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Home My WebLink AboutMN-IURANI-2010-09-24Approved October 8, 2010 108 East Green Street Ithaca, New York 14850 (607) 274-6559 Minutes Neighborhood Investment Committee September 24, 2010 Present: Tracy Farrell, Teresa Halpert and Fernando de Aragón Excused: Susan Cummings Staff: JoAnn Cornish, Sue Kittel Guest: Paul Mazzarella, Executive Director of Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services I. Call to Order At 8:35 a.m. Chairperson Tracy Farrell called the meeting to order. II Additions to or deletions from the agenda None III. Public comment (3-minute maximum per person) None IV. Approval of meeting minutes: April 23 and August 13, 2010 On a motion by de Aragón and second by Halpert the minutes of April 23 and August 13, 2010 were approved with non-substantive corrections. V. New Business A. Discussion of schedule for the 2011 grant round Set Meeting Schedule for 2011 Grant Proposal Review Kittel reported that the schedule for the 2011 Entitlement Grant is being developed. The committee decided to meet on February 2, 2011 from 2-4 p.m. and February 11 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. to review applications, in addition to their regular January meeting date (January 14). A complete meeting schedule will be provided to the committee members as soon as the IURA schedule is known. B. Other None VI. Old Business A. Update Ithaca Neighborhood Housing (Paul Mazzarella)(8:40) Paul Mazzarella, Executive Director of Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services joined the meeting to discuss projects of interest to the IURA. First, he reported that the Women’s Community Building project (2010 HOME project #3) did not receive funding through the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency NIC Minutes September 24, 2010 Page 2 of 5 NYS Tax Credit program. His staff will be meeting with a group from the Department of Housing and Community Renewal, the agency who runs the tax credit program, to learn more about why the project was not selected. Mazzarella reported that no Tompkins County projects were funded and state wide, awards were down by 50%. INHS hopes to move forward with the project and will develop detailed plans for the project after considering the information they are able to gain from the scheduled exit conference. He will report back to the NI Committee on October 8. Second, Mazzarella showed photos of the three tax-foreclosed properties INHS recently received through the City. One, at 10 Hawthorne Circle, appears to be in reasonable condition and should only require modest improvement to prepare it for sale to a new, low-income homeowner. The other two, at 305 East Falls St and 507 Cascadilla Street, are in much worse condition. Both houses have had extensive water damage and INHS believes that they may not be able to be rehabilitated. They have been in both of these buildings but have not done a detailed analysis. Discussion followed. The IURA NI Committee expressed a strong preference for rehabilitation, in most cases, and a concern about deciding to tear a house down without exhausting all options. It was decided to split the next NI meeting, with the first half being at City Hall for regular business and then going to visit these sites starting at 10:00. Kittel will try to make arrangements to get into these buildings through the building department. B. Community Housing of Ithaca - update, possible resolution CHI has sent in a response to the letter issued by the IURA on August 13 which detailed the steps that need to be taken to clear up the concerns about the functioning and viability of CHI as a legitimate not for profit organization. Staff has reviewed this response with the IURA attorney. CHI has not had an official meeting since February of this year and had a meeting in September where only the two partners in the law firm of Guttman and Wallace who serve on the board and one other board member attending. Since this was not an official meeting (there was no quorum) the information discussed does not constitute an action of the board. These concerns have lingered over a period of months and there is little tangible progress being seen. While the Committee recognizes the successful projects we have undertaken with CHI, they have all been protracted events requiring a lot of board and staff time to move the projects along. After some discussion it was the unanimous direction of the committee to reallocate the funds in the 2010 Action Plan that were earmarked for 421 Second Street (2010 # 4) and let these funds be part of the 2011 grant round. Kittel will discuss this with the IURA Attorney and come to the October meeting with a resolution for consideration. C. Updated Grant Application Evaluation Worksheet - discussion Committee members tried to use our draft grant application evaluation worksheet to score past applications that were not funded at the time they were received. All members reported difficulty making the scoring sheet work. After discussion on the merits of having some sort of evaluation sheet but the limitations of a numeric score, the committee decided to use a narrative evaluation, addressing the elements identified in the evaluation form that