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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-RHAC-1995 Rental Housing Advisory Commission Approved Minutes—Tuesday,January 24, 1995 Members Present: Kim Esterman,Colin Forth, Robyn Jenks(Chair),Chuck Johns,Jane Schafrik, Members Absent: Pearce Brown (excused),John Efroymson(unexcused), Shari Woodard (excused),Charlie Woodcock(unexcused) Visitors: Kathleen Decker,Myra Malkin,Mayor Nichols Minutes of the meeting of December 13, 1994 were approved. Speaking from the public,Myra Malkin noted that Gregg Thomas,Managing Attorney of Neighborhood Legal Services,will be meeting with the Police Chief concerning illegal lockouts. Education and Hotline Subcommittee: Near-final copies of the "Rental Rights and Responsibilities"pamphlet were passed out. The Information Line number 274-6579 came just too late to be included in the draft. City Attorney Chuck Guttman has the pamphlet for review. Kathleen Decker explained her role. Her work time is divided between the jobs of Housing Inspector and that of Rental Housing Specialist. She will do the Rental Housing work Tuesdays and Thursdays 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM. At other times people can leave messages on the dedicated Information Line. She will not handle heat complaints,which should go to the Building Department immediately,nor garbage issues. She will take maintenance complaints but will refer them to inspectors. She handed out her packet that explains what she does. Kathleen urged the Commission to do as much education as possible. She,too,will be doing education;she will be distributing the majority of the pamphlets. For instance,she will see 800- 900 students at the Cornell Housing Fair the second week in February. She expects to distribute about 500 brochures there. We should put the brochures downstairs in the City Hall rack as well. She is planning a refrigerator magnet to publicize the Building Department as well. She is trying to educate the community on what the Building department does and is having some success. She is getting more calls from students,many of them on security deposits. She still lacks a contact at Ithaca College. The RHAC should find speaking opportunities for her. There is one issue that she cannot help;some major landlords are charging one year's rent in advance. This is not illegal;in fact,it is the practice of the Cornell dorms. Chuck Johns predicted that it would not be a trend,but Kathleen pointed out that two major landlords were doing it last year,three this year,including two major new complexes. Myra Malkin said that Kathleen could refer parents to the Attorney General's office but doubted that it would help much. Not all landlords do this. Jane Schafrik asks for the security deposit and last month's rent in advance and the first month when the tenant moves in. She also knows two landlords who require two months security deposit of DSS clients. Some landlords are also insisting on starting with a two-months trial lease before going to a longer lease. Rent paid in advance,unlike security deposits,does not get interest. Mayor Nichols said that the City had looked into the question but cannot regulate anything unless they have rent control. Jane Schafrik said she had been promised a clean copy of the Smoke Detector Ordinance. Theresa Alt agreed to send her multiple copies. The Law and Legislation subcommittee did not meet. The Lowest-Income subcommittee noted the statistics on shelter use in 1994 that it had sent out. (See attached.) DSS frequently uses motels and gets a corporate discount. Jane Schafrik has tried to get the landlords of the Rental Housing Association to give their impression of how many lowest-income people they were renting to and what the rents are. She will bring the information next month. The discussion of a Work Plan for the upcoming year was tabled to the next meeting. Chuck Johns said that he would like for the Commission to set attainable goals. Everyone will come up with about two possible goals to pursue and bring them to the February meeting; Robyn Jenks will call the rest of the Commission. Chuck Johns noted that there seem to be many vacant apartments. Some people who have been renting to students may have to change. There was discussion of whether some landlords prefer to have unrented apartment at high nominal rents rather than rent lower. Robyn Jenks is ready to relinquish the chair,though formally it is a mayoral appointment. She called for suggestions and noted that Shari Woodard suggested that the chair float,though that might cause a problem with continuity. There is also still one opening on the Commission. The Commission agreed to continue meeting on second Tuesdays at 7:00. Respectfully submitted,Theresa Alt Rental Housing Advisory Commission Approved Minutes—Tuesday,February 14, 1995 Members Present: Pearce Brown,Kim Esterman,Colin Forth, Robyn Jenks(Chair),Jane Schafrik, Shari Woodard,Charlie Woodcock Members Absent: John Efroymson(excused),Chuck Johns(excused) Visitors: Myra Malkin Minutes of the meeting of January 24, 1995 were approved. No one spoke from the public. The problematic practice of charging many months'rent up front was discussed. The City cannot regulate it. Since it is considered