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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-IURANI-2011-08-12 108 East Green Street Ithaca, New York 14850 (607) 274-655 Approved Minutes IURA Neighborhood Investment Committee August 12, 2011 I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 8:37 AM by Chairperson Tracy Farrell with members Fernando de Aragón, Teresa Halpert, and Caleb Thomas present. Susan Cummings was away. Staff Member Sue Kittel was also present. During the meeting Mary Pat Dolan, Interim Director of Catholic Charities joined the group to discuss Anti-Poverty programs and Robert Brown and Bethany Schroder arrived to update the Committee on the Ithaca Health Alliance. Paul Mazarella arrived at 10:15 AM to discuss the 2011 Foreclosed Property project. II. Additions to or deletions from the agenda There were no additions or deletions from the agenda. III. Public comment None IV. Review of Minutes- April 8, 2011 On a motion by Farrell and second by de Aragón the minutes from April 8, 2011 were approved unanimously. V. New Business a) Election of committee Vice-Chairperson and nomination of Chairperson Appointment of Chairperson of IURA Neighborhood Investment Committee Whereas, amendments to the IURA By-laws adopted on September 27, 2008 established procedures for selecting officers of IURA committees, and Whereas, the IURA By-laws provide that the committee membership shall elect its own committee Vice-Chairperson and nominate a committee Chairperson to the Agency, which shall have authority to appoint each committee Chairperson, and Whereas, an Agency member shall fill either the committee Chairperson or committee Vice Chairperson position, and Whereas, officers of each committee serve a one-year term, but continue to hold office until their successor is selected or appointed, and Whereas the IURA Neighborhood Investment Committee is comprised of the following members: Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency • Tracy Farrell • Susan Cummings • Fernando de Aragón • Teresa Halpert • Caleb Thomas, and Whereas, at their August 12, 2011 meeting, the IURA Neighborhood Investment Committee nominated Tracy Farrell to serve as Committee Chairperson and elected Fernando de Aragón to serve as Committee Vice-Chairperson; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the IURA hereby appoints Tracy Farrell to serve as Chairperson of the IURA Neighborhood Investment Committee. Moved by Halpert, second by de Aragón. Passed unanimously. b) Discussion of Anti-Poverty Programs with Mary Pat Dolan, former DSS Commissioner and Catholic Charities Interim Director (9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.) Mary Pat Dolan discussed anti-poverty programs she was familiar with. She noted that in her opinion many programs are too narrow in their targeting and that by offering only a narrowly defined type of assistance these types of programs often do not lead to success over the long term. She believes that a professionally guided but not necessarily professionally staffed program that helped address the broad spectrum of needs of individuals and families in distress is a better plan, naming the range of assistance an extended and well functioning family provides its members. She named the Jeffrey Canada model (Harlem Children’s Zone—a holistic program that supports children and their families in rebuilding their community). Dolan believes that locally we would need to begin with an existing well- functioning program and fill in services and programs around that. She believes that inevitably such a program would need to have flexible funds that would be available to meet a variety of arising needs. She mentioned the former Parent Partnership program at Family and Children’s Services as the kind of program that could have been the nucleus for building a program around. This was a program that put supports around a family at risk of losing their parental rights to child protective services. She agreed that measuring outcomes would be difficult and emphasized that such an effort would have to be sustained over the long term. c) Update from Ithaca Health Alliance about operations in their new location (9:45 a.m.) Robert Brown and Bethany Schroder discussed the operations of the Ithaca Free Clinic at their new location on West Seneca Street. The IURA is paying the rent at this space for most of the year (2010 #18). Schroder reported that being in the neighborhood has been very beneficial in a number of ways ranging from the walkability of the sire to the access to services and pharmacies. The program has gone from 2 treatment rooms to 4-6 treatment rooms operating at any given time along with an assessment and screening room. Their educational programming has grown due to the fact that the new location ha a room that can accommodate up o 30 people. They have presented information on lung health, heart health, herbals, etc. Currently they have about 8 primary health care providers who are regularly working with them along with 15 nurses, 2 acupuncturists, herbalist, 1 women’s health provider, a psychologist and 2 social workers, and a group of about 10nutritionists who rotate in. Faculty and graduate students at Ithaca College’s Occupational Therapy program as well as massage students and their supervising faculty also see clients at the clinic. The Free Clinic staff mentioned future needs of rental assistance as a possibility. d) Other The next NI Committee meeting was scheduled for Sept. 2 at 8:30 AM to accommodate the schedules of the members and those of the staff of Pathstone, who may be bringing forth a tax-credit project at Parkside Gardens. Since such a project would require an early decision on funding for 2012, due to the February deadline for tax credit applications, the Committee wanted to obtain detailed information from the potential project proponents. VI. Old Business a) Discussion of design of foreclosed properties (2011 #6) Paul Mazarella, Executive Director of Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services provided design drawings for the foreclosed properties that INHS will redevelop this year. Agency members were very happy with the designs. Both houses will likely qualify as LEED Gold or Platinum, and Energy Star housing. They will also have access to the back yard for vehicles and will have front and rear porches. Mazarella stated that he expects to have a demolition permit in hand in about 30 days with construction beginning this year. Both properties are on roughly the same schedule. de Aragón left the meeting at 10:25 AM. b) Other None VII. Staff Report Kittel reported that RIBS (2007 # 10) is just about complete. They have just purchased a storage building and have completed the repairs to the building and had the fence installed. She also reported about delays in the project at Southside (2007 #9) stating that the air conditioning unit was wrongly manufactured, which has led to a number of problems. It is expected that replacement parts will arrive before the end of August and that the air conditioner will be working by Sept. 1. VIII. Motion to Adjourn Farrell moved to adjourn the meeting at 10:40 am with all concurring.