REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: JENNIFER CLARK, Director
Planning and Development Department
PHIL SKEI, Assistant Director
Planning and Development Department
BY: BRANDON SISK, Senior Management Analyst
Community Development Division
SUBJECT
Title
Approve a Consultant Services Agreement through July 31, 2025 in the amount of $144,337.50 with Mosaic Community Planning, LLC for consulting services for the 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development and the 2025 Analysis of Impediments.
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends the City Council approve a Consultant Services Agreement through July 31, 2025 in the amount of $144,337.50 with Mosaic Community Planning, LLC for consulting services for the 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan and the 2025 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City is tasked with creating a Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing every five years to continue receiving Federal entitlement funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Planning and Development (HUD CPD). The Agreement with Mosaic Community Planning, LLC enables the City to develop a community-driven, quantitative analysis of housing and community development needs which will guide Federal entitlement activities through June 2029.
BACKGROUND
The City receives annual allocations from HUD CPD through four grant programs: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS/HIV (HOPWA) Grant. As a recipient of these federal funds, the City is required by HUD CPD to complete a Consolidated Plan every five years that includes strategies and goals to help make investment decisions based on an analysis of the City’s housing market, affordable housing, and community development conditions. To address the priority needs and specific goals identified in the Consolidated Plan, activities are identified and carried out through five Annual Action Plans. The City is currently in its fifth and final year of the approved 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan (July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2025) and must develop a new Five-Year Consolidated Plan for the period July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2029.
Additionally, as a recipient of CDBG funds, the City is required to administer all programs and activities related to housing and community development in a manner that affirmatively furthers fair housing. As part of the Consolidated Plan, the City must complete an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (Analysis of Impediments) and take actions to overcome the effects of any impediments identified through that analysis. A consultant that specializes in developing the framework for a community-wide dialogue and in-depth data analysis to identify housing and community development needs, priorities, and impediments to fair housing is necessary to complete the Consolidated Plan (including the first-year Annual Action Plan) and Analysis of Impediments.
On May 15, 2023, the City released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for consultant services seeking organizations that have the experience and capacity to develop the City’s 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments. The RFP closed July 28, 2023, after receiving three proposals from organizations to create both the Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments, and a proposal from one organization to create only the Analysis of Impediments. After evaluating the proposals based on the criteria outlined in the RFP, the Department of Planning and Development recommends Mosaic Community Planning, LLC (Mosaic). Mosaic’s proposal demonstrated experience working with jurisdictions of similar size, a team of subject matter experts with years of experience, a detailed plan with clear roles and responsibilities, and a clear budget with delineated costs by project phase and project lead. Additionally, Mosaic's ability to extract actionable information from vast datasets empowers organizations to make informed funding decisions. Their analytical frameworks are robust and flexible, allowing for nuanced interpretations that cater to the unique needs of each project. .
The term of the agreement is May 1, 2024, through July 31, 2025. Over the term of the agreement, Mosaic will work with Staff to update the City’s Citizen Participation Plan as needed to comply with HUD CPD standards and to better align with the City’s outreach objectives. Additionally, Mosaic will engage in the following public outreach and data gathering:
• Facilitating up to eight (8) community needs assessment meetings to be held at day and evening times to be accessible to the general public;
• Facilitating up to four (4) resident focus groups through local social service organizations or housing providers targeted to key demographic segments relevant to the Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments;
• Up to twenty (20) individual interviews with housing and community development stakeholders, to be identified in cooperation with Staff;
• Pop-up engagement such as joining existing community events or conducting intercept interviews in busy community spaces to collect informal input from residents. Up to six (6) pop-up engagement activities will be conducted;
• Needs assessment survey for residents and other stakeholders, including non-profit organizations and community advocates. The multi-lingual survey will be available online and in hard copy in English, Spanish, Hmong, and Punjabi and publicized via email, social media, and local organizations;
• Development of a project website and/or of website copy to be placed on the City’s website and social media; and
• Holding one (1) priority-setting workshop during drafting of the Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments. This interactive, solution-focused workshop is intended to enlist attendees’ input in refining the set of draft Consolidated Plan priorities and consider goals and outcome measures that will be effective in gauging progress over the five-year plan period.
• Facilitating up to two (2) public hearings/presentations to members of the public, City Council, and/or other groups of stakeholders, including during plan preparation and for approval of the final plan.
To help the City set Consolidated Plan priorities, Mosaic will propose draft recommendations, based on the following:
• Key themes identified by residents and stakeholders during community meetings, focus groups, interviews, and the community survey;
• Analysis of Census, American Community Survey, Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS), and public housing authority data, and other pre-populated data provided by HUD;
• Analysis of point-in-time homeless counts and the existing supply of emergency, transitional, and permanent supportive housing;
• Consideration of data and objectives contained in the City’s Housing Element;
• Assessment of Fair Housing findings and comments; and
• Existing barriers to affordable housing
Mosaic will provide drafts of the complete Consolidated Plan and the first year’s Annual Action Plan to Staff for internal review and comment. With input from Staff, Mosaic will refine the drafts and prepare them for public comment. Upon finalizing a draft for public review and comment, Mosaic will initiate translations of the document into Spanish, Hmong, and Punjabi. Sixteen (16) bound hard copies and one (1) loose copy of the ADA-accessible English version will be provided to the City along with electronic formats in Word and PDF. Translations will be provided in electronic formats only.
Mosaic will make any necessary revisions to the Plans based on feedback from residents and Staff. Then, Mosaic will prepare final Word and PDF versions of each document for delivery to the City for final approval by the City Council. Mosaic will also prepare appendices including any relevant raw data, copies of flyers and other ads, survey results, and other relevant items. Finally, Mosaic will enter and submit the final approved plan through HUD’s reporting system.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This is not a project for purposes of CEQA pursuant to CEQA guidelines Section 15378. These plans, strategies and studies are an exempt activity under HUD NEPA Requirements (24 CFR 58.34 (1)).
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference is not applicable because of the use of federal funding.
FISCAL IMPACT
The agreement amount of $144,337.50 will be funded with FY 24 grant administrative funds.
Attachment: Agreement with Mosaic Community Planning, LLC