rent and not a security deposit,no interest is paid. Jane Schafrik knows of two landlords who do it;people have heard there are three. Three landlords could account for over 50% of Collegetown. It is not clear whether the practice is increasing. The Lowest-Income subcommittee sent statistics on homelessness in detail to the RHAC and in summary to Common council. Jane took them to the Rental housing Association. She is asking the landlords to estimate how many lowest-income people they house. Could the money spent on shelters go to permanent housing? It is considered"emergency"funds,so perhaps not. The student who came to the meeting last month will not be back,but Colin could recruit others who are looking for practical experience to work on getting relevant information out of census data. Robyn Jenks does not want to continue as Chair of the RHAC. Jane, Shari and Chuck were mentioned as possible chairs. The Mayor appoints the chair. Work Plan for the RHAC Pearce Brown and Shari Woodard agreed that the RHAC has been too reactive and should be more proactive. Pearce wondered whether people who cannot afford the rent here have a legitimate reason for being here. If employees cannot afford rent,they should ask for higher pay or the employer should build housing. He believes in personal rsponsibility and doesn't believe there is a housing crisis in Ithaca. Others reaffirmed that there was a problem,although the RHAC could only do limited things to address it. Local government will have more responsibility as federal and state governments do less. Several ideas for a Work Plan were introduced: Colin: A land trust does not seem feasible. Still,it is a problem when government subsidizes housing that then becomes unaffordable. We should draft a resolution asking that the next round of subsidy to INNS be restructured so that money is recaptured for more affordable housing. Colin: Ask the Planning Department to do an assessment of housing needs that gives actual numbers and types of units needed. Colin: Write a new cluster zoning ordinance so that the Planning Committee and then Council can act on it without delay. Jane: We have a responsibility to educate tenants better. We could sponsor some classes on what it means to be a tenant. Shari: Publicize the fact that there is a housing emergency. Jane: Come up with a clear number of units that need to be created. Jane&Robyn: Send our liaisons to the Planning Board,IURA,and any other bodies that deal with the creation of housing. Colin&Robyn: Write an internship proposal for CRP student help TA: Follow up on the affordable housing floating zone concept,which has gone into the work plan of the Council Planning Committee. The meeting was recessed until Tuesday,February 21. The Work Plan will be the sole agenda item. Respectfully submitted,Theresa Alt Rental Housing Advisory Commission Approved Minutes—Tuesday,February 21, 1995 Members Present: Pearce Brown ,John Efroymson,Kim Esterman, Colin Forth,Robyn Jenks, Chuck Johns,Jane Schafrik,Shari Woodard(chair) Members Absent: Charlie Woodcock(excused) Visitors: Myra Malkin Mayor Nichols has appointed Shari Woodard Chair. Jane Schafrik announced that as of October 28 every tenant will have to be given a brochure on lead paint,mandated by HUD. Work Plan John Efroymson: The Planning Board has been very concerned about the environment,less so about housing. A better mission statement might help them,as it helped RHAC. Colin noted that they are open to change. Shari pointed out that RHAC plans to have a liaison. The meeting then turned to further discussion of items already proposed for the Work Plan. Regarding the question of need for housing,Chuck Johns had some numbers from Chris DelVecchio of Housing Solutions. They listed as open in January: 28 apartments for rent in Collegetown 68 downtown 14 on East Hill 4 on Fast Shore 16 in Eastern Heights 32 in Fall Creek 13 on South Hill 10 on University Avenue/Lake Street. Kim has used their list;the problem is that out of 40 listed apartments only 15-20 are really open. On the other hand,some landlords like Chuck never list with them. Pearce thought that the average is therefore a good number. He had been looking at ads and observes taht places like Lodi are much cheaper. Shari said EOC had used the Housing Solutions list but found that there are landlords whowon't rent to poeple on public asisstance. Pearce asked what a Land Trust is. Colin explained that conceptually it is splitting the land from the house. You own your house but not the land under it. Therefore,the land cannot go up in price even if real estate values rise. RHAC does not have to staff and expertise to carry out such a project,but INHS could do it. Pearce questioned whether the RHAC is capable of writing a cluster zoning ordinance. Colin was sure it would be possible. Ordinances are drafted by people without technical expertise. Then they are refined. John questioned whether we want to spend our time doing this,as opposed to,say,educating tenants. Pearce felt he needed more direction. Shari recalled that we should all agree with the charge from the Mayor[Common Council-TA]. Beyond that,as Jane pointed out,we advise Council. All agreed to define concrete tasks. Robyn and Colin will work on the proposal for an