REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL
May 10, 2018
FROM: JENNIFER CLARK, Director
Development and Resource Management
THROUGH: KELLI FURTADO, Assistant Director
Development and Resource Management
BY: THOMAS MORGAN, Housing Manager
Housing and Community Development Division
SUBJECT
Title
HEARING to obtain public comments regarding implementation of the City’s proposed activities with federal grant funding pertaining to the City of Fresno 2018-2019 Annual Action Plan
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends Council obtain the views and comments from interested persons regarding implementation of the City’s proposed activities with federal grant funding for the Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Annual Action Plan (FY19 Action Plan).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
City staff initiated a comprehensive citizen engagement and action planning process in January 2018 outlined in detail as part of the staff report on citizen engagement. The May 10, 2018, public hearing has been widely advertised and distributed to interested parties. The City Council will consider the final FY19 Action Plan after HUD has announced the City’s allocation, but no later than 60 days after the allocation has been announced or August 16, 2018, whichever comes first.
BACKGROUND
In order to qualify for and receive federal grant funding through HUD, the City is required to prepare a Consolidated Plan every five years, an Annual Action Plan detailing the housing, community, and economic development activities proposed for funding through the CDBG, HOME, ESG, and HOPWA programs, and a Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report capturing results each year. The development of the Annual Action Plan occurs through a needs hearing, a citizen participation process, an application period, and a program budgeting process.
The FY19 Action Plan covers the period from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019, and is the fourth year of the current Consolidated Plan. The Draft FY19 Action Plan was made available for public review from March 23, 2018 through April 23, 2018. A public hearing was properly advertised for May 10, 2018, to obtain the views and comments from interested persons. The Draft FY19 Action Plan has been prepared to meet the HUD grant funding requirements and provides details on the City’s proposed use of CDBG, HOME, ESG, and HOPWA Programs.
City staff has committed to the timely submission of the FY19 Action Plan, and began a comprehensive citizen engagement action planning process in January 2018 that would allow the City to meet the statutory May 15, 2018, deadline for submitting to HUD for approval. The City’s Housing and Community Development Commission (HCDC) conducted a public needs hearing on January 24, 2018, and a subrecipient funding application public hearing on March 14, 2018. Immediately following the March 14th public hearing, the HCDC scored and ranked subrecipient applications (attachment) and recommended CDBG, HOME tenant-based rental assistance program, ESG, HOPWA subrecipient funding awards and HOME affordable housing development and substantial rehabilitation allocations. The City subsequently published the Draft FY19 Action Plan for public review from March 23, 2018, through April 23, 2018. The HCDC conducted a Draft FY19 Action Plan public hearing on April 25, 2018, a verbal update will be provided by staff to the City Council on May 10, 2018. Public comments from all HCDC hearings may be found in the Draft FY19 Action Plan Appendix A: Summary of Public Comments Received and City Response. A summary of any and all comments from public hearings will be considered and included in the final FY19 Action Plan.
On March 23, 2018, the Federal Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus bill was signed into law, containing funding for HUD. HUD is allowed up to 60 days to release allocations to entitlement jurisdictions such as Fresno. At the time of publication of the Draft FY19 Action Plan and preparation of the May 10, 2018, City Council staff report, HUD had yet to finalize allocations for 2018-2019. As such, all of the funding amounts and allocations are considered estimates until the City receives notice from HUD on the final allocation. A summary of the City’s estimated sources and uses is presented on page 5 of the Draft FY19 Action Plan with more detailed information on estimated sources and expected uses in AP-15 Expected Resources (pages 21-24), AP-35 Projects (page 29) and AP-38 (pages 31-47). Per HUD guidance, the City published a draft plan with funding contingencies, discussed on pages 2 through 4 of the Draft FY19 Action Plan, in case the actual allocation is different than the estimated amounts. If the actual allocation is more than 10% less than the estimated amount, the City may hold additional public hearings and release an amended plan for additional public comment.
The City Council will consider the final FY19 Action Plan at a future meeting, no later than 60 days after the allocation has been announced or August 16, 2018, whichever comes first. The City will not submit a final plan to HUD until the actual allocations are announced.