has been developed, but not using any sort of numeric scoring system. Several small changes were made to the draft NIC Minutes September 24, 2010 Page 3 of 5 evaluation form. Kittel will make the changes and then provide evaluation forms with the 2011 Applications, to be used as the committee decided which projects to fund with the 2011 grant award. D. Other None VII. Staff Report A. RIBS – update and possible resolution Committee members reviewed the communication from Nels Bohn regarding RIB’s. RIB’s staff came before the committee earlier this year and several issues were identified that had to be addressed before the IURA would release the funds to rehabilitate the Buffalo Street property where the program is currently housed. It appears that the RIB’s program has met all the stipulations and after discussion, the following was adopted on a motion by de Aragón and second by Halpert. HUD Entitlement Grant – Request by SSCC to Revise Project Scope and Extend Schedule for the RIBs Building Renovation Project (project #10, 2007 CDBG) Whereas, on February 10, 2010, the Southside Community Center (SSCC) submitted a request to revise the project scope for the RIBs Building Renovation project at 530 W. Buffalo Street (project #10, 2007 CDBG) and extend the deadline to expend CDBG funds, and Whereas, on June 26, 2008 an IURA funding agreement was executed with SSCC to undertake a project to renovate the vacant former pump station building at 530 W. Buffalo Street for use by Recycle Ithaca Bicycles (RIBs), a program of the SSCC, and Whereas, based on cost estimates procured by SSCC, CDBG funds were earmarked for the following uses: $5,800 Masonry repair $3,900 Roof repair $2,000 Gas heater $10,000 Storage shed $5,000 Deck & stairs $26,700 Total, and Whereas, subsequent investigation and cost quotes revealed that (1) additional building renovations are necessary to comply with the NY State Building Code, (2) roof repair needs are more extensive than originally projected, and (3) the exterior fence and gate needs is in need of upgrading to ensure long-term durability, and Whereas, SSCC’s desired building renovation project includes the following scope based on price quotes at Davis-Bacon wage rates: $17,057 New roof installation (including roof insulation) NIC Minutes September 24, 2010 Page 4 of 5 $9,470 Interior insulation and drywall $5,800 Perimeter fencing & gate $2,869 Hand railings at two stairways $2,836 Interior painting $2,418 Insulation of storage/work area $2,207 Parapet & coping repairs $3,000 Construction management (IURA)/contingency $135 Gas-fired heater (completed) $415 Building permit $46,207 Total, and Whereas, SSCC has agreed to assume responsibility for completing the following repairs/renovations: $2,869 Hand railings at two stairways, $2,836 Interior painting, $2,418 Insulation of storage/work area $8,123 Total, and Whereas, the projected total project cost is $54,330, which resulted in a funding gap of approximately $20,000, and Whereas, on April 28, 2010, the IURA deferred action on the request pending documentation of RIBs programming activity and low/mod income beneficiaries during the summer, and the outcome of efforts to secure additional project funding, and Whereas, 2010 RIBs Summer programming at 530 W. Buffalo Street consisted of an “Open-Shop” three days a week and “Hands-on Bicycle Maintenance & Repair Clinic” once a week with the following staffing: • RIBs Program Coordinator – 25 hours/week • Program Assistant – 10 hours/week • Shop Mechanic- 10 hours/week, and • Whereas, RIBs will offer the following programming through the Fall: • Open-Shop: Saturdays, 11 AM – 3 PM • Novice Clinic: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 AM – 12 PM • Intermediate/Advanced Clinic: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4 PM – 7 PM, and Whereas, SSCC has allocated $1,500 for new shop tools, bicycle equipment and office supplies for the RIBs program, and Whereas, SSCC reports from May 25, 2010 to August 5, 2010, a total of 104 new members were registered for the RIBs program, of which 88 members are LMI beneficiaries (58 are City LMI residents), and Whereas, on June 2, 2010, the City of Ithaca approved $650,000 of funding for Capital Project #515 Water & Sewer – First Street Stormwater and Site Improvements, of which $20,000 is being made available for improvements to the 530 W. Buffalo Street facility, and NIC Minutes September 24, 2010 Page 5 of 5 Whereas, available funding is now sufficient to complete the project from the following sources: $26,700 CDBG $20,000 City Capital Project #515 $8,123 Southside Community Center $54,823 Total, and Whereas, the Neighborhood Investment Committee, reviewed this matter at their September 24, 2010 meeting; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the IURA hereby approves an extension of the schedule to expend CDBG funds to June 20, 2011 and a revised project scope, budget and funding sources as identified above. Unanimously Approved 3-0 B. Housing Revolving Loan Fund – update No update C. Other None VIII. Next Meeting Date - October 8, 2010 IX. Motion to Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 10:22 a.m. J:\Community Development\Admin Files\MINUTES\NIC\2010\9September\September draft minutes.doc