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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-IURACDC-1979-04-23 IURA AGENDA April 23, 1979 1 . Administration A. Financial Report B. Contract with DPW for Construction Implementation C. Neighborhood Technicians 2. Housing A. INHS Quarterly Report 3. Parks A. Wood Street II and Conway Park Contract with Bob Leathers for Design and Construction Supervision MINUTES IURA MEETING HELD: April 23, 1979 DATE: May 9, 1979 PRESENT: Ed Conley, Mayor, Chairman; Anne Jones, Art Pearce, Jim Dennis, Stuart Stein. ALSO: Kathe Evans, C.D. ; Roz Williams, Planning; Amy South C.D., Thys Van Cort, Planning; Press. Mayor Conley called the meeting to order at 3:15. 1. Minutes Approval : Approval of the Minutes was postponed until all members had a chance to read them. 2. Housing: Pearce presented the Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services Financial Report of 1978. He explained that the High Risk Loan Fund, a checking account, is used for rehabilitation expenses and loans to homeowners. The loan commitment is transferred to the Revolving Loan Fund, a savings account with interest on the balance. Repayment funds return to INHS for use in hew homeowner and rehabilitation loans but the interest may be used at INHS discretion for operating expenses, additional loans, etc. As interest could not originally be earned on C.D. funds, putting receivables into a savings account made it possible for interest to be saved and used again. Since it is responsible for loans and delinquencies, INHS is acting like a bank. Pearce said that it has recently sold mortgages to a California based Neighborhood Housing Services of America so that the original $700,000 City commitment will grow. Stein asked who owns this money and what safeguarding controls there are to .protect these funds. After discussion., Pearce said he would consult with an attorney and report back to the IURA/CDA. Based on their accountant's suggestion, the INHS Board will change to a single bank account for all of their programs. He said separate accounting records for' each program will be maintained since the junk fund contract with the IURA specified a separate checking account. Stein MOVED that the contract be amended according to the attached resolution. Dennis SECONDED and the motion .was unanimously PASSED. Stein asked how many applications were stimulated by INNS. Pearce said that a lot are being generated by the City Inspections. Jones asked if, after 21/2 years, anyone from INHS is going back to keep track of the work accomplished. Pearce said it would be dif- ficult to monitor. On House Recycling, Pearce said there are two (2) houses in the process of being rehabilitated for sale, two (2) on which purchase offers are being made, and another house still tied up in estates. • 1 IURA MINUTES April 23, 1979 Page 2 Conley asked when the people who bought 213 South Plain Street were able to move in. Pearce said it took nine months from the bid to the title and that they moved in 2 weeks ago. Conley asked about the money that comes back to the City from the sale of 213 South Plain Street. Williams said that the City must return the money to C.D. Conley noted that the money had not yet been returned to C.D. and asked if the IURA/CDA should make some determination as to how the money should be spent. Evans suggested it should return to INHS. Conley asked that some decision be made at a future meeting of the Agency. PCaarce said that 20 houses (15 in Northside) are either in construction or ready for construction. He concluded his report by stating that he will be available to answer any of the Agency's questions and to con- duct a walking tour of the sites if desired. Pearce mentioned that the corporate year has been changed to coincide with the fiscal year and that all Agency members are invited to the INHS Annual Meeting. Conley asked for resolution accepting Pearce's report. Jones MOVED to accept the report. Stein SECONDED and MOTION PASSED unanimously. 3. Old Business: Williams said that the treasury had pointed out that only four signatures are allowed per drawdown card: two from the Agency and two from the staff. (Previously, a resolution had been passed that any of the Agency members could sign) . She said that she and Van Cort would sign for the staff and suggested that Ann T. Jones and Stuart Stein be authorized by the IURA to sign payment vouchers on letter of credit for the Agency. Conley MOVED to so authorize. Dennis SECONDED and MOTION PASSED unanimously. Evans presented the C.D. Benefit Package for review and reminded members that at an earlier meeting the Health Insurance portion had been approved for rehabilitation specialist Ron Osher and secretary Natalie de Combray. Evans said Sharon Brown had been hired as financial counselor but did not require Health Insurance. Stein asked if approval of the Benefit Package was requested as a blanket cc,veragc for all present and future C.D. staff, or if each employee should be dealt with specifically. Evans said she did not expect that C.D. would be hiring more people and suggested blanket approval . She said that in most instances, the C.D. benefits were comparable to the Civil Service ones, the major difference being in the retirement sector where the City