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Home My WebLink AboutMN-IURANI-2019-09-13 108 E. Green St. Ithaca, NY 14850 (607) 274-6565 MINUTES ITHACA URBAN RENEWAL AGENCY (IURA) NEIGHBORHOOD INVESTMENT COMMITTEE (NIC) 8:30 A.M., Friday, September 13, 2019 Third Floor Conference Room, City Hall, Ithaca, NY In attendance: Karl Graham, Chair; Fernando de Aragón, Vice Chair; Tracy Farrell, Teresa Halpert; Paulette Manos. Excused: None. Staff: Anisa Mendizabal; Nels Bohn. Guest(s): Megan Pulver, Transit Project Manager and Matt Yarrow, TCAT Assistant General Manager for Service Development and Planning, Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT). I. Call to Order Chair Graham called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. <Manos arrived at 8:32 a.m.> II. Changes/Additions to Agenda a. Chair Graham gave Nels Bohn, IURA Director of Community Development, time on the agenda to discuss IURA involvement with the Community Housing Development Fund (CHDF). See below. b. The Chair encouraged members to contact him with future topics. III. Public Comment None. IV. Review of Minutes – July 2019 Farrell motioned to approve; Halpert seconded. Carried 5-0. V. New Business A. Action Item – Discuss and Recommend – IURA Contract Monitoring Agreement with Community Housing Development Fund Bohn brought forward an opportunity that has been presented to IURA for discussion: Would IURA be willing to perform contact monitoring services to the Community Housing Development Fund (CHDF)? Background: The City is part of the (formerly Cornell) Community Housing Development Fund, along with the County and Cornell University, for the past 10 years. Annually, City and County each contribute $100K, with Cornell contributing $200K. The CHDF leverages cash grants for local developers. To date, it has been mostly nonprofit developers (INHS, Habitat) involved in the CHDF. The CHDF has been trying to expand the developer base to include local for-profits. The CHDF has now identified one such opportunity: the development proposed at 622 W. Clinton Street by Jerame Hawkins. This project has been awarded $27K by the CHDF, with the commitment that the housing remain affordable for 49 years. A further condition of the funding is that the project must find a contract monitor – IURA has been proposed as the monitor. Bohn explained how he sees this working: There would be two tests for affordability. Annual household income, and rent. Determining rent can be trickier than one might expect (due to HUD’s fluctuating AMI determinations—they can go up or down yearly— it’s not a constant upward trajectory). IURA provides this service to CCTT’s Security Deposits program, which is similar. In turn, IURA would require the applicant (developer) to pay a modest fee, starting at $100 for utility analysis and $100 for rent analysis. This is estimated to be a break-even on IURA costs. IURA would reduce costs if developer agrees to rent to someone with a Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) or Housing Scholarship, because the tenant incomes are already verified with these programs. Another benefit of performing these contract monitoring services is that it would be a chance to pilot and test what monitoring for tax abatement or Inclusionary Zoning would be like. <Megan Pulver of TCAT arrived at 8:50 a.m.> The Committee discussed CHDF, affordability, feasibility of offering affordability in this manner, and monitoring. Farrell, referencing the length of the monitoring period, thought a limited contract might be necessary. Bohn stated that IURA would have an opt-out, as would the landlord. The Committee has no objections to bringing this before IURA for further discussion. Chris Proulx, Chair, IURA Economic Development Committee, will bring it forward. <Bohn departed at 9:00 a.m.> B. 9:00 a.m. Update and Discussion – 2018 Project #16 – Targeted Urban Bus Stop Upgrade(s) – Meadow and MLK/West State Street Megan Pulver, TCAT Transit Project Manager, shared a slide deck with the Committee for discussion (attached at the end of the Minutes). She provided an update about the proposed TCAT bus stop at Meadow Street and West Martin Luther King/W. State Street. TCAT has reached out to the business (Mobile station) owner immediately adjacent to the site. Fuel trucks turn in to the station from MLK St., not Route 13. Curbs were cut there for this purpose. The business owner expressed concerns about a bench within the bus shelter, due to loitering he has observed at the municipal bus station. <Matt Yarrow of TCAT arrived at 9:03 a.m.