Citizen Participation
City staff began preparation of the Draft FY19 Action Plan in December 2017 through a public notice of the entitlement funding, and a Public Needs Hearing on housing and community development needs held on January 24, 2018. On April 25, 2018, HCDC held a public hearing and made recommendations regarding the Draft FY19 Action Plan as discussed above. The May 10, 2018, City Council Public Hearing represents the second public hearing on the FY19 planning process.
The table below summarizes the citizen participation component of the planning process. It is important to note the City provided notices and various communication in multiple languages.
|
Citizen Participation |
Date |
|
Public Notice initiating the Annual Action Plan process in the Fresno Bee and Vida en el Valle |
Dec. 12, 2017 (Vida) Dec. 23, 2017 (Bee) |
|
Flyers developed in 3 languages and provided to community centers, public libraries, e-mail distribution list of 500+ addresses, web posting, FresGo, social media including Facebook and Twitter, and various radio stations. |
Dec. 22, 2017 - Jan. 24, 2018 |
|
1st Action Plan Community Workshop - West Fresno Family Resource Center |
Jan.9, 2018 |
|
2nd Action Plan Community Workshop - Pinedale Community Center |
Jan. 18, 2018 |
|
Public Needs Hearing: Community Development Needs held at Housing and Community Development Commission Meeting |
Jan. 24, 2018 |
|
NOFA outreach included: community centers, public libraries, e-mail distribution list of 500+ addresses, web posting, |
Feb. 14, 2018 |
|
Notice of HCDC Public Hearing and Scoring of CDBG applications; Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) published in the Fresno Bee (daily publication) and Vida en el Valle (weekly publication) |
Jan. 31, 2018 (Bee) Feb. 7, 2018 (Vida) |
|
HCDC Public Hearing and scoring of CDBG applications |
March 14, 2018 |
|
Notice of Draft Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Annual Action Plan, Public Comment Period, and HCDC and City Council Public Hearings |
Mar. 23, 2018 (Bee) Mar. 23, 2018 (KBIF) April. 4, 2018 (Vida) |
|
Draft FY19 Action Plan published - Minimum 30 day public review period began (outreach again included e-mail distribution, social media, FresGo, web posting, community centers, library, etc.) |
Mar. 23, 2018 |
|
Draft Action Plan Public Comment Period Ends |
April 23, 2018 |
|
HCDC Meeting - Public Hearing and Draft Action Plan |
April 25, 2018 |
|
City Council - Public Hearing |
May 10, 2018 |
|
City Council - FY19 Action Plan Consideration |
TBD |
FY 2018-2019 Entitlement Program Allocation
The City estimates that it will be allocated $9,638,303 for FY 2019. The estimated allocation is detailed below:
|
FISCAL YEAR ALLOCATIONS |
CDBG |
HOME |
HOPWA |
ESG |
TOTAL |
|
2018-2019 Estimated Allocation (Current Year) |
$6,422,423 |
$2,204,672 |
$441,305 |
$569,903 |
$9,638,303 |
|
2017-2018 Allocation (Prior Year) |
$6,422,423 |
$2,204,672 |
$441,305 |
$569,903 |
$9,638,303 |
|
DIFFERENCE |
$-0- |
$-0- |
$-0- |
$-0- |
$-0- |
Entitlement funds primarily address housing and community development needs of low-and moderate-income households, and as such the limited resources are prioritized to meet the greatest need. Activities that are multi-year in nature such as planning activities, infrastructure improvements and rehabilitation programs that generally take more than one year to complete may be carried over into the next fiscal year. It is important to note that for timeliness reasons, it is essential that projects utilizing entitlement funds be implemented efficiently and effectively.
The Draft FY19 Action Plan includes investments in capital projects such as street infrastructure, parks and community facilities as well as new investment in public services administered by local nonprofit agencies. The Draft FY19 Action Plan also incorporates recommendations of the HCDC, public input received at the January Public Needs Hearing, input received through various public hearings, Council Districts and the Mayor’s Office, as well as City staff related to capacity to implement proposed projects. A summary of the activities recommended for funding can be found in attached Draft FY19 Action Plan under AP-38, Project Summary, pages 31-47.
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
Adoption of the FY19 Action Plan will allow the City to receive approximately $9.6 million of new entitlement funding.
Attachments:
A - Draft Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Annual Action Plan
B - Public Comments
C - PowerPoint Presentation
D - HCDC Scoring Summary