07-28-03 Community Relations - Laserfiche WebLink

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(Committee deport (Community V.tiations (Committee The July 28, 2003 meeting of the Community Relations Committee was called to order by its Chairperson, Council Member Charlotte Pfeifer at 3:00 p.m. in the Council Informal Meeting Room. Persons in attendance included Council Members Aranowski,Kelly,Pfeifer, King, Varner, White, Kirsits and Kuspa; City Clerk Loretta Duda, Judy Roshek, Beth Leonard, Terry Bland of the *out)) sera' tribune and Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand. Council Member Pfeifer noted that the meeting was called to hear a presentation on the history and goals of the St. Joseph County Housing Consortium. Beth Leonard of Community and Economic Development made the presentation. She noted that the St. Joseph County Housing Consortium was established in 1991. It was established as a means to obtain HOME funds. The standards required a need of$ 500,000. In order to meet that standard South Bend entered into an interlocal agreement with Mishawaka and St. Joseph County. It needs to be re-authorized every three (3) years. In the last twelve (12) years, $ 12.5 million in HOME monies have been brought back to the communities, with $ 7 million of that amount coming to South Bend. Fifteen percent(15%) of the money is to be used for community housing development organization(CHDO) activities. Monies have been used for: mortgage subsidy programs through the Housing Assistance Program with examples of new construction being in Rum Village; HOME Allocations with is a part of the action plan; assisted South Bend Heritage; assistant the Near Northwest Neighborhood; assisted the Housing Development Corporation for rental housing in the Monroe Park area;and southeast housing programs. Ms. Leonard noted that requirements for HOME is different than CDBG with CDBG funding various public works projects and social service projects. HOME monies can only be used for affordable housing for low and moderate income individuals. She noted that HOME has a formula per unit with financing ranging from 5 to 40 years; whereas CDBG has inspections up front. HOME units are inspected annually or every other year for rental units. In response to a question from Council Member Pfeifer, it was noted that if a home is built it would not be regularly inspected after the initial inspection. Ms. Leonard stated that HUD requires a five (5) year Community Development Plan with the deadline being next June for 2005-2009. In 1999, for the 2000-2004 Community Development Plan they utilized three (3) committees which dealt with social services, homelessness and affordable housing. They developed broad strategies and goals and addressed issues and needs. Dr. Varner inquired about the results of the 1994 Community Development Plan. Ms. Leonard noted that it was a different plan and that much of it was bureaucratic paperwork. Council Member King noted that in 1999 he was a participant on the affordable housing committee and they began with a zero based approach and that it was non-bureaucratic. They developed a "comprehensive affordable housing strategy"(CAHS). Council Member Pfeifer inquired about whether the 2000-2004 goals were achieved with regard to