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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.21.25 HCDC PacketIf you will need disability-related accommodations to participate in this program or event, please contact Brianna Thul at bthul@iowa-city.org or 319-356-5240. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. Next Meeting: May 19, 2025 HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION (HCDC) April 21, 2025 Regular Meeting – 6:30 PM Emma J. Harvat Hall 410 E Washington Street (City Hall) AGENDA: 1.Call to Order 2.Consideration of Meeting Minutes: March 24, 2025 3.Public Comment of Items not on the Agenda Commentators shall address the commission for no more than five minutes. Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with the public concerning said items. 4.Consider a Recommendation to Amend the HCDC By-Laws The Commission will consider a recommendation to City Council to amend the by-laws. The amendment includes reducing the size of the commission from nine to seven members and would also change the number of members required to form a quorum from five to four. If approved, the amendment will be reviewed by the City Council Rules Committee. 5.Consider a Recommendation to City Council to Discharge Commissioner According to the Commission’s by-laws, three consecutive, unexplained absences from regular meetings will result in a recommendation to the City Council from the Commission to discharge said member. The Commission will consider a recommendation to City Council to discharge Daouda Balde. 6.Staff & Commission Updates This item includes an opportunity for brief updates from staff and Commissioners. Commissioners shall not engage in discussion on updates. 7.Adjournment Housing and Community Development Commission Meeting Packet Contents April 21, 2025 Agenda Item #2 a) March 24, 2025 Draft HCDC Meeting Minutes Agenda Item #4 a) April 14, 2025 Staff Memo – Staggering Terms if HCDC is Decreased from 9 to 7 Members b) Draft Amendment to the By-Laws Agenda Item #6 a) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Promotional Flyer – National Community Development Week (April 21 – 25, 2025) b) HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME) Promotional Flyer – National Community Development Week (April 21 – 25, 2025) c) Recognition of Fair Housing Month (April) MINUTES DRAFT HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MARCH 24, 2025 – 6:30 PM FORMAL MEETING EMMA J. HARVAT HALL, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Horacio Borgen, Maryann Dennis, Amos Kiche, George Kivarkis, Kyle Vogel MEMBERS ABSENT: Daouda Balde, Karol Krotz STAFF PRESENT: Erika Kubly, Brianna Thul, Sam Turnbull OTHERS PRESENT: RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: By a vote of 5-0 the Commission recommends that City Council defer additional appointments to the Commission to allow time for the Commission to review an amendment to the by-laws. CALL MEETING TO ORDER: Vogel called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM. The Commission welcomed new member Kiche. CONSIDERATION OF MEETING MINUTES: OCTOBER 21, 2024: Dennis moved to approve the minutes of October 21, 2024. Kivarkis seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the minutes were approved 5-0. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR TOPICS NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. DISCUSS POTENTIAL AMENDMENT TO THE HCDC BY-LAWS TO REDUCE THE SIZE OF THE COMMISSION FROM NINE TO SEVEN MEMBERS: Vogel gave some background on this topic, obviously the Commission hasn’t been able to meet since October from a combination of having a vacancy on the Commission and members not being able to make scheduled meetings. Therefore, they have not been able to have a quorum. Vogel stated this became incredibly relevant when they had Aid to Agencies work that needed to be done and recommendations that needed to be made to Council, but since HCDC didn’t meet, they couldn't make those recommendations. One of the discussion items has been reducing the number of members from a nine member commission to a seven member commission, so that a quorum will be four members. Vogel noted they have been really successful in having four people be able to show up on a regular basis but since last October it's been hard to get more. Vogel introduced historic attendance data in the packet noting last year there was only one meeting where eight people out of nine were able to attend, and at that time they didn't have a ninth because there was a vacancy. Looking back to 2021 the average is six out nine members attending regular HCDC meetings. Agenda Item #2 Housing and Community Development Commission March 24, 2025 Page 2 of 5 2 Thul explained the process for the Commission to make an amendment to the bylaws. According to the by-laws, the Commission will need to discuss it at one meeting and then would vote on the amendment at the next meeting. If they were to vote