> Yarrow pointed out there is no “summer dip” in ridership in the West End. It’s consistent all year, similar to ridership on West Hill. The two projects [2018 Project #16 and 2017 Project #12 ] have some linkages, according to Yarrow. Yarrow referenced the 2017 grant and stated TCAT is taking a pause from their plans upgrade the West Village adjacent stop at the moment due to the fact that nine of the existing shelter’s panels were shot out over a three-week period. The panels are structurally necessary. Replacement is costly and the alternatives to the current materials have their downsides. Additionally, there is the consideration that a new shelter structure is planned. Costs and benefits of installing new panels in old structure; placing the new structure-- which would be ADA compliant-- and hoping similar damage doesn’t occur; installation of a security camera; routing the bus through West Village property (TCAT does this for inbound already) were all discussed. TCAT asked advice/input on next steps at West Village stop and about the bench on W. MLK St. Committee members indicated that installing a security camera, along with visible signage about the existence of the camera, could help, with the goal ultimately to move forward on the new, ADA-compliant shelter. As for West End stop at MLK St, the Committee strongly indicated there shold be a bench for riders. De Aragón: “We need to provide the highest level of transit service.” Others wondered if there had been testing to verify that site currently planned for the shelter would actually impede the fuel trucks and noted that it should not be assumed there will be sleeping or other issues there. Graham stated that the perspective being taken on the new bus shelter should be from the riders, not the business owner. The Committee referred TCAT to the City’s Economic Development Director Tom Knipe, who may be able to marshal resources for art installation or litter pick-up at the site, if needed or desired. C. Action Item – Discuss and Recommend – Enterprise Anti-Displacement Learning Network 2019 Request for Applications Farrell asked who would apply for the Learning Network. Mendizabal replied that the IURA would apply on behalf of the City. Halpert noted that 30 houses were bought in the Southside neighborhood in 2009, and the homeownership rate went down significantly then. Action Item: Mendizabal will follow up with Halpert for more information. IURA would be the lead staff member on the Learning Network application, and, if granted project. The Committee indicated interest in seeing rental property into ownership stock, while noting the barriers to doing so. Graham summed up the Committee’s response, “It sounds like we are in favor of applying to be in Phase I, at least.” Action Item: Graham directed Mendizabal to follow up with Enterprise about who qualifies for “stakeholder stipends” from Enterprise. [Answer from Enterprise: Only community stakeholders, not IURA or City]. D. Program Update – 2018 Project #8 – Temporary Ramp Program Mendizabal reported that she met with FLIC to discuss the barriers they have encountered to installing ramps in the City. She also reported the after investigating with Bohn, CDBG, which funds this project, is not as flexible as HOME in allowing the Participating Jurisdiction (PJ) to allow funding to travel with beneficiaries outside the County. FLIC has come up with a comprehensive outreach strategy, and will contact IURA at the end of the year, if an extension or further guidance is needed. VI. Other Business A. IURA Grant Summary Mendizabal distributed August 2019 grant summary to supercede the July 2019 version. Manos asked about the status of 2017 TCAT spend-down. TCAT requested and received a contract modification from IURA to utilize its 2017 leftover funding at the West Village bus shelter, however, they have not moved forward with next steps. B. Staff Report Mendizabal reported that FL ReUse sales are up 80% over last year; last year they were up 50% over the previous year. Executive Director Diane Cohen will be requesting funding from NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Manos asked whether Housing for School Success succeeded in garnering a match from the Ithaca City School District (ICSD). Action Item: Mendizabal has reviewed ICSD budget information online, has been unable to determine that so will reach out to BJM’s Principal, Dr. Susan Eschbach. VII. Motion to Adjourn Manos motioned to adjourn; seconded by Halpert. Carried 5-0. Meeting adjourned at 10:26 a.m. TCAT Bus Shelters Matt Yarrow & Megan Pulver - TCAT •2018 Project #16 – Targeted Urban Bus Stop Upgrade(s) - Meadow Street Stop •West Village Shelter State @ Meadow westbound stop 2018 ridership ~ 10,300 boardings Proposed Shelter Location Proposed Shelter Location 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug RIdership at State @ Meadow by Month (2019) 0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000 400,000 450,000 500,000 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov DecMonthly Ridership TCAT Monthly Ridership 2015-2019 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Note: While route 14 ridership has dropped a little in 2019, Sate @ Meadow shows no Academic Calendar dip in June, July, and August. 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Ridership at State @ Meadow by Day of Week (2019) The largest amount of daily ridership occurs on Fridays, but differences are not particularly pronounced. Note: Much less of a bimodal curve on weekdays, more ridership in the afternoon as riders return to West Hill. 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Ridership at State @ Meadow by Hour of Day (2019) Mon-Fri Sat-Sun West Village Existing Shelter Plans to relocate stop and shelter location to opposite street corner West Village Shelter Damage Safety Concerns State @ Meadow •Owner concerns: –Loitering – bench –Drug Activity –Fueling Trucks West Village –Current Shelter Damage –Security Cameras –Police involvement