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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAWHC 2025-03-05 AWHC 2025-03-05 Final 1 AFFORDABLE AND WORKFORCE HOUSING COMMITTEE March 05, 2025 Virtual (via Zoom) Present: Martha Robertson (acting chair), Ray Burger (Director of Planning), Gina Cassidy (Planning Department), Miles McCarty (Village of Freeville), Michael Murphy (Village of Dryden) Absent: Christina Dravis (Town Board), Charles Geisler, Leonardo Vargas-Mendez (Town Board) Staff: Loren Sparling (Deputy Town Clerk) The meeting was called to order at 2:23 p.m. Review and Acceptance of Minutes RESOLUTION #5 (2025) – ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM JANUARY 15, 2025 R Burger offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that this Affordable and Workforce Housing Committee hereby accepts the meeting minutes of January 15, 2025, as written. 2nd G Cassidy Roll Call Vote R Burger Yes G Cassidy Yes M McCarty Abstain M Murphy Abstain M Robertson Yes Resolution Opposing Proposed Cuts to Housing in Congressional Budget The Committee discussed a resolution co-authored by M Robertson concerning federal cuts to the US Dept of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and its housing programs. M Robertson qualified the statistic that homelessness in Tompkins County has risen by 64% from 2016 to 2022 with hard numbers, from approximately 400 individuals experiencing homelessness in 2016 to roughly 600 individuals in 2022. She explained that the basis for these numbers was the point-in-time count, a federally mandated count of sheltered and unsheltered individuals that takes place every January. She also clarified that the resolution focuses on actual budget cuts being proposed, not on any actions that have been taken against HUD staff. Lastly, she emphasized the educational value of such resolutions, suggesting they can inform the public and encourage pushback through organizations like the NY Association of Towns. RESOLUTION #6 (2025) – RECOMMENDING THE TOWN BOARD ADOPT A RESOLUTION OPPOSING PROPOSED CUTS TO HOUSING IN THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET M Murphy offered the following resolution and asked for its adoption: RESOLVED, that the Affordable and Workforce Housing Committee of the Town of Dryden recommends that the Town Board adopt the following resolution: Resolution Opposing Proposed Cuts to Housing in Congressional Budget AWHC 2025-03-05 Final 2 Whereas, the Town and Village of Dryden are pro-housing communities, and Whereas, the high cost of housing as a key element of inflation was well-documented as a primary issue for voters in the 2024 national election, and Whereas, housing affordability is a huge problem in Tompkins County, affecting residents at all income levels according to the 2022 Housing Snapshot (most recent available), and Whereas, more than half of renters in Tompkins County were housing cost-burdened (spending more than 30% of income on housing) and almost 38% are severely cost-burdened (spending more than 50% of income on housing) in 2022. Homelessness has increased dramatically, rising 64% from 2016 to 2022; and Whereas, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assists more than 1 million New York renters living in cities and suburbs, and over 50,000 in rural areas and small towns, 67% of whom are seniors, children, or people with disabilities. $23,675 is the average household income; and Whereas, Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) help half a million New Yorkers stay housed, preventing evictions and helping them buy necessities like food, childcare and healthcare, and Whereas, 482,000 New Yorkers live in HUD -assisted buildings including public housing, project- based Section 8, and housing for the elderly and disabled persons, and Whereas, the current budget resolution passed by the House of Representatives, passed by a vote of 217-215, calls for significant cuts across most Federal departments, and Whereas, the House Financial Services Committee, which covers Housing and Urban Development, has been instructed to find $1 billion in cuts, and Whereas, the House bill calls for a cut of the Section 8 budget by 11.4%, public housing cuts of 5% to the capital budget and 6% to operating funds, and a 1/3 cut to the HOME program, and Whereas, even the proposed Senate cuts to Section 8 by 2.5% will put thousands of Section 8 vouchers in NY at risk, and Whereas, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), which are the primary vehicle for construction of new affordable housing in the U.S., appear to be on the chopping block in proposals for extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, and Whereas, a leaked memo documented that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) aims to reduce staff at HUD by 50%, which would significantly damage HUD’s ability to efficiently run the programs that assist 1,069,400 New Yorkers with low- to moderate-incomes with both rentals and home purchase, putting these families at risk of timely accessing their assistance or losing it all together; and Whereas, access to safe, stable, affordable housing is essential to enable families to succeed and contribute to our nation’s economy, at all income levels, and federal assistance is absolutely critical to make progress on this complex issue, now, therefore, be it AWHC 2025-03-05 Final 3 Resolved, on recommendation of the Affordable and Workforce Housing Committee, that the Town of Dryden’s Town Board strongly opposes these cuts to housing programs and the staff needed to efficiently implement them, and instead calls for increased investments by the federal government through Housing Choice Vouchers, LIH Tax Credits, the HOME program, capital investments in public housing, and more. 2nd M McCarty Roll Call Vote R Burger Yes G Cassidy Yes M McCarty Yes M Murphy Yes M Robertson Yes Representative to Zoning Rewrite Steering Committee The Planning Board, tasked with guiding the zoning rewrite, has opened the process to participation from other boards and committees, asking them to provide liaisons to what amounts to a Steering Committee. With regard to time commitment, Steering Committee meetings are planned for the first Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in Town Hall (with Zoom component) and are expected to last around 1.5 hrs. Representatives might be able to skip meetings if agenda topics are not relevant to their specific committee. The possibility of M Robertson serving as the Housing Committee’s representative on the Steering Committee was raised, but she expressed concern about the time commitment involved. G Cassidy and R Burger intend to “tag team” on