employers receive more than 5% of their annual salary for their retirement account. • IURA MINUTES E, April 23, 1979 page 3 Conley asked how the C.D. retirement plan would work. Evans said that as C.D. employemnt is temporary, some individuals may already have retirement plans and that payments could be made into those accounts. • Conley asked how the wage scale was set up for C.D. employees. Williams said it was based on comparable positions in INNS, the City and those of other cities. Conley said he thought that some of the salaries were based on the fact that no fringe benefits were included and said that he would like to better understand what was being done. Jones asked Evans how much vacation time she got and Evans pointed out that though she had no contract, the agreement between herself and Van Cort was that hse would have two weeks at the end of one year and days off and sick leave comparable to City employees. Jones asked if there were any contracts with C.D . employees. Evans said no and that she thought they should be drawn up. Conley said he wants to see the costs of the Benefit Package to the Agency, and a list of employees and their salaries. He mentioned his concern regarding insurance coverage of the C.D. employees, particularly during conference attendance in other localities. Van Cort said that a series of recommendations on personnel were being prepared for the next meeting. 4. Neighborhood Technicians: South presented the "job descriptions" of • two neighborhood technicians to work in the Northside and Southside neighborhoods. She said that the cost of the assistants would be $20,000 for both, not necessarily equal , for one year and said they hope to hire by June 1 , 1979. The money is budgeted in the CDBG 5th year entitlement paplication. Stein asked what a technical assistant was and South said that the term is used by HUD and refers to community organizers. Jones asked if the training experience for both candidates should be the same or complementary. South said that one way in which they might compliment each other would be by having one a resident and one a non resident of the community. She said that no particular educational background would be required so as not to limit candidates that might otherwise fit the job. • Evans suggested that a variety of backgrounds would fit this program and mentioned local merchants or retired real estate brokers as examples. • IURA MINUTES April 23, 1979 page 4 Stein asked why the Agency should have the responsibility of searching for candidates instead of the merchants concerned. Evans agreed but said that as no merchant's organization exists, the idea would be to have one technician set up this kind of group which in turn would help choose the marketing consultant. Van Cort said that the ad will go into the newpaper and that interviews will begin within 4 weeks. He asked if any IURA members were interested in sitting in on interviews. Stein and Jones said they were but that they did not fully understand the nature of the jobs. Stein suggested sharpening up the training and experience qualifications to ' avoid an overabundance of applications. Conley asked where these people would work and pointed out there was no room left in City Hall. South said there were a number of possibilities including GIAC, INHS, or offices in the Co-op Shopping Center and said she was looking into it. Van Cort stressed that it is impossible to have commercial revitali- zation without a strong community organization component. 5. Parks: Williams presented a resolution that asked IURA to direct �+ C.D. to enter into a contract with Bob Leathers to design, prepare specifications and supervise the construction of Wood St. and Conway Parks. She said it was important to begin as the money (Small Cities funding) must be spent within the year and the Ithaca construction period has begun. Conley expressed his view that as the housing project adjacent to Conway Park already has a playground, and as improvements to Con- way Park will require additional City maintenance, he is unable to be enthusiastic about the project. Stein stressed working with the neighborhood and with Alderman Saccucci on the plans. Van Cort said that the plans will be presented to the Agency for their approval . After discussion, the resolution was changed to read that the IURA direct C.D. staff to enter into a contract with Robert S. Leathers which will be brought back to the Agency for approval before final- ization. Dennis MOVED to accept the resolution, Jones SECONDED and MOTION PASSED unanimously. 