internship. It could get us a resource and could also get more people working with the Commission. Commission members took on assignments as liaisons to various other boards&commissions: Planning Board Pearce Planning Committee of Council Shari,Robyn Economic Development Committee of Council Common Council John Board of Zoning Appeals Colin,Jane Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency Chuck(Colin, Shari,Jane,Robyn) Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services Kim Homeless Task Force Shari Rental Housing Association Jane, Chuck Jane,backed by Myra Malkin,called for a needs assessment to defuse opposition to our proposals. Shari said it should focus on lowest-income populations. Finding such statistics could be a project for an intern. Alternatively,Colin said he could look up statistics. Shari and John agreed that the RHAC should report to Council. Colin Forth said that we need to improve our relationship to the Planning Department staff. John said we need to get information out. Perhaps we could raise small amounts of money or else use PSAs for free publicity. Colin emphasized the need to redirect federal funds for permanent affordability. we could affect how INHS works. Kim was concerned that INHS deals with Section 8 people but not lowest- income people,also that they demand a lot of references, Perhaps we could get access to INHS services for people who are now being cut out. The next meeting will be Tuesday,March 14 at 7:00 pm in the Second Floor Conference Room. Respectfully submitted,Theresa Alt Rental Housing Advisory Commission Approved Minutes—Tuesday,March 14, 1995 Members Present: Kim Esterman, Colin Forth,Robyn Jenks(Chair),Jane Schafrik,Shari Woodard Members Absent: Pearce Brown (excused),John Efroymson (liaison,excused),Chuck Johns (unexcused),Charlie Woodcock (unexcused) Visitors: Myra Malkin The minutes of February 21 were amended to delete one overly-harsh formulation. The minutes of February 14 and 21 were accepted as amended. No one spoke from the public. Kathleen Decker sent a message that since the Information Line was installed about a month earlier she had received 24 calls—and the phone number had not really been distributed except on the 100 brochures that she gave out at the Cornell Off-Campus Housing Fair. She returns calls at 7:00 to 7:30 AM and finds this works well. Report from the Education Subcommittee—Jane—The brochure "Rental Rights and Responsibilities"is ready. Robyn,Jane,Myra and Kim all took copies. The RHAC will send a letter to all agencies on the list that got the Tenant-Landlord Resource Guide asking them how many copies of the new brochure they could use. The Information Line number should be advertised on City buses. The Education Subcommittee is also considering classes for tenants,a video,or role play or skits. New Members: Kim will leave the area in July for graduate school;May will probably be her last meeting. Neither of the two CRP students who attended earlier will be working with the Commission,but Colin will approach another one,who is currently working with Southside. The Commission could do PSAs recruiting new members. Liaison Reports Planning Board: Pearce, absent Planning Committee of Council: Shari called to get agendas but did not attend. Economic Development Committee of Council Common Council: John, absent Board of Zoning Appeals: Colin and Jane did not attend the meeting. Jane noted on the agenda an appeal for a use variance to convert a former store to become the fourth apartment. Such a question points up the need for incentive zoning. We would need to identify suitable neighborhoods, e.g. not Collegetown. Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency: Chuck, absent Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services: Kim met with Paul Mazzarella. She focussed on the lowest of the lowest incomes;he was honest that INHS does very little for this group; they focus on people who have some resources. He referred her to IHA,HOMES,the Housing Providers'Network and MHA for lowest-income housing. Jane had spoken with DSS;they confirm that INHS does not house lowest-income people,but did not give her numbers of people DSS couldn't house. Colin said that the RHAC can affect what INHS does by putting conditions on grant applications,e.g.provisions that the money has to be recycled within the community. Shari is disturbed that so much government money has been spent and none for lowest-income housing. Jane thought that it reflected an attitude in planning circles that the poor should leave. Kim said Paul M. said that INHS puts grant applications together because the Planning Board and Planning Committee do not have time;Federal regulations drive the CDBG. Robyn suggested that lowest-income problems are not looked at because politics calls for open space and rejects people. Jane suggested that we need to be more in control of the CDBG process;the City may have been applying for the wrong grants. Colin thought that if the City made clear what it wants,INHS would try to do it. Shari pointed out that several agencies can get together to apply for HUD money;HUD wants this. IHA is applying for such grant money. Jane thought the Annex should be made into housing. Homeless Task Force: Shari. The Red Cross has