in favor of the amendment, it would go to the City Council Rules Committee next. Ultimately City Council decides on the amendment. She explained that today would be a discussion and if the Commission wants to pursue the amendment, staff will add it on the next agenda. If the Commission is not interested in an amendment, it would not be added to the next agenda. Dennis stated with all the data that they have, it just makes sense to reduce the membership to seven. She noted while she is not privy to know if the Council is not getting applications or why the people who were appointed have not been able to attend. Maybe it’s because the amount of work the Commission is required to do, especially with Aid to Agencies, is huge. She stated the Director of Neighborhood and Development Services sent out letters about lack of attendance and at least one person resigned. Dennis stated it's not good that they haven't been able to meet since October and thinks it would be wise to amend the bylaws. Kivarkis agrees and noted they’ve delayed a couple of important votes because of it as well. He agreed it's been easy to get four people in the room, but harder to get any more. Making an amendment, or at least some temporary solution would help. Vogel asked when someone submits an application to serve on a commission, do they have a rank choice of which commission they're wanting to apply for or are they just applying to any commission and then they're appointed to one? Thul explained each commission has its own pool of applications, but the application lets someone select their top choice. Vogel asked if it's been an issue of people have just been getting their second choice and that’s why they aren’t attending? Thul would have to look into that specifically to get more information on that. Thul noted currently they have seven people appointed to a nine-person commission and City Council will be appointing two more people at an upcoming meeting. Thul explained that the Commission may recommend that Council defer appointments, but it would be up to City Council if they decide to defer or not. Additionally, there are three terms ending in June of this year. Borgen stated that if there are seven people currently appointed, he feels it would be a good time to do the amendment so there is no need to search for two additional people. Vogel thinks it would behoove them to ask City Council to hold off appointing any new members until the next meeting and until the Rules Committee has a chance to review. Thul noted the last time this was considered, there were some things that the City Attorney's Office had to look at as far as staggering the terms to make sure that they don't have too many terms ending at one time. Staff will need to review that to determine the process if the amendment moves forward. Kiche noted this problem seems like something that is related to the characteristic of the individuals appointed because probably four or five years ago, the problem might have not been there. So, in that case, it is not the problem of the numbers - it's the problem of the persons themselves. Ideally, they would hope that could be solved by adding new persons. He noted to reduce the number of members might introduce a new problem in terms of reducing diversity, skills, and other talents on the commission. Sometimes one additional person might add ideas or contribute something. Kivarkis agrees - while a quorum is important, are they disabling the ability to find more voices for the committee in general? With two more seats they get two valuable perspectives that show up to these meetings, which is more valuable than reducing the size of the committee. Vogel doesn’t disagree but what happens when it’s time for CDBG/HOME or Aid to Agencies and they can’t have a meeting? They haven't had a meeting since October, even after an extra meeting was added and they made it imperative to the current members that they needed people to show up. It was just the four of them for three months that would show up. He doesn’t disagree though and stated it's always nice Housing and Community Development Commission March 24, 2025 Page 3 of 5 3 to have a larger myriad of voices on any committee. The problem is there's no guarantee City Council can appoint two more people and that it won’t be the same situation they've already got, which is they don't show up. Then they’re still going through a process of two or three more months of not having meetings. Dennis stated in her experience with this Commission, there are several months when they have meetings and there's not a lot of what she would say is the most important work that this commission is assigned to do. They have some meetings with presentations, but there's also a few times a year where what they do is really important to Council, to the applicants, and to the community. That’s what has happened since October. They were not able to review and provide recommendations to Council about the