the meetings as representatives of the Planning Department but would keep an eye out for key housing-related issues, suggesting M Robertson could serve as an “occasional partner” when her expertise is specifically needed. Battery energy storage and crypto mining/data centers were identified as significant issues to be addressed in the new zoning law, which could potentially impact housing due to energy consumption concerns. The current thinking in regard to crypto mining/data centers is to impose certain size limits (ca 5,000 sq ft) on them rather than outlaw them altogether, but this is still being debated by the Planning Board; a decision on this will ultimately rest with the Town Board. Village of Dryden’s NY Forward Grant The State’s NY Forward Grant prioritizes funding projects in communities demonstrating a track record of progress and a strong potential for future growth and an increased tax base. To this end, the Village of Dryden was awarded a $4.5 million NY Forward grant, a significant achievement. M Murphy explained that the process of moving forward with the grant will involve a representative of the State first contacting him, which will presumably occur sometime this week. The State will be involved in hiring a consultant who will run meetings. (A million dollars for the consultant is being paid for by the State and has already been factored into the lower grant amount awarded to the Village.) An open meeting will be held in about two months’ time to gather input and organize a local steering committee (potentially 10-20 members), who will be involved in reviewing projects and making funding recommendations. The State/consultant will provide input on the committee’s composition to ensure balance. AWHC 2025-03-05 Final 4 The steering committee will decide on the matching percentage required for projects, with a minimum of 40%. Higher matches (up to 50-60%) are possible, especially for smaller community needs. A small portion of the funds (around $300,000) might have higher matching for smaller, immediate needs. After committee formation, there will be a period of time (starting in mid-July/August) when applications will be accepted. Only when this acceptance period ends will the applications be reviewed by the committee, who will prioritize realistic and well-documented projects, avoiding purely aspirational proposals. By December, the committee will approve a set of projects to submit to Albany. Albany will have the final say on which projects are approved and the level of funding. They may reduce requested amounts or reject projects altogether. For projects that pass state muster, the Village will need to secure bridge loans to cover the full project costs upfront. Matching funds will be reimbursed by the State after the project is completed, inspected, and approved. Interest on bridge loans will not be covered by the State. For Village-initiated projects, 100% matching by the State is possible, but these projects will face high scrutiny in terms of their benefit to the community and potential increase to the tax base. While infrastructure improvements within the Village are needed for housing growth, the grant is more likely to prioritize projects that directly enhance the tax base and grow the municipality, such as revitalizing existing buildings into rental properties, rather than funding new water/sewer line extensions. The criteria for steering committee membership are not yet finalized, but M Murphy intends to include individuals with a vested interest in the Village, such as business owners, even if they are not Village residents. He will likely advertise the formation of the committee after initial contact with the State representative. He alerted members that the determination of committee membership will ultimately lie with the State. M Murphy agreed to share the Village’s NY Forward grant application electronically with the Housing Committee for their understanding of the initial vision. Ezra Village and Park Grove M Murphy informed the Committee that it has been three years since Rocco Lucente brought the Ezra Village project to the Village’s attention. His Village Solars project will be completed by next year, and R Lucente is eager to keep up the momentum and move forward with the Ezra Village development. He has provided the Village with more specific details about his plan s, that he did not have last year. The primary obstacle to the Ezra Village project proceeding forward is the Village’s sewer treatment plant capacity, which is nearing its permitted limit of 600,000 gallons per day on average, as regulated by the Health Department and DEC. Current average usage is between 450,000 and 500,000 gallons, with occasional spikes. Rainy seasons exacerbate the issue, pushing the average closer to or over the limit. The Village has secured a $2.1 million Inflow & Infiltration (I&I) grant to address water entering the sewer system. Plans include sealing manholes, using cameras to identify breakages, and working with entities like the Dryden Central School District and TC3 to eliminate their improper connections to the sewer system (e.g., sump pumps). Progress is being made, particularly with TC3’s cooperation. The school district does not have a strong financial incentive to rectify their sewer connections, as they only pay for water usage, not the additional sewer treatment costs their inflow causes. AWHC 2025-03-05 Final 5 Another challenge is the need for a substantial water line connection to the Ezra Village site, including the desired two independent water sources for redundancy, especially with the Village’s growing population. Rocco Lucente remains highly committed to the Ezra Village project and views it as his next major undertaking. Right now, he is just waiting for the infrastructure issues to be worked out. There has been no recent contact from Park Grove Realty regarding their project, likely due to delays in their property acquisition. M Murphy has heard that they closed on the building within the past few months and intends to reach out to them once the Village’s sewer capacity issue is addressed. He felt that even smaller housing projects (e.g., 15 houses) are likely to be rejected by the Health Department and DEC due to the current sewer capacity constraints, highlighting the urgency of resolving the I&I issues. Cortland Standard Editorial R Burger mentioned a great editorial in today’s Cortland Standard, offering kudos to the Town and Village in acquiring the NY Forward grant. The editorial was distributed to members via email. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:16 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Loren Sparling Deputy Town Clerk