Lead Paint ProgramTHE CITY OF
DUB E
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
MEMORANDUM
September 13, 2007
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Lead Paint Program
It was previously agreed that the two lead based paint inspectors could stay in City
employment until the City learned in late September if the City would secure another
round of federal grant funding. These employees were retained in spite of the fact that
the current grant had expired and the City had been rejected once in a refunding
application.
Retaining these employees through the end of September was an easy decision
because Housing and Community Development Director David Harris had identified
funding sources through the program activities.
David has identified that this program activity is short $41,300 in funds and the City has
now covered that with a combination of carry-over funds from the General Housing
Activity and the transfer of some revenue from the discontinued Rental Rehab Program.
Housing and Community Development Director David Harris is now recommending that
these two positions be retained as the City reviews the code enforcement efforts to
determine how these efforts could be enhanced. This enhancement could include
improvement in processes, changes in ordinances and an increase in staff. The Code
enforcement review has begun and will be presented for City Council consideration
through this year's budget process.
David's concern is that if these two inspectors were let go now and then there was a
recommendation for additional staff in code enforcement the City would have lost two
highly trained employees.
The estimated cost of $115,000 is available from savings in the Fiscal Year 2007
budget that just closed out as of June 30, 2007.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
~~~~~~
~ ~; v
Michael C. Van Milligen
MCVM/LW
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
David Harris, Housing & Community Development Director
THE CITY OF
DUB E
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
13 September 07
To: Michael Va Milligen,
t
MEMORANDUM
City Manager
From: David a 's, Housing and Community Development Department
Re: Lead Paint Program
Our most recent HUD Round 13 Lead Hazard Reduction grant closed out as of
the end of March of this year. We submitted a Round 14 renewal application in
June, in the amount of $2.99 million, with the expectation of a re-funding decision
from HUD by the end of this month. If renewed, new grant operations will
commence on 1 October.
We have kept the two incumbent lead paint inspectors employed during the
interim -since March - using a combination of accrued training program
revenues, a $15 000 technical assistance grant from the Iowa Department of
Economic Development and general funds subsidy from FY2007 savings. The
inspectors have also performed a variety of paint-related inspections on an
hourly basis for the Engineering Department.
The inspectors, Bob Boge and Joe Kirk, have received their lay-off notices
effective 21 September.
In the interim, a comprehensive review process has been convened for
assessment of our problem property enforcement programs. Staff from a
number of departments are participating in this series of facilitated meetings, with
the goal of improving performance and response to citizen complaints. It is not
unlikely that a recommendation of this task force will be for additional
enforcement staff. If so, this would be made as a FY 2009 budget request. We
expect to wrap up the work of the task force by the end of November.
The two Housing Department lead program inspectors have received cross
training in all aspects of housing code enforcement; they have obtained all
available certifications as provided through the Kirkwood College IAHO (Iowa
Association of Housing Officials) training program. They also each have 20+
years of comprehensive residential construction experience. They are State-
certified in all aspects of the lead paint professional training protocols. For these
reasons -and because of the potential re-funding of the Lead Paint program and
the possibility of recommending additional housing enforcement positions - we
have searched for alternatives to laying them off and losing them to other
employers.
Budget Director Jenny Larson has identified available recaptured funds from
department-wide FY07 savings, sufficient to meet payroll and benefits costs to
keep these two inspectors in full-time employment through the current fiscal year.
This cost is approximately $115 000.
My recommendation is to keep the two inspectors on our payroll, using these
available funds. If the HUD Round 14 grant is re-funded, they would immediately
resume lead paint program activities. If the enforcement task force would not
recommend additional inspection staff, the inspectors would again receive their
lay-off notices. But if the task force recommendation was for another
inspector(s), our incumbent staff would be priority-considered for filling the new
position openings as of July 2008.
cc:
Jenny Larson, Budget Director
THE CITY OF
DUB E
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
28 August 07
MEMORANDUM
To: Michael V Milligan, City Manager
~.
From: David ams, Housing and Community Development Department
Re: Lead Hazard Reduction Program funding issue
This HUD-funded grant closed out as of 30 March of this year. Since that time,
we have continued to employ three program staff, funded through a combination
of accrued training revenues, additional trainings and a technical assistance
grant received from the Iowa Department of Economic Development.
Based on projections of those revenues, we planned to operate ascaled-down
program through September, at which time we anticipated notification of re-
funding of our pending application for a third Lead Hazard Reduction Program
grant. If the application would be denied, the program would be discontinued at
that time. During this interim period, the inspectors have continued to respond to
cases of elevated blood lead levels, performing environmental investigations.
They have also continued to comply with terms of the grant, which require annual
retesting and certification of units previously completed through lead hazard
reduction activities.
In addition, we have used the inspectors to assist our efforts at Washington
Neighbofiood revitalization activities, including working on several derelict
homes purchased through DB&T's community development corporation. These
have been made `lead-safe' and subsequently sold to lower-income homeowner
families. Last, the inspectors have provided some assistance in completing the
fourth HEART Program home on Washington Street, preparatory to selling it to a
first-time homeowner.
Last week, however, due to analysis performed by the Budget Director, we
discerned that revenues had been incorrectly calculated and in fact the program
was out of funds. As of the close of the fiscal year, we had spent about $41 300
for program expenses for which no funds remained.
The remaining program staff have received their lay-off notices, effective 21
September. They have been authorized to continue to work in the interim, at an
approximate cost of $16 900. FY2007 savings in General Fund expenditures will
be utilized for that cost. The short-fall will be covered by a combination of cany-
overfunds from the General Housing activity and transfer of some reserves from
the discontinued Rental Rehab Program; both of these are Housing Department
accounts. