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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-IURAGOV-2023-01-27Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 1 of 15 108 E. Green St. Ithaca, NY 14850 (607) 274-6565 MEETING MINUTES ITHACA URBAN RENEWAL AGENCY GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE (GC) 8:30 A.M., Friday, January 27th, 2023 Common Council Chambers, Third Floor 108 E. Green St. (City Hall) Ithaca, NY 14850 Present: Kathy Schlather, Vice-Chairperson; Donna Fleming; David Whitmore; Susan Cummings Excused: None. Vacancy: 1 Staff: Nels Bohn; Charles Pyott Guests: None I. Call to Order Vice-Chairperson Schlather called the meeting to order at 8:36 A.M. II. Agenda Additions/Deletions Cummings noted she would like to discuss what she perceives as a potentially exclusionary income- verification process that Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. (INHS) employs for its first-time homebuyer program. No objections were raised. III. Verbal/Written Public Comments None. IV. Review of Meeting Minutes: October 25th, 2022 Whitmore moved, seconded by Schlather to approve the meeting minutes, with no modifications. Carried Unanimously: 4-0 V. New Business A. Procurement: Independent Contractor One-Year Renewals Bohn explained that all IURA independent services contracts will expire on February 28th. The IURA conducted a competitive selection process in 2022, so only contract renewals need to be executed this year and in 2023. Adopted:4/14/23 Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 2 of 15 1. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CONSULTING: H. Sicherman/The Harrison Studio Cummings moved, seconded by Whitmore: 2023 Procurement of Community Development Consulting Services — H. Sicherman/The Harrison Studio WHEREAS, the contract with H. Sicherman/The Harrison Studio (Sicherman) providing community development consulting services, including loan underwriting, expires on February 28, 2023, and WHEREAS, in accordance with IURA procurement policy and regulations contained in 2 CFR Part 200 for procurement of professional services, the IURA selected Sicherman through a Request for Proposals (RFP) selection process in 2021, and WHEREAS, whereas per applicable procurement regulations, a contractor selected through an initial competitive selection process may be renewed for up to two additional one-year terms without undertaking a new competitive selection process, and WHEREAS, a proposed 2023 contract would constitute the first one-year extension of the base independent consultant contract, and WHEREAS, Sicherman submitted a proposal to continue providing community development services to the IURA in 2023 at the following hourly rates: • $185/hour – Harry Sicherman • $145/hour – Michael Thomas (loan underwriting), and WHEREAS, the 2023 rates represent a 0% increase from the current contract rates, and WHEREAS, IURA staff is highly satisfied with the quality of services provided by Sicherman, and WHEREAS, the 2023 IURA budget authorized a total of $10,000 for community development and loan underwriting services, and WHEREAS, on January 27, 2023, the Governance Committee reviewed this matter and recommended the following action; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that IURA Chair is hereby authorized, upon review of IURA legal counsel, to execute a one-year contract extension for independent contractor legal services with H. Sicherman/The Harrison Studio, at a maximum hourly rate of $185 per hour with the total amount not to exceed $10,000, and be it further RESOLVED, that the source of such funds for community development consulting services shall be derived from a variety of funding sources, including, but not limited to, CDBG and HOME funds, and expenses shall be billed to the appropriate source of funds for which the services were performed. Carried Unanimously: 4-0 Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 3 of 15 2. LEGAL SERVICES: Mariette Geldenhuys, Attorney & Mediator Bohn explained the IURA has authorized up to $25,000 of contracted legal expenses. The IURA prefers to contract with multiple attorneys, due to their varying areas of expertise, availability, and potential conflicts of interest. IURA staff has been very happy with the work and responsiveness of its three attorneys. Cummings indicated, as she has expressed previously, she will be voting against the Geldenhuys resolution, because of her concerns with a couple of property-transfer transactions associated with prior projects (e.g., Cherry Street), which Geldenhuys was involved with. Bohn responded he does not believe the Cherry Street issue was the attorney’s fault, since it was the City that created the deed and was responsible for not extending the road to the property. Fleming asked to what extent the IURA employs City attorneys and whether IURA attorneys are required to be local. Bohn replied that historically the IURA has worked with City attorneys, but it tended to be a low priority for them. When the City of Ithaca became a HUD Entitlement Program community, the IURA began using HUD administration funds to procure professional services. The IURA does not contract with anyone non-local, partially because they may not necessarily have expertise with the area and they are also likelier to be more expensive. Whitmore moved, seconded by Fleming: 2023 Procurement of Independent Legal Services: M. Geldenhuys WHEREAS, the contract for independent legal services with Mariette Geldenhuys, Attorney-at-Law (Geldenhuys) expires on February 