pulled out of managing Chartwell (on Rte. 13 between Joe's and Ithaca Bakery);EOC may be taking it over. Chartwell is now partly emergency housing,partly transitional housing. EOC would run it much as now but shift toward transitional housing or permanent supported housing. According to the 1994 CHAS the vacancy rate has been below 5% since 1974,so perhaps we should consider rent control. Commission consensus was that this would be impossible. Landlords would cheat by charging finder's fees. Students,not local people would benefit. The terms themselves are hot-button words. The Commission would lose its credibility if it were perceived as favoring tenants,as was the previous Rental Housing Commission. Rather, encourage lowest-income tenants to register and vote. Jane suggested that it is OK to be confrontational,but we should pick our issues and concentrate on the Planning Department and Board. Robyn suggested that the Commission do a PSA or better yet contact reporters like Wendy Skinner of the Journal to get out publicity about the housing crisis. Rental Housing Association: Jane. The landlords' association will be having two seminars: March 27 on the Smoke/Heat Detector Ordinance and April 24 on discrimination issues. Intern Proposal: Colin suggested that the Commission get an intern from CRP to work on incentive,cluster and floating zoning. If there can be a second intern,that one should work on the Planning Board. Jane suggested someone who could use Excel to get housing/income statistics. The proposal is due the next day. The Commission,in line with the Mayor's suggestion, decided to focus on zoning and to prioritize: 1) floating,2) incentive,and 3)cluster. The Commission should provide for reporting to Council. The next meeting,Tuesday,April 11, 1995 at 7:30 pm in the Second Floor Conference Room of City Hall will have on the agenda sharing comment sfrom members,preparation for a report to Council,further refinement of the work plan,planning for tenant training,a report on the application for an intern,and liaison reports. Respectfully submitted,Theresa Alt Rental Housing Advisory Commission Approved Minutes—Tuesday,April 11, 1995 Members Present: Pearce Brown,John Efroymson(liaison),Kim Esterman, Chuck Johns,Joan Lockwood,Jane Schafrik, Shari Woodard(Chair),Charlie Woodcock Members Absent: Colin Forth(excused),Robyn Jenks(excused) Visitors: Myra Malkin The minutes of March 14 were accepted. No one spoke from the public. John Efroymson said that the City's Drug House Task Force was considering whether the City should require deadbolt locks on the front doors of all multi-unit buildings. Members were skeptical of the suggestion. If tenants have to come downstairs to let their friends and family in, they will prop the door open. A remote system would be expensive—likely to cost$1000 for a four-unit house. Charlie Woodcock suggested that in each building one tenant should be designated responsible and given reduced rent. Chuck and Jane were skeptical of this suggestion. Jane did not think a tenant could be asked to police other tenants; Chuck thought it would cost too much. The hallway problems seem to be in a small number of buildings,one in particular,where a personal feud with the landlord may be involved. Dealing with these cases should not determine policy citywide. If the landlord of the target building were taken to court for urine in the hallway, could the judge impose a door lock? Myra noted that a tenant would have to be found to bring suit. John assured the RHAC that Council members were also skeptical about requiring locks. Jane commented that City code enforcement is not even-handed;inspectors miss problems in buildings that are not considered problematic overall. Chuck was concerned about the costs of smoke and heat detection($1000 per apartment)and the even greater cost of sprinklers($54,000 for a 20-or 25-apartment building in one case). Work Plan Several points in the Draft Work Plan(see attached)needed clarification. Charlie asked for an explanation of I-B-2 "Write mechanisms for recapturing funds into housing subsidies." When public money subsidizes home ownership,low-mod income people are able to buy homes,but if the value of the home increases,when they sell it,it is no longer affordable,and the public funds are gone. Jane felt this was not a problem;rather the problem is with public subsidy of private affordable rental housing. How long do you insist on affordability of units? 15 years? If you ask for more,developers will not build. Charlie suggesting adding one more mechanism under I.B.: a tax on rental property to finance affordable housing. John responded that the City can only impose property taxes but could impose impact fees on new development. The City could also require that a certain percentage of new building be affordable. Jane suggested adding I.E.e. Incentive zoning. The discussion focussed on shortcomings in the City's current efforts to provide affordable housing. Ithaca Housing Authority does not house the poorest segment of the community,but IHA houses poorer people than does Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services. John felt that INHS could be doing a better job of housing the poor if the City were more proactive. It is not that there has been a decision to be elitist. There just haven't been advocates for the poorest. Shari pointed out that if the City receives the three-year CDBG there will be little chance to make changes. It is also understandable that you try to do something that will be a success. People who are close to middle class are going to make a project look good,which helps to achieve the next grant. If the project works with addicts if will never look as good. Shari said that we need to take a stand that the very poorest need to be helped. Chuck had attended Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency and reported that Landmark Square is just sitting. Apparently it was to have been housing that could be used by Section 8 tenants but not automatically Section 8 housing. The discussion shifted to funding sources. There are no local subsidies. Chuck suggested challenging the Cornell Greek system to raise money. Shari commented that we had money in the CDBGs,but it went to other things. Jane said this points up why we need a needs assessment. Shari said that the 1991 CHAS refers to a need for about 200 SRO or efficiency units. Jane thought the need might be greater now. Myra quoted Chuck Nocera of the Red Cross,who anticipated more homeless in June after the new State budget is in place. There is more state money for emergency shelters than for rent subsidy. Shari concurred that for what we spend on shelters we could subsidize our homeless to live in apartments. Jane emphasized the need for numbers so that we can define what is needed in the next CDGB. Shari suggested that parts of the current CDBG are not so specific that we could not try to get part of this money to lowest-income needs. There is,however,a need to find other sources of money. It was agreed that John would explore the InterNet for funding sources. For instance,EOC,IHA&DSS have applied jointly for a grant for supportive transitional housing at Chartwell. Shari will invite Paul Stevenson,the new Community Development coordinator to the next RHAC meeting. Jane noted that the Feds have targeted Ithaca and Tompkins County as"difficult to develop areas" and there are income tax incentives for building here. Chuck will meet with the City Attorney to find out about tax abatements. At the next meeting,Tuesday,May 9, 1995 at 7:30 pm in the Second Floor Conference Room of City Hall Paul Stevenson,Community Development Coordinator,will speak with the RHAC. Respectfully submitted,Theresa Alt Rental Housing Advisory Commission Approved Minutes—Tuesday,May 9, 1995 Members Present: Pearce Brown,John Efroymson (liaison),Robyn Jenks, Chuck Johns,Joan Lockwood,Jane Schafrik,Shari Woodard(Chair),Charlie Woodcock Members Absent: Kim Esterman(excused),Colin Forth(unexcused) Visitors: Larry Beck,Myra Malkin,Paul Stevenson,Kathy— The minutes of April 11, 1995 were accepted. Public Comment Larry Beck,property owner and manager,complained that Council's job description for the new community service officer[code enforcement officer in the Building Department]targets landlords. The Housing Code sections B,D,E,etc.puts requirements on "occupants",but he received four warnings—all for things his tenants did. One of his tenants is not putting the garbage out. John Efroymson responded that the Building Department knows who the property owner is but does not know who the tenant is. Beck, seconded by Jane Schafrik,complained further that the landlords'association did not know about the proposed legislation. Jane asked that the RHAC be informed of pending legislation like this which affects landlords and tenants and called for further discussion of the code enforcement position. Chuck Johns suggested that the garbage truck driver should enforce garbage violations,and there should be a way for the landlord to pass the notice on to the tenant. Kathy , a disabled single mother with two children,had a fire in October and had to spend three weeks in a motel. Her landlord refused to return her$800 security deposit(and her mother's deposit as well). She took the case to Small Claims Court,but her only witness works for the landlord and feared to testify. The landlord showed pictures,claimed that the damage preceded the fire,and won. Kathy cannot appeal because it costs$25. Myra Malkin suggested that she might be able to get the fee waived and appeal. John Efroymson wondered whether insurance paid for the repairs,and if so,how the landlord could charge the tenant too. Discussion moved to the issue of establishing the state of an apartment at time of rental. Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency Paul Stevenson,the City's new Community Development Administrator,announced that the City had received notice of a$2.7 million Community Development Block Grant. The City will receive it over three years,assuming that Congress appropriates the money and assuming that the State does not take over the program. Ithaca is not an entitlement city,but the IURA does take a holistic view in its applications. We work with Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services. Next year the program will be supporting ten new home buyers,parks,a microenterprise development program for businesses with five or fewer employees. The Trailblazers program at Landmark Square,run through Cooperative Extension,has an apartment and a part-time facilitator to build community. Participants in this self-help organization come mainly from Landmark Square and a few from the surrounding neighborhood. Construction is about to start on the Drop-In Day Care Center. Mutual Housing Part H is planned with a road diagonally across the lot for more frontage and a park. Hopefully there will soon be progress on Landmark Square renovation. Jane Schafrik asked whether future or existing grants could target housing affordable to low-low income people,perhaps as a percentage of the project. Stevenson was not yet entirely familiar with the need for lowest-income housing. He was aware of 20 vacant IHA units. He knew that the Red Cross had recently given up some SRO housing. Shari Woodard pointed out that the EOC had taken it over for transitional housing. Stevenson said that the CDBG is not the best source for supported housing,but Jane countered that we need not supported housing but efficiency apartments for single persons. Paul continued that a CDBG usually targets 70-80% for HUD- defined low income,but usually does not do SRO housing. Private landlords don't want to manage such housing,and neighborhoods reject it. However,if someone had an idea about a building large enough to be economically viable(15 units according to Shari)and a manager,he would look for funding. The West Inlet money will be reprogrammed. Shari suggested on the basis of what Paul Mazzarella had told Kim Fsterman that INHS serves people who are under HUD guidelines,but the upper part of that group. Myra Malkin confirmed this. Among low-income people are a few problem tenants. INHS and IHA want non-problem tenants. She told the story of a prospective tenant who was not showering because her shower was not adequate. The agency insisted that she first move into a place with a shower before they would consider her. So, many people get housed in very substandard places. We do not know where to turn for support for the lowest-income people. Paul turned the discussion to the housing market in general. In every community there is a range of needs. The market serves those who can pay. Government comes in because markets sometimes fail. When you provide for those who can pay,the leftovers can go to the rest. Still, housing prices are high in Ithaca. Jane asserted that when the housing market crashed in 1989 trickle down stopped. Chuck countered that the new units at Kendal would affect the market. Paul noted that taxes drive rents up,but the community demands a certain level of services. Lack of good places to build also drives up costs;the available places are either in the flood plain or on steep slopes Pearce Brown thought that rents could now be lowered. Chuck too said this is realistic. Landlords will discriminate in an attempt to avoid damage and will lower rents only for tenants who will stay twelve years and do no damage. Surrounding communities are doing nothing about low-income housing,so the City of Ithaca feels it is left to carry the whole burden. However,Jane said,the Board of Reps is looking into whether anything legislative can be done to reduce housing cost. She suggested that they look at the planning boards as a source of delay. Robyn Jenks returned to the question of whether the City can require a percentage of very low income housing in grant proposals. Paul would prefer to deal with incentives. Even if INHS has not been working with lowest-income people,it is probably better to influence an existing organization than to start a new one. As for incentives the City could offer,there are Federal tax credits to investors in affordable housing. We can look into that. He has been meeting with agencies and wants to talk to people in neighborhoods too. The City uses the CDBG to try to create jobs,which would enable people to afford housing. However,As Shari pointed out, Tompkins County has a poverty rate of 18.5%;much housing in Ithaca is out of reach of the working poor. The next meeting,Tuesday,June 13, 1995 at 7;00 pm in the Second Floor Conference Room of City Hall will focus only on the work plan,with a 15-minute discussion of the question of security deposit return. Respectfully submitted,Theresa Alt RENTAL HOUSING ADVISORY COMMISSION 8 AUGUST 1995 (Chuck Johns - minutes) Present: Colin Forth, Pearce Brown, Chuck Johns, Joan Lockwood, Theresa Alt, Jane Schafrik, Shari Woodard-Chair Absent: John Efroymson, Robyn Jenks, Charlie Woodcock Visitors: none Discussion: Minutes will be rotated each month, commission members will take notes. Potential New Members: Kurt Johnson (Red Cross) Terry Platter (Cornell) Shari will submit a PSA requesting new members. Five (5) absents will be an automatic dismissal from the commission. Members present plans for new work plan: Jane - education program for landlords and tenants, education committee will have a sound cross section of the community; Pearce - (planning board) a) row housing b) splitting large houses into smaller apartments; Chuck - (impact fees) discussion on impact fees and zoning variances that will allow new construction incentives; Shari - (IURA meetings) money from Federal grants, $650,000., available, committee and council should ask for some of this money for hard to place persons.