1 IURA MINUTES April 23, 1979 page 5 6. Financial Report: Williams proposed a resolution to accept the letter to James Sweeney of HUD addressing the six findings of the Audit Report. This letter is a response to the Audit Report which was originally pre- sented in December, 1978. The response involves changing the accounting for Community Development from the City Finance Department to an accountant; the allocation of all costs to the program line rather than to the activity line and the monthly provision of financial statements to the accountant. Stein MOVED to authorize Van Cort to respond to Mr. Sweeney of HUD, Jones SECONDED and the MOTION was unanimously PASSED. • Van Cort added that the State auditors were presently conducting a routine audit of the City and had made initial contact with himself and Williams regarding past financial administration of C.D. funds. He said that they have explained that initially the administration of the pro- gram was carried out by the City Comptroller and then turned over to Sciar- raba Walker Co. 7. Contract with DPW for Construction Implementation: Williams pointed out that this contract has no money attached to it but that it provides, by mutual agreement, for the supervision and monitoring of each project by the DPW. Jones asked what kind of notice must be given to implement the projects and MOVED to approve the contract with the inclusion of a schedule. Stein SECONDED and the motion was unanimously PASSED. Williams said that the HUD area office is questioning the appropriate- ness of Citywide activities in the 5th year entitlement application. She presented a letter for approval to be sent to Mr. Cerabone, Director, explaining the rationale behind the Citywide. Activities. Dennis MOVED to approve the sending of the letter. Stein SECONDED • and the MOTION was unanimously PASSED. Meeting was adjourned at 5:00 and the Agency went into Executive Session. • • APPENDIX A - COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS SCOPE OF SERVICES I. PROJECT NARRATIVE The projects listed below consist of construction projects to be imple- mented by the City of Ithaca's Department of Public Works (DPW) according to designs and plans approved by the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency (IURA) and in accordance with the City's Community Development Program. The DPW agrees to provide the services necessary as specified in this Contract for the period commencing May 1 , 1979 and ending January 31 , 1982. The IURA will provide the necessary plans, designs and programs on a project-by-project basis, and will forward its requirements for each project to the DPW through formal resolution. The services consist of the following: A. Construction Document: The DPW will supervise the development of specifications for each project after the specific design is approved by the IURA and accepted by the DPW. This will include responsibility for assuring compliance with the Department of Housing and Urban Devel- opment (HUD) bidding and specification requirements in accordance with the contract, including Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity, project resident and business requirements and Fair Labor Standards. • B. Bidding: All procedures for letting construction contracts, " including pre-bid conferences and reporting, will be followed by the DPW. All specifications shall be sent to appropriate minority contractors in the general area. C. Monitoring: The DPW will monitor the work while in progress, and approve all work performed under this contract in accordance with regular City procedures. II. BUDGET • The budget for each project will be determined by IURA resolution and agreed to by the DPW before project implementation by the DPW. Only costs related to the construction projects implementation (bidding, duplication of specifications, construction contracts , materials) are allowed. Furthermore, work on any. project shall not commence on any project until a written work ordee has been executed by the Community Development Agency. This provision is to ensure that release of funds has occurred before work begins. - It is explicitly understood by the DPW and CDA that funding for these projects is contingent upon funding being made available to the City of Ithaca by the Department of Housing and Urban Development • in the years in which the project is to be funded. Any Budget Revision or Change Order must be done in compliance with rules established in the contract. IL Appendix A page 2 Evaluation and Information Requirements The DPW will prepare and report to the IURA on a schedule project which includes dates of pre bid and pre construciton conference, dates when work is to commence and work completion. Construction Projects The following projects are capital improvements to publicly owned properties as described in the City of Ithaca's C.D. entitlement appli- cations and Small Cities application and to be implemented by the Department of Public Works. 102 Neighborhood Facilities (Southsidel) 105 Neighborhood Improvements 203 Neighborhood Facilities (GIAC I) 209 Park Facilities 211 Neighborhood Facilities (GIAC I) 303 Neighborhood Facilities 305 Neighborhood Improvement 307 Land Banking 311 Neighborhood Improvements 312 Street Improvements 406 Neighborhood Improvements 416 Street Improvements II S106 Neighborhood Improvements S107 Wood Street Park S108 Conway Park S109 GIAC The project numbers are subject to changes if a project is amended/ Z3 033 WHEREAS, the Small Cities program has been approved by HUD, and WHEREAS, a budget of $20,000 each for the Wood Street and Conway Parks • is included in the 1st year Small Cities and WHEREAS, improvement of these parks in the 1979 construction season is desired, and WHEREAS, the funds have to be spent in the fiscal year, THEREFORE, be it resolved that the IURA enter into a contract with Bob Leathers to design, prepare specifications, supervise the construction of Wood Street and Conway Parks. 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