Consolidated Plan, which is a hugely important piece of whether or not this community is going to receive federal money. Then also to have the agencies here in the room waiting to see a recommendation from the results of the work that they did to request funding and to be told, sorry you have to just go to Council because not enough HCDC members can be present. That leaves Council with more work because they're not getting the recommendations from HCDC. There are certain times of the year that these meetings are very important. Dennis stated in her experience, because she was on the other side of this table for many years as an applicant, and in almost 30 years she never experienced what happened in January where meetings are cancelled. She thinks they owe it to Council and the community to follow through on what they signed up to do. If there were seven members, Council can certainly appoint people that they think are capable and knowledgeable enough to do what this Commission is supposed to do. She is in support of trying to reduce the number. Dennis asked if there are other commissions on the City who have seven members. Thul doesn’t have the exact numbers for other commissions but believes Planning and Zoning has seven members. Vogel would also argue they've not had nine voices in nearly the whole time he’s been here. March of 2021 was last time they had nine people so even at the best, in the last four years, they've had eight and even with that eight, there's been a constant rotating door of one or two members. They get three or four months of activity and then nothing. Dennis noted there's also a learning curve for this Commission and that's why they have the staff. The staff are very helpful. If a member has questions, they can call the staff and they are willing to sit down with members and talk to them about the Commission’s function because there is a learning curve. It takes time to learn things. Kiche asked if staff is able to communicate with any habitual persons not attending. Obviously, somebody can be sick or have an emergency, but if there's a pattern that a staff member can see – is it violating anything to have staff have communication with that person? Thul confirmed that staff will reach out to people who don't show up to meetings repeatedly. There are also meeting days where staff are calling every member of the commission in the hours before the meeting to see if they have a quorum. As Dennis mentioned, the Director of Neighborhood and Development Services also sent a letter to several people who were missing meetings to acknowledge how important attendance is and to also note that if they couldn’t fulfill the attendance obligations, to maybe consider resigning from the Commission. Another thing staff has been working on is the scope and the level of work for this Commission. As Vogel noted for Aid to Agencies, staff do realize it can be an enormous amount of material. Staff are working on making things easier for Commissioners. Dennis moved to recommend that City Council defer additional appointments to the Commission to allow time for the Commission to review the amendment to the by-laws. Kiche seconded. A vote was taken, and the motion passed 5-0. STAFF & COMMISSION UPDATES: Turnbull gave an update related to Aid to Agencies. The Legacy Agencies submit quarterly reports in the United Way portal and she pulled the data from those reports and summarized it in a table. The table allows Commissioners to see what those agencies had set as their goals for the services for the current fiscal year and what they have achieved to date. The Non-Legacy Agencies submit a paper form twice a Housing and Community Development Commission March 24, 2025 Page 4 of 5 4 year and Turnbull summarized those data points in the table as well. Turnbull did this to provide more information to the Commission in a digestible way. She noted the agencies also submit narrative reports to the City. Kivarkis thanked Turnbull for the report. Thul stated that the only other thing in the packet was correspondence from Escucha Mi Voz. They were a recipient of Non-Legacy funds and provided an update to share with the Commission. Vogel asked if City Council voted on the Aid to Agencies recommendations for FY26 yet. Thul stated they have not, and that staff are in the process of preparing a third set of staff recommendations to share with City Council. Staff anticipate those being submitted to City Council in April. When they are included in the information packet, she will forward those to HCDC and to the applicants. ADJOURNMENT: Kivarkis moved to adjourn. Dennis seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed 5-0. Housing and Community Development Commission March 24, 2025 Page 5 of 5 5 Housing and Community Development Commission Attendance Record 2023-2025 Key: P = Present A = Absent *= Resigned -- = Vacant Name Terms Exp. 10/19 11/16 3/21 4/18 5/16 6/13 8/19 9/16 10/21 3/24 Balde, Daouda 6/30/27 -- -- -- -- -- -- A A P A Borgen, Horacio 6/30/25 -- -- A A P P P A A P Dennis, Maryann 6/30/25 P P P P P P P P P P Kiche, Amos 6/30/25 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- P Kivarkis, George 6/30/27 -- -- -- -- -- -- P P A P Krotz, Karol 6/30/27 P P A A P P A P P A Patel, Kiran 6/30/26 A P A A P P P P P * Pierce, James 6/30/26 P P A P P P A P A * Szecsei, Denise 6/30/25 -- P P P P A P A P * Vogel, Kyle 6/30/26 A P P P A A P P P P Agenda Item #4 BY-LAWS ARTICLE 1 THE COMMISSION Section A. The name of the Commission is the Housing and Community Development Commission of Iowa City, Iowa, as established by Resolution No. 95-199 of the City Council of Iowa City, Iowa, pursuant to Chapter 403A, Code of Iowa (1995). ARTICLE 2 PURPOSE Section A. The purpose of the Commission is to assess Iowa City's community development needs for housing, jobs, and services for low and moderate income residents, and to promote public and private efforts to meet such needs. ARTICLE 3 DUTIES Section A. Duties of the Commission shall include: 1) assess and review policies and planning documents related to the provision of housing, jobs, and services, for low and moderate income residents of Iowa City; 2) review policies and programs of the Public Iowa City Housing Authority and Community Development Division and make recommendations regarding the same to the City Council; 3) review and make recommendations to the City Council regarding the use of public funds to meet the needs of low and moderate income residents; 4) actively publicize community development and housing policies and programs, and seek public participation in assessing needs and identifying strategies to meet these needs; 5) recommend to the City Council from time to time amendments, supplements, changes, and modifications to the Iowa City Housing Code. ARTICLE 4 MEMBERSHIP Section A. The Housing and Community Development Commission shall consist of nine seven (97) members appointed by the City Council of Iowa City. All members shall be qualified electors of the City of Iowa City, Iowa, and shall serve as such without compensation but shall be entitled to the necessary expenses, including traveling expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties. Section B. In order to satisfy the purpose and intent of this commission, when possible, at least one person shall be appointed to the Housing and Community Development Commission with expertise in construction, at least one person with expertise in finance, at least one person with nonprofit management experience, and at least one person with property management experience. In addition, when possible, the Commission shall include one person who receives rental assistance. Appointments shall take into consideration persons of various racial, religious, cultural, social, and economic groups in the city. Section C. The term of office for each member shall be three (3) years except as set forth in Resolution No. 24-__ . In order to ensure a staggered turnover when transitioning from nine (9) members to seven (7) members in 2025., initial appointments shall be three (3) members for each of one, two, and three years respectively. Section D. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson will be elected annually (in July) from the Commission membership. The Chairperson shall, when present, preside at all meetings, appoint sub-committees with the approval of the Commission, call special meetings and in general perform all duties included in the office of a Chairperson and such other duties as may be prescribed by the members from time to time. The Vice-Chairperson shall take over the above duties of the Chairperson in the event of the Chairperson's absence. Agenda Item #4 Section E. Three (3) consecutive, unexplained absences of a member from regular meetings will result in a recommendation to the City Council from the Commission to discharge said member and appoint a new member. Section F. If a position becomes vacant by reason of resignation or otherwise and results in an unexpired term the Council may choose to fill the unexpired term in such a manner that the appointee shall continue in the position not only through the unexpired term but also through a subsequent regular term. ARTICLE 5 MEETINGS Section A. Meetings of this Commission shall be on a regular monthly basis. A meeting date and time will be established by the Commission. A regular meeting may be cancelled if no urgent business requires a meeting. Section B. Special meetings of the Commission may be called by the Chairperson and shall be called by the Chairperson at the request of a majority of the membership. Section C. Meetings shall be held in an accessible, public meeting place. Notices of meetings (agenda) for all regular and special meetings shall be posted and distributed to members and the media at least 24 hours before any meeting is held. All provisions of the State Open Meeting s Law shall be followed. The