28, 2023, and WHEREAS, in accordance with IURA procurement policy and regulations contained in 2 CFR Part 200 for procurement of professional services, the IURA selected Geldenhuys through a Request for Proposals (RFP) selection process in 2021, and WHEREAS, per applicable procurement regulations, a contractor selected through an initial competitive selection process may be renewed for up to two additional one-year terms without undertaking a new competitive selection process, and WHEREAS, a proposed 2023 contract would constitute the first one-year extension of the base independent consultant contract, and WHEREAS, Geldenhuys submitted a proposal to continue providing legal services to the IURA in 2023 at a maximum billing rate of $245 per hour, a 2.1% increase from the current contract rate of $235 per hour, and WHEREAS, the IURA staff is highly satisfied with the quality of legal services provided by Geldenhuys, and Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 4 of 15 WHEREAS, the 2023 IURA budget recommended a total authorized contract amount of $25,000 for legal services; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that IURA Chair is hereby authorized, upon review of IURA legal counsel, to execute a one-year contract extension for independent contractor legal services with Mariette Geldenhuys, Attorney and Mediator, at a maximum hourly rate of $245 per hour with the total amount not to exceed $15,000, and be it further RESOLVED, that the source of such funds for legal services shall be derived from a variety of funding sources, including, but not limited to, CDBG and HOME funds, and expenses shall be billed to the appropriate source of funds for which the services were performed. Carried: 3-1 Opposed: Cummings 3. LEGAL SERVICES: Law Office of Sharon M. Sulimowicz Bohn explained Sulimowicz has worked on two Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects that were highly complex, involving numerous parties, over 4-6 week periods, with numerous documents to be reviewed, as well as a complicated contract and ownership structure. Whitmore moved, seconded by Fleming: 2023 Procurement of Independent Legal Services: S. Sulimowicz WHEREAS, the contract for independent legal services with the Law Offices of Sharon Sulimowicz (Sulimowicz) expires on February 28, 2023, and WHEREAS, in accordance with IURA procurement policy and regulations contained in 2 CFR Part 200 for procurement of professional services, the IURA selected Sulimowicz through a Request for Proposals (RFP) selection process in 2021, and WHEREAS, per applicable procurement regulations, a contractor selected through an initial competitive selection process may be renewed for up to two additional one-year terms without undertaking a new competitive selection process, and WHEREAS, a proposed 2023 contract would constitute the first one-year extension of the base independent consultant contract, and WHEREAS, Sulimowicz submitted a proposal to continue providing legal services to the IURA in 2023 at a maximum billing rate of $200 per hour, a 0% increase from the current contract rate, and WHEREAS, IURA staff is highly satisfied with the quality of legal services provided by Sulimowicz, and Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 5 of 15 WHEREAS, the 2023 IURA budget authorized a total of $25,000 for legal services; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that IURA Chair is hereby authorized, upon review of IURA legal counsel, to execute a one-year contract extension for independent contractor legal services with The Law Office of Sharon M. Sulimowicz, at a maximum hourly rate of $200 per hour with the total amount not to exceed $6,000, and be it further RESOLVED, that the source of such funds for legal services shall be derived from a variety of funding sources, including, but not limited to, CDBG and HOME funds, and expenses shall be billed to the appropriate source of funds for which the services were performed. Carried Unanimously: 4-0 4. LEGAL SERVICES: Krin Flaherty Attorney-at-Law Bohn explained Flaherty was the City’s Associate City Attorney for 10 years and frequently interacted with the IURA on a number of projects, so she has considerable experience with the type of work the IURA engages in. Fleming moved, seconded by Whitmore: 2023 Procurement of Independent Legal Services: K. Flaherty WHEREAS, the contract for independent legal services with Krin Flaherty (Flaherty) expires on February 28, 2023, and WHEREAS, in accordance with IURA procurement policy and regulations contained in 2 CFR Part 200 for procurement of professional services, the IURA selected Flaherty through a Request for Proposals (RFP) selection process in 2021, and WHEREAS, per applicable procurement regulations, a contractor selected through an initial competitive selection process may be renewed for up to two additional one-year terms without undertaking a new competitive selection process, and WHEREAS, a proposed 2023 contract would constitute the first one-year extension of the base independent consultant contract, and WHEREAS, Flaherty submitted a proposal to continue providing legal services to the IURA in 2023 at a maximum billing rate of $200 per hour, a 0% increase from the current contract rate, and WHEREAS, the IURA staff is highly satisfied with the quality of legal services provided by Flaherty, and Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 6 of 15 WHEREAS, the 2023 IURA budget authorized a total of $25,000 for legal services; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that IURA