REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
June 23, 2015
FROM: JENNIFER CLARK, Director
Development and Resource Management
BY: JOSE TRUJILLO, Housing Manager
Development and Resource Management
SUBJECT
Title
Actions pertaining to the City of Fresno 2015-2016 Annual Action Plan:
1. CONTINUED HEARING to obtain public comments regarding implementation of the City’s proposed activities with federal grant funding (The public portion of the hearing was closed on June 11, 2015)
2. RESOLUTION - Adopting the FY 2015-2016 Annual Action Plan approving submission to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the application of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with Aids (HOPWA) Program Funds, and authorizing the City Manager to sign all implementing documents required by HUD as approved to form by the City Attorney
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends the Fresno City Council obtain the views and comments from interested persons regarding implementation of the City’s proposed activities with federal grant funding; adopt the FY 2015-2016 Annual Action Plan; and authorize the City Manager to sign all implementing documents required by HUD as approved to form by the City Attorney.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 2015-2016 Annual Action Plan has been prepared to meet the grant funding requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Annual Action Plan details the City’s proposed use of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Home Investment Partnerships (HOME), Emergency Solution Grant (ESG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program funds.
BACKGROUND
To receive federal grant funding through HUD, the City is required to prepare an action plan detailing the housing, community, and economic development activities proposed for funding through the CDBG, HOME, ESG, and HOPWA programs. Development of the federal report occurs through a needs hearing, a citizen participation process, a CDBG application period, and a program budgeting process.
Citizen participation
City staff began preparation of the FY 2015-2016 Annual Action Plan through a public notice of the entitlement funding anticipated to be received by the City and a Public Hearing on housing and community development needs held on March 18, 2015.
The next step in the annual action planning process was to conduct a public hearing on the Draft 2015-2016 Annual Action Plan and provide a recommendation to the City Council. The table below summarizes the citizen participation component of the annual action planning process.
|
Citizen Participation |
Date |
|
Public Notice on Funds Available |
February 23, 2015 |
|
Letters sent to Interested Persons |
February 26, 2015 |
|
CDBG Applications Available |
March 16 - April 6, 2015 |
|
Needs Public Hearing |
March 18, 2015 |
|
CDBG One-on-One Technical Assistance Meetings |
March 16 - April 6, 2015 |
|
Public Notice on Draft FY 2015/16 Annual Action Plan |
May 5, 2015 |
|
HCDC Public Hearing on Draft Annual Action Plan |
May 27, 2015 |
|
HCDC Continued Special Meeting |
June 2, 2015 |
|
City Council Public Hearing and Adoption of Annual Action Plan |
June 11, 2015 |
The City’s Housing and Community Development Commission (HCDC) conducted a public hearing on May 27, 2015, on the draft Annual Action Plan; there were four (4) individuals who gave input during the hearing. The HCDC closed the public hearing and continued action on the item to June 2, 2015. Three written comments were received. The written comments and a summary of the verbal comments can be found in Attachment 3.
A Special Meeting was held on June 2, 2015, at which time HCDC made a unanimous recommendation to approve staff’s amended recommendations which can be found in Attachment 4.
FY 2015-2016 Entitlement Program Funding
The City anticipates receiving $8.8 million of federal funds during the upcoming program year. Entitlement grants have seen a decline from previous years and as such the limited resources are prioritized to meet the greatest need. The City anticipates an additional $0.48 million in Program Income and $4.08 million in programmatic carryover. Carryover includes programs that are multi-year in nature such as planning activities, infrastructure improvements and rehabilitation programs that generally take more than one year to complete.
The City of Fresno Housing Division has analyzed the hurdles that have caused delays in rehabilitation programs over the last two years. As a result, program guidelines and procedures are being updated to increase opportunities for participation and to expedite applications. Examples of some of the areas identified for improvement include:
• Removing additional cost burden barriers by offering services as grants rather than loans;
• Expanding the targeted area to all qualified recipients;
• Actively increasing capacity in neighborhoods through education and information regarding the available programs;
• Increase outreach to include additional advertising, web site identification, community meeting participation by housing staff, walking the neighborhoods, and partnering with other service providers to help get the word out; and
• Updating procurement procedures to make it more attractive to small contractors from the impacted neighborhoods to participate. This includes reducing insurance/bonding levels and maintaining an open list of qualifying contractors
The updated policy, procedures, and guidelines are scheduled to come back to the City Council for approval within the next 60 days. An implementation plan is running on a parallel path so the program can take advantage of streamlining as soon as the policies are approved.
The detailed budget for all entitlement programs is located in Attachment 2. The HOPWA Program will be implemented by the City of Fresno beginning July 1, 2015. Individual programming and activities for the ESG and HOPWA Program are not detailed in the report as separate funding opportunities will be made available during the program year. Both the ESG and HOPWA funding will be distributed through a NOFA process that will begin in early summer. As funding decisions are proposed, each item will return to HCDC for recommendation and Council for adoption.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This is not a project for purposes of CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference is not applicable because of the use of federal funding.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund. Adoption of the FY 2015-2016 Annual Action Plan will allow the City to receive the $8.8 million of entitlement funding to carry out activities identified in the Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Proposed City Budget.
Attachments: Resolution
Entitlement Budget
Public Comment Draft 2015-16 Annual Action Plan
Summary and Response to Public Comment
Public Comment
Redline Draft 2015-16 Annual Action Plan