Chairperson or a designated representative, together with appropriate members of the City staff shall prepare an agenda for all meetings. Agendas shall be sent mailed or emailed to Commission members at least three (3) days prior to the regular meetings. Section D. A majority of the members of the Commission (five four or more) shall constitute a quorum of any meeting and the majority of votes cast at any meeting, at which a quorum is present, shall be decisive of any motion or election. Section E. There shall be no vote by proxy. Section F. Time shall be made available during all regular meetings for open public discussion. Section G. Minutes of all meetings shall be prepared and distributed to the City Council within three (3) weeks of the meeting in the manner prescribed by the Council. Minutes of all regular and special meetings will be mailed or emailed to all the Commission members during the week prior to the next meeting. Specific recommendations for the Council shall be set off from the main body of the minutes. ARTICLE 6 AMENDMENTS Section A. The By-Laws of the Commission shall be amended only with the approval of at least a majority of the Commission (at least five four votes) at a regular meeting or a special meeting. Section B. Policy changes or By-Law changes may be adopted at the meeting following the meeting at which open discussion was conducted on the specific changes. Approved in Resolution No. 25-__. CDBG in Action Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City has used Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for over 50 years to improve our local infrastructure, housing supply, parks and amenities, small businesses, and nonprofit services. Iowa City invests CDBG funds on high-impact projects. Affordable Housing Down payment assistance for first time homebuyers. Preservation of the existing housing stock through rehabilitation. Renovations for senior housing including accessibility improvements. Development of low-barrier shelters and housing. Post-disaster replacement housing. Economic Development Loans to grow small businesses and create jobs. Technical assistance for microenterprises. Grants for small businesses impacted by COVID-19. Infrastructure Neighborhood amenities including parks, trails, and sport facilities. Sidewalk and safety improvements. Public Facilities & Services Improvements to nonprofit facilities including neighborhood centers, child cares, medical facilities, food bank, and homeless shelter. Operational funding for shelters including those that serve victims of domestic violence. Successful CDBG Projects in Iowa City Cross Park Place Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County Iowa City Free Medical Clinic 24 Units of Permanent Supportive Housing $25,000 CDBG Construction for child care & neighborhood center $150,000 CDBG Acquisition & facility improvements $340,772 CDBG Owner-Occupied Housing Rehab Down Payment Assistance Shelter House Emergency Shelter Up to $25,000 in assistance for home repairs. $235,000 annually Up to $25,000 in assistance for new homeowners. $378,000 New construction of a 70-bed emergency shelter $541,228 We love our home and the improvements we’ve been able to make with your help have just been so great. Thank you! -Iowa City Housing Rehab Client CDBG Talking Points CDBG provides funding to meet community needs including infrastructure improvements, job creation, affordable housing, and more. Projects funded with CDBG served over 3,200 Iowa City residents in FY2024. Regular annual funding provides jobs for construction trades. CDBG housing rehab programs help build contractor capacity including lead and radon mitigation. Iowa City’s FY2024 CDBG award of $731,206 leveraged over $2.4 million in other funds. Private Sector Success with CDBG Two local businesses that received CDBG funds early on recently celebrated their 20th anniversaries in Iowa City. Oasis Falafel and DeLuxe Bakery both received Iowa City’s CDBG small business assistance and have had continued success in the community. Oasis Falafel DeLuxe Bakery CDBG for Disaster Recovery Iowa City received CDBG-DR funds to build 40 new single-family homes after the 2008 flood. As a longtime recipient of CDBG funds, Iowa City used its local capacity to respond after the worst flooding the Iowa River had seen in decades. Experienced city staff and local contractors were able to work quickly to buy out flood impacted properties and develop replacement housing using CDBG-DR funds. HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM The HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) is a federal program that provides grants to states and localities to create affordable housing for low- income individuals and families. HOME plays a vital role in expanding affordable housing in Iowa City. Rental NewConstruction Shelter House buildsnew affordable rentalunits that are leased aspermanent supportivehousing DownpaymentAssistance The City of Iowa