REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
September 20, 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
Actions pertaining to the Program Year 2017 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER):
1. HEARING to obtain public comments regarding the CAPER; and
2. Approve Program Year 2017 CAPER and authorize submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends the Fresno City Council obtain the views and comments from interested persons, approve the CAPER, and authorize submission to HUD.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The CAPER serves to meet the performance reporting requirements of HUD as set forth with the Consolidated Plan Regulations. The City reports on accomplishments and progress toward Consolidated Plan goals in the CAPER. On August 31, 2018, the Public Review Draft CAPER was made available for a fifteen day review period. HUD’s deadline for receipt of the CAPER is September 29, ninety days after the close of the City’s program year on June 30. This year’s CAPER describes the activities undertaken by the City of Fresno (City) with specific federal funds during Program Year (PY) 2017, beginning July 1, 2017, and ending June 30, 2018.
BACKGROUND
The City is an entitlement jurisdiction receiving annual federal funding from HUD. In accordance with federal regulations, each year, the City’s Department of Development and Resource Management’s Housing and Community Development Division produces a CAPER. The CAPER serves to meet the performance reporting requirements of HUD as set forth in the Consolidated Plan Regulations.
The CAPER describes activities undertaken by the City during PY 2017, beginning July 1, 2017, and ending June 30, 2018, using the following federal funds:
− Community Development Block Grant (CDBG),
− Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG),
− Home Investment Partnership (HOME), and
− Housing Opportunities for Persons With HIV/AIDS (HOPWA).
These grants fund community development efforts to improve housing, economic, and social conditions and opportunities for low-income and moderate-income residents of the City. The City funded and administered projects to address the four main goals of the 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan. Housing staff developed the CAPER based on information provided by project managers, subrecipients, and several additional Departments. The four main goals of the Consolidated Plan are summarized as follows:
Goal 1: Safe and Affordable Housing
The City continues to fund affordable housing projects to improve the quality of housing stock throughout the city, including rehabilitation, new development and paint programs.
Goal 2: Homeless Services
The City, in close coordination with the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care and its members, provided available Emergency Solutions Grant funding to local homeless service providers for street outreach, emergency shelter, homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing, and Homeless Management Information System management.
Goal 3: Community Services
The City administered Community Development Block Grant funds to support youth and senior programs offered through the PARCS Department. In addition, the City supported local non-profits.
Goal 4: Public Facilities and Public Improvements
The City administered funds to make necessary improvements to neighborhood streets and parks that serve predominantly low and moderate income areas.
The CAPER provides a more detailed list of activities undertaken in each of the above-mentioned categories.
City Council Public Hearing and Consideration: Approval of this agenda item by the City Council is not a HUD requirement, but is required as part of the City’s Citizen Participation Plan.
Public Outreach and Citizen Participation: On August 30, 2018, the City published a notice of the public review and comment opportunities in the daily circulation of the Fresno Bee. HUD requires that entitlement jurisdictions advertise notices in a daily newspaper in general circulation. In addition to the required publication, the City also conducted outreach through the bi-weekly publication of Vida en el valle on September 5, 2018, and the monthly publication of the California Advocate on September 12, 2018. Additional low and no-cost outreach efforts in multiple languages were also made by the City, as described below:
- Radio broadcast on KBIF AM 900, the Central Valley’s local Punjabi radio on Saturday and Sunday, and Hmong radio Monday through Friday
- Online at www.fresno.gov/housing <http://www.fresno.gov/housing>
- E-mail distribution to over 500 stakeholders, including residents, community based organizations, and both public and private agencies who were asked to consider sharing with their respective networks
- City Social Media (Twitter and Facebook)
- Hard Copies Available at
o Fresno City Hall Room 2133 City Clerk’s Office
o Fresno City Hall Room 3065 Housing and Community Development
o Fresno County Public Library Downtown Branch
o Neighborhood Community Centers
Public Comment and Public Review: The required fifteen day public comment period began on Friday, August 31, 2018, and ended on Monday, September 17, 2018. The City will continue to consider public comments during the September 20, 2018, public hearing. Written comments on the CAPER were to be mailed to: City of Fresno, DARM, Attention: Tom Morgan, 2600 Fresno Street, Room 3065 Fresno California, 93721 or by e-mail to Thomas.Morgan@fresno.gov <mailto:to%20Thomas.Morgan@fresno.gov>. Written comments were to be received no later than September 17, 2018, and will be included in the final CAPER submitted to HUD.
August 31, 2018, the public review draft CAPER was made available as follows:
o Online at www.fresno.gov/housing <http://www.fresno.gov/housing>
o Fresno City Hall Room 2133 City Clerk’s Office
o Fresno City Hall Room 3065 Housing and Community Development
o Fresno County Public Library Downtown Branch
o Neighborhood Community Centers
o E-mailed to City of Fresno elected officials for distribution among their respective networks
HCDC Workshop: The Housing and Community Development Commission (HCDC) held a noticed workshop to receive a CAPER briefing on September 12, 2018. No CAPER related public comments were received at the public meeting.
HUD Deadline: HUD’s deadline for receipt of the CAPER is September 29, which is ninety days after the close of the City’s program year on June 30. Once approved by the City Council, staff will begin the process of uploading the final CAPER into HUD’s Integrated Disbursement and Information System (IDIS) by no later than September 28, 2018. Council approval of the CAPER will allow sufficient time to incorporate and respond to additional public comments, and authorize staff to submit the CAPER to HUD by Friday, September 28, 2018, meeting the HUD deadline of September 29, 2018. This is a time sensitive item as staff has experienced significant IDIS technology delays in the past due to the system becoming overloaded as cities across the country are also uploading their CAPERs.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This is not a project for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to CEQA guidelines Section 15378.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference is not applicable to the CAPER.
FISCAL IMPACT
This agenda item does not request the use of funds. However, it is important the City continue to be responsive to HUD deadlines in order to not jeopardize the future use of CDBG, HOME, HOPWA, and ESG funding.
Attachment: 2017 CAPER Draft