Chair is hereby authorized, upon review of IURA legal counsel, to execute a one-year contract extension for independent contractor legal services with Krin Flaherty, at a maximum hourly rate of $200 per hour with the total amount not to exceed $4,000, and be it further RESOLVED, that the source of such funds for legal services shall be derived from a variety of funding sources, including, but not limited to, CDBG and HOME funds, and expenses shall be billed to the appropriate source of funds for which the services were performed. Carried Unanimously: 4-0 B. Fifth Amendment to HUD Citizen Participation Plan (CPP) Bohn explained the proposed resolution involves two small amendments to the CPP, regarding HUD approval of Substantial Program Amendments to IURA Action Plans or Consolidated Plan, and the treatment of anonymous comments received. HUD requires grantees to adopt a citizen participation plan that sets forth the jurisdiction's policies and procedures for citizen participation. The Citizen Participation Plan describes the City’s procedures for involving the public in development and implementation of the Consolidated Plan and annual Action Plans. Any substantial changes (>$25,000) need to be approved by HUD and require a Public Hearing, Public Comment Period, and Legal Ad. The first change makes it explicit that prior HUD approval (through its Integrated Disbursement and Information System), is required for Substantial Program Amendments, while the second change states that anonymous public comments will be treated on a case-by-case basis depending on the specific circumstances involved. Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 7 of 15 Fleming suggested substituting “depending on” for “regarding” in the following sentence: “[…] that anonymous public comments received will be accepted and treated on a case-by-case basis regarding the specific circumstances involved.” No objections were raised. Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 8 of 15 Fleming moved, seconded by Whitmore (as amended): 5th Amendment to HUD Entitlement Citizen Participation Plan: • HUD Approval for Substantial Amendments • Anonymous Public Comments WHEREAS, the Citizen Participation Plan (CPP) establishes the City of Ithaca’s procedures for involving the public in development and implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Entitlement Program, and WHEREAS, staff raised two issues for clarification in the CPP: 1. HUD approval of substantial amendments to a 1-year Action Plan or 5-year Consolidated Plan, and 2. Treatment of anonymous comments received, and WHEREAS, in practice the IURA staff submits substantial amendments to HUD for approval but such regulatory requirement is not specified in the CPP, and WHEREAS, at their January 27, 2023 meeting, the IURA Governance Committee discussed proposed clarifications to the above issues, and recommended the following action: now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the IURA hereby recommends the City of Ithaca Common Council adopt a 5th amendment to the City of Ithaca HUD Entitlement Citizen Participation Plan, dated January 27, 2023, that clarifies: 1. that a proposed substantial amendment to a Consolidated Plan or Action Plan requires approval from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Renewal (HUD), and 2. that anonymous public comments received will be accepted and treated on a case-by-case basis depending on the specific circumstances involved. Carried Unanimously: 4-0 C. PY2021 HUD Annual Community Assessment (ACA) Report: Review Bohn explained the meeting materials include HUD’s Annual Community Assessment (ACA) report, covering August 1, 2021-July 31, 2022. HUD is required to conduct annual assessments of all its Community Planning and Development (CPD) grantees to determine if their planning, activities, and reporting are carried out in accordance with applicable requirements. Much of the report is based on the contents of the City’s most recent Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) submission. This ACA is generally quite positive about the City’s performance, with the three following exceptions (the first of which is not within the IURA’s control): • Ithaca is non-compliant with Single Audit Report submission guidelines as outlined at 2 CFR 200.512 (a) (1). The City is due for FY2020 and FY2021 to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. • Ithaca has not conducted required inspections of HOME assisted units since 2016. The City was noted to reconvene inspections in 2019, however the pandemic set the schedule on hold. The City explained to HUD last year that inspections were to reconvene by September 30, 2022. Currently, the City remains out of compliance of 24 CFR 92.504 (d). Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 9 of 15 • Ithaca did not meet the CDBG timeliness test as of 6/2/22 at 1.70, which should be at 1.5 or below. D. PY2021 Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER): Review Bohn explained the CAPER reports on the City’s accomplishments for Year 3 of the City’s 2019-23 Consolidated Plan. It covers the IURA’s 2021 Program Year (August 1st, 2021-July 31st, 2022) and the IURA is required to submit it annually via HUD’s Integrated Disbursement and Information System (IDIS) web-based database. It documents the City’s annual performance in achieving the goals established in its five-year Consolidated Plan, which lays out the City’s strategy for employing HUD funds to meet a variety of community development and housing needs. HUD has accepted the CAPER as meeting HUD requirements, as indicated in the ACA. E. Review of Draft Summary of Home, Together: Tompkins (A Plan to Address Unsheltered Homelessness) by Continuum of Care (CoC) │ Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County Bohn explained that the Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County (HSC) has been revising its Continuum of Care (CoC) Action Plan for addressing unsheltered homelessness. He briefly walked through the Home, Together: Tompkins County slides, excerpted below. (The full report can be viewed at the following link: http://www.cityofithaca.org/DocumentCenter/View/13915/Homelessness-- Housing-Needs-Assessment-for-Tompkins-County-3922.) (on the following four pages) Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 10 of 15 Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 11 of 15 11 Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 12 of 15 12 Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 13 of 15 13 Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 14 of 15 VI. Other Business A. Review of IURA Financials: December 2022 Bohn walked through the Grants Summary and explained that the left-hand “On Schedule” column calls out any projects that are not on schedule and that may need attention. The “GO ITHACA Low- Income Support” project has been extremely slow in submitting voucher reimbursement documentation and is approaching the original termination date in its contract. The “Online Market Discounts for LMI/SNAP Customers” project has also been relatively slow in expending its funds and has not been serving as many beneficiaries as anticipated at this point in the process. Bohn added that many CDBG-CV-funded projects have involved considerably more work for IURA staff than expected. Altogether, the vast majority of projects have been progressing well in terms of expenditures and project completion. Another area of concern is the CDBG timely expenditure deadline, requiring any unexpended CDBG funds cannot exceed 1.5 times the most recent annual HUD CDBG Award, by June 1st of each year. The past two years have been more of a challenge for the IURA in this respect, since many projects slowed down their expenditures during the pandemic, but the IURA should be relatively close to meeting the deadline in 2023. The IURA is currently approximately $300,000 from making the requirement. Many other communities are experiencing similar challenges with the deadline. In preparation for future years, the IURA should also take a careful look at 2023 Action Plan funding application requests, in terms of which projects already have existing funding in place. Bohn reported there are no significant outstanding loan payment delinquencies, except Tompkins Community Action (TCAction) which has been disputing a payment M&T Bank says it never received. All lease payments are also in good standing, as of today. B. Exclusionary INHS Income Verification Process for First-Time Homebuyers Cummings remarked that over the course of assisting a potential homebuyer with their difficulty in getting approved to purchase an INHS home, she discovered that INHS does not employ the Adjusted Gross Income standard in calculating annual household income. The potential homebuyer had significant student loan expenses that were not deducted in INHS’ calculation, resulting in her being $600 over the income threshold; however, her Adjusted Gross Income would not have been over the limit. This potential homebuyer also happens to be a teacher, part of a group of people, including essential workers, Cummings recalled these kinds of programs were partly designed to assist. She believes INHS should be more flexible in terms of how it determines household income. She suggested the IURA Board be made away of the issue and collaborate with staff to determine the extent to which this may be an issue. Bohn responded the IURA does not see the pool of INHS applicants who do not qualify, so it has little way of knowing. HUD’s requires grantees to use one of two permitted definitions of income: (1) the income definition in HUD regulations at 24 CFR Part 5 (often referred to as “the Section 8 definition”) or the IRS Form IRS 1040 definition, which calculates wages/salaries, unemployment compensation, and Social Security income and subtracts such things as alimony, business expenses, medical savings account deductions, etc. Grantees must choose one of the two methods and use it consistently. (Whitmore departed 10:06 a.m.) Governance Committee January 27, 2023 Page 15 of 15 15 Bohn remarked he could speak with someone at INHS to investigate the issue further. C. Update on Governor Hochul’s Proposed Zoning & Environmental Review Policy Cummings recalled hearing that the Governor provided the State authority to override local jurisdictions regarding their zoning codes and environmental review statutes. Bohn responded he knows that was proposed, but he does not believe it was enacted. It is just a policy proposal at this stage. D. Staff Report Bohn reported Tracy Farrell resigned from the IURA Board, so one vacancy will need to be filled. Bohn reported that HUD recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, entitled “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing,” to re-establish the fair housing planning process abolished by Trump, which will include a more streamlined approach suited to both large and small grantee communities. VII. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned by consensus at 10:22 A.M. — END — Minutes prepared by C. Pyott, edited by N. Bohn.