08-21-17 Personnel and Finance (#2)

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across the street from the park as opposed to inside the park. We have also made some progress on the homelessness issue. Our team was also involved in finding the weather amnesty shelter. The Development front continues to fire on all cylinders. The openings of LaSalle, JMS and Martin's were this year. Eddy Street Phase Two (2) is already up and running now that they got their bond financing. Similarly, Berlin Place is up and running and they are expected to be done either the first or second quarter of 2018. The Studebaker Fagade Bond was approved in June and they are on track to close on that sometime in September. The Newman Center is also getting close as well as East Bank Phase Five (5). Portage Prairie has a lot of action and traffic coming online because of that. We have projects on the horizon that have agreements that we have since announced. The primary projects to keep an eye on are the Commerce Center that the Council is aware of,the WARF Site and the South Bend Chocolate Factory. We also have a pending agreement for the VA which is proposed office space on Western Avenue with storage space on the back of that facility. He then showed a map of all the development projects from 2016- rp esent. He continued, On the Workforce Development side,we launched the Pathways Program in 2015-2016. That is an outreach recruitment program that goes out and gets residents who are not actively in the workforce. We have a consultant that goes out and does the engagement and marketing and the training themself. Over one hundred (100)people in South Bend were trained in many different areas and fields. Roughly half of them are in the certified nursing assistant track and then the balance is in the other areas. We are undergoing a full audit of the program to figure out how to capitalize on this opportunity and make it more productive. We want to make sure these individuals are not only tied to high growth career tracks but tied to actual jobs,too. We are working with employers in the area to figure out what their needs are. Quite honestly, with the low unemployment rate, one (1) of the biggest barriers to development that we are hearing from companies is that they can't find qualified workers. So this is a big area that can have a real impact. Our programmatic and Civil City budget summarizes the COIT and EDIT Funds. We have $1.3 million for our Neighborhood Development Program, which is a combination of new construction and rehabilitation. This is consistent with Councilmember Williams-Preston's one hundred(100)homes initiative. We are trying to figure out what to do with vacant lots. There are many things yet to be carved out with that program but we wanted to make sure that we, at the very least,have the initial allocation in the upcoming budget. We have kept$100,000 for the vacant and abandoned programs. We are also looking to receive the fagade program grant which is the fifty-fifty(50-50)matching program. We think that will have a good impact on our corridors. We are also looking at other areas that may need a similar incentive to get the corridors more vibrant. Some have heard of the plan to look at the zoning reform. We have $425,000 dedicated to that initiative. We hope we don't have to use all of that. We have put in$255,000 for property acquisition at the tax commissioner sale. This is about fifty percent (50%)more than we have in the past. We are looking to get the properties we strategically need to move forward with some of our economic development initiatives. One (1) of the hardest things we face as a City is getting our hands on property. We have to go through a lengthy tax- sale process and it is difficult. There is also $180,000 allocated for Transportation Projects. That money accounts for bus shelters, bike infrastructure and outreach. There is $50,000 allocated, excluding TIF Funds, for the implementation of the City Cemetery plan. 5