REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL
May 2, 2019
FROM: JENNIFER CLARK, Director
Development and Resource Management
THROUGH: KELLI FURTADO, Assistant Director
Development and Resource Management
KAREN JENKS, Administrative Manager
Housing and Community Development Division
THOMAS MORGAN, Housing Manager
Housing and Community Development Division
BY: ALDI DODDS, Senior Management Analyst
Housing and Community Development Division
SUBJECT
Title
***RESOLUTION - Adopting the City of Fresno’s (City) 2019-2020 Annual Action Plan; approving submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for application of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Home Investment Partnerships (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons With Aids/HIV (HOPWA) Program Funds; and providing for subrecipient agreements. (Subject to Mayor’s veto)
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends the City Council adopt the FY20 Action Plan, and authorize the City Manager to sign all implementing documents and subrecipient agreements required by HUD as approved to form by the City Attorney.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
City staff initiated a comprehensive citizen engagement and action planning process beginning in January 2019 to allow the City to meet its May 15, 2019, HUD submission deadline for the FY20 Action Plan. Once adopted by Council, the FY20 Action Plan will be submitted to HUD for approval which may take up to forty-five days to be reviewed.
BACKGROUND
In order to qualify for and receive federal grant funding through HUD, the City is required to prepare an Annual Action Plan detailing the housing, community, and economic development activities proposed for funding through the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS/HIV (HOPWA), Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) Programs, and the benefits to low- and moderate- income persons. The development of the Annual Action Plan occurs through a needs hearing, citizen participation process, application period, and a program budgeting process.
The FY20 Action Plan covers the period from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020, and is the fifth and final year of the current Five-Year Consolidated Plan. The FY20 Action Plan has been prepared to meet HUD’s grant funding requirements and provides details on the City’s proposed use of ESG, HOPWA, CDBG, and HOME Programs.
City staff committed to the timely submission of the FY20 Action Plan, and began a comprehensive citizen engagement action planning process in January 2019 to allow the City to meet the statutory May 15, 2019, deadline for submitting the FY20 Action Plan to HUD for approval. The HCDC conducted a public needs hearing on January 9, 2019, and a subrecipient funding application presentation and funding recommendation meeting on March 13, 2019. At the March 13, 2019, meeting, the HCDC provided funding recommendations for the ESG, HOPWA, and CDBG Programs. The City subsequently published the Draft FY20 Action Plan for public review from March 22, 2019, through April 22, 2019. Public comments may be found in the FY20 Action Plan Appendix A: Summary of Public Comments Received and City Response. At the time of drafting the staff report, the 30-Day Public Review and Comment Period had not concluded, and the April 25, 2019, Council Public Hearing had not occurred. A summary of comments received by the City through the April 25, 2019, Council public hearing will be considered and included in the final FY20 Action Plan submitted to HUD. A summary of the City’s sources and uses for the entitlement funds is presented in AP-15 Expected Resources AP-35 Projects and AP-38.
Citizen Participation
City staff began preparation of the FY20 Action Plan in December 2018 through a public notice of the entitlement funding, and a Public Needs Hearing on housing and community development needs held on January 9, 2019. On April 10, 2019, HCDC held a public hearing regarding the proposed activities of the FY20 Action Plan. The April 25, 2019, City Council public hearing represented the second public hearing on the FY20 Action Plan.
The table below summarizes the citizen participation component of the planning process. It is important to note the City provided notices and used various means of communication in multiple languages to notify citizens of the public participation process.
|
Citizen Participation |
Date |
|
Public Notice initiating the Annual Action Plan process in the Fresno Bee and Vida en el Valle |
Dec. 9, 2018 (Bee) Dec. 12, 2018 (Hmong radio) Dec. 19, 2018 (Vida) |
|
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. 12, 2018 |
|
1st Action Plan Community Workshop - Boys and Girls Club |
Jan.3, 2019 |
|
2nd Action Plan Community Workshop - Paraclete Missionary Baptist Church |
Jan. 7, 2019 |
|
Public Needs Hearing: Community Development Needs held at Housing and Community Development Commission Meeting |
Jan. 9, 2019 |
|
NOFA outreach included: community centers, public libraries, e-mail distribution list of 500+ addresses, web posting, |
Jan. 18, 2019 |
|
HCDC Meeting on Applicant Presentations and Funding Recommendations |
March 13, 2019 |
|
Notice of Draft Fiscal Year 2019-20120 Annual Action Plan, Public Comment Period, and HCDC and City Council Public Hearings |
Mar. 17, 2019 (Bee) Mar. 20, 2019 (Vida) Mar. 20-22, 2019 (Hmong radio) |
|
Draft FY20 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. 22, 2019 |
|
Draft Action Plan Public Comment Period Ends |
April 22, 2019 |
|
HCDC Meeting - Public Hearing on Draft Annual Action Plan |
April 10, 2019 |
|
HUD Published Allocations |
April 15, 2019 |
|
City Council - Public Hearing on Draft Annual Action Plan |
April 25, 2019 |
|
City Council - Adoption of FY20 Annual Action Plan |
May 2, 2019 |
|
Adopted FY20 Annual Action Plan due to HUD |
May 15, 2019 |
FY 2019-2020 Entitlement Program Allocation
|
FISCAL YEAR ALLOCATIONS |
CDBG |
HOME |
HOPWA |
ESG |
TOTAL |
|
2019-2020 Allocation (Published by HUD 4/15/19) |
$6,942,458 |
$3,037,353 |
$564,747 |
$585,863 |
$11,130,421 |
|
2018-2019 Allocation |
$6,904,510 |
$3,180,063 |
$499,903 |
$578,163 |
$11,162,639 |
|
DIFFERENCE |
$37,948 |
-$142,710 |
$64,844 |
$7,700 |
-$32,218 |
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 FY20 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 FY20 Action Plan also incorporates funding 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 to be funded can be found in the attached FY20 Action Plan under AP-38, Project Summary.
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 FY20 Action Plan will allow the City to receive approximately $11.1 million of new entitlement funding.
Attachments:
A - FY20 Annual Action Plan
B - PowerPoint Presentation
C - Resolution
D - Map
E - Subrecipient Agreements