no, but his research shows it’s a bad idea. Mary Martin commented that until we have an evaluation of that question, we can’t answer it. Anders replied that the funds should be spent evaluating options aside from IZ. Mary responded that they study will include other options. Mary asked how that line item could be represented in a way to garner Ander’s agreement. Anders replied that the board could move forward without his approval. Melvin Howe commented that just because this item is included in the budget does not mean that CAHAB does not have the opportunity to weigh in on the process as it develops. Dave signaled that he agreed; if the board decides to abandon WFH totally in the future they can, but funds to study that decision should be allocated, and CAHAB should be involved in laying out how the process will look. Anders responded that he is fine with studying workforce housing in general as an option, as long as it is studied in addition to other options, and before any recommendations are made on our current WFH ordinance the question of whether or not it is helpful should be answered. Brian agreed that the first step should be determining whether or not we need an ordinance at all, but that it should be studied to make that determination. Carson Taylor noted that he thinks it is clear what the board wants, and the intent of the discussion. He asks that the board have faith that he can convey these thoughts to the commission. His interpretation is that, aside from the WFH line item, the board agrees on remaining items, and the only reason approval is not unanimous is that a board member wishs to have a bigger discussion regarding the need and equity of a WFH ordinance before an RFP is issued. Anders Lewendal agreed that this was his intent. Mary Martin moved to amend the motion to strike “workforce housing ordinance evaluation” and replace it with “evaluation of affordable housing incentives programs”. Dave Magistrelli seconded the amendment. Tracy Menuez instructed the board to vote on the amendment first, then the motion. Brian LaMeres noted that he was not comfortable changing the language to strike out reference to the ordinance. Mary Martin called the question. Votes on the amendment were taken, with 4 in favor of amendment and 2 against (Brian LaMeres and Anders Lewendal). Motion to amend the main motion carried. Mary Martin called for the question on the main motion, which now reads: To recommend approximately $290,000 in FY15 expenditures to the commission, including: $40,000 request from Road to Home for support of Homeownership Center $14,400 Contract with HRDC for administration of affordable housing programs $50,000 for evaluation of affordable housing incentives programs Up to $160,000 for down-payment assistance for households earning less than 60% AMI at West Edge Phase 3 (previously approved by Commission) Approximately $25,000 for impact fee support for LIHTC development The motion was passed unanimously. Carson Taylor thanked the board for their hard work on this item. Non-Action Items - None FYI/Discussion Tracy discussed the letters of intent (LOI) submitted to the Montana Department of Commerce for the Low income Housing Tax Credit program. As mentioned by Jeff Rupp, there are two Bozeman projects and a smaller project in both Belgrade and Manhattan. Summit Housing has indicated that they will request impact fee assistance in the same manner as last year, that request is expected in the coming month. Adjourn – Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 am with a motion by Melvin Howe.