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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-RHAC-2012-05-16Rental Housing Advisory Commission Wednesday May 16, 2012 5:15pm 2nd Floor Conference Room, City Hall Meeting Minutes Present: Larry Beck, Richard Cowan, Rob Flaherty, Katrinka Jackson, Monica Moll, Mitch Paine, Ayana Richardson, Nikki Sayward, Patty Sipman, Graham Kerslick (liaison to Common Council) Others attending: Mayor Myrick, Russell Maines. 1. Introductions Alderperson Kerslick, as interim Chair, welcomed newly appointed members of the Commission. 2. Review of RHAC membership and roles The Commission now has a full membership of nine members. The listing below was reviewed and confirmed as an accurate reflection of the constituent roles of each Commission member. 3. Review of April 18th meeting notes Meeting note of April 18th were reviewed and approved as written. 4. Review of Agenda The agenda was reviewed with no changes. 5. Discussion items a. Affordable Housing – Discussion and concerns that this is impacted by the expenses required by State and City ordinances, "unfunded mandates" and taxes which are a cost of doing business, and are passed on to the tenant as higher rents. Very low rates of vacancy in the City (~0% in Collegetown, 1% around Commons, 2% West End) also keep rents high and also affecting decisions on where to place future housing. What other interests, relationships influence this that should be addressed in RHAC? Interest was expressed by Cowan in also addressing business renting, especially downtown. Purposely creating affordable housing that’s also mixed‐demographic is key. For sectors of our community housing cost about 60% of income vs. the more appropriate 30%. During this discussion Mayor Myrick joined the meeting and welcomed and thanked all members of the Commission. Discussion of the role of the Commission included and emphasis on providing information to Council, suggesting policy and legislation to Council and inviting city officials, staff and others to address the Commission on matters under consideration. The Mayor also announced that he was naming Larry Beck and Mitch Paine as co‐chairs of the Commission. For future meetings co‐chairs will be responsible for setting the agenda and running the meetings. b. RHAC Services and Resources – During discussions on this topic there was general agreement of the need for more accessible public information on rental housing right, responsibilities and options in the City. This should include web‐based resources, brochures and paper information. The importance of coordinating with other groups on this, especially students groups, such as the new Collegetown Student Council. c. RHAC Communications – Discussion regarding best practices to have effective communications for the Commission such as email, listserves, facebook etc. Kerslick reminded the Commission that whil emails etc. could improve information exchange it was important to remember that detailed discussions especially on items that might impact public policy etc. should take place at the public meetings of the Commission. At the conclusion of this discussion Mayor Myrick and Alderperson Kerslick has to leave the meeting in order to attend another City meeting. Co‐chairs Beck and Paine ran the remainder of the meeting. d. Incentives to promote improvements to the exterior of rental properties. ‐ Moll suggested a 5‐yr tax amnesty program. Everyone seems on board, but perhaps call “assessment cap” instead so it would fly better with public. Saves renters $. Think everyone (ex. homeowners) would also benefit from this/should do. Keep this analogous with current structure of building permits? Assessments are done by county each year but city influences rate.