Citypartners with Habitatand local banks toprovide affordablehomeownershipopportunities RentalAcquisition The Housing Fellowshipacquires property tolease as affordablehousing for incomeeligible tenants Housing Rehab The Housing Fellowshiprehabilitates existingunits to maintain theaffordable housingstock Iowa City, Iowa Before After Program Spotlight: Iowa City South District Program The South District Program is an effort by the City of Iowa City to encourage reinvestment in the South District area and to create affordable homeownership opportunities for current neighborhood residents. The City purchases and rehabilitates duplex units with local funds and sells the units for affordable homeownership with HOME downpayment assistance. Seven homes have been successfully sold through the program to buyers with income below 80% of Area Median Income. About $160,0000 of HOME has been provided for downpayment assistance to date through the South District Program. Before After $450,000 awarded in downpayment assistance to 21 homeowners below 80% of Area Median Income through partnerships with GreenState Credit Union, Hills Bank, and Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity since 2022. $300,000 invested in new construction of Shelter House’s 501 Project that provided 36 units of affordable rental housing with supportive services for people below 30% of Area Median Income that were formerly experiencing homelessness. Over $1 million invested in 8 affordable rental projects undertaken by a Community Housing Development Organization since 2021. For projects completed in the last two fiscal years, every $1 of City HOME funds leveraged $7 from other sources. HOME Highlights Testimonial from first buyer in the South District Program I’ve been worried for over a decade about my mother’s vulnerability to becoming homeless, physically struggling to maintain full time work to pay rent at age 79 and my inability to do anything to help her! I also feared being in the same situation myself as rent continues to increase faster than my SSDI income. I had no expectation of being able to purchase a home with an income of just $23,000 per year. My new housing cost has been reduced from $675 per month in rent to just $400 for the new mortgage and property tax. In addition, my mom now shares the home with me and doesn’t have to worry about any mortgage or rent, saving her $700 per month! This program has lifted that huge burden of work and worry from both of us!” 1 Brianna Thul From:City of Iowa City: Do Not Reply <CityofIowaCity@public.govdelivery.com> Sent:Tuesday, April 1, 2025 10:02 AM To:Brianna Thul Subject:Human Rights Commission recognizes National Fair Housing Month Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: 04/01/2025 Contact: Stefanie Bowers, Human Rights Coordinator Phone: 319-356-5022 Human Rights Commission recognizes National Fair Housing Month April is National Fair Housing Month and the City’s Human Rights Commission is recognizing the month in a variety of ways. 2 Utility bills will include an insert explaining fair housing rights. An instructional video that is eligible for certification of one hour of fair housing training is available 24/7 online. The Fair Housing Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 11, 1968, one week after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King had been in Memphis to support the sanitation workers strike when he was assassinated. The Iowa City Human Rights Ordinance has prohibited discrimination in housing since 1964. Equal opportunity for all - regardless of age, color, creed, disability, familial status, gender identity, marital status, national origin, presence or absence of dependents, public assistance source of income, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation - is a fundamental goal of the City. Equal access to housing is an important component of this goal - as fundamental as the right to equal education and employment. Ongoing education, outreach, and monitoring are key to raising awareness of fair housing principles, practices, rights and responsibilities. Only through continued cooperation, commitment, and support of all Iowa City residents can barriers to fair housing be removed. If you feel you have experienced discrimination in housing based on your age, color, creed, disability, gender identity, marital status, familial status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, presence or absence of dependents, or public assistance source of income, please call 319-356-5015 or email humanrights@iowa-city.org to learn more. Questions? Contact Us STAY CONNECTED: The linked image cannot be displayed . The file may have been mov ed, renamed, or SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: Manage Preferences | Unsubscribe | Help This email was sent to bthul@iowa-city.org using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: City of Iowa City ·410 E Washington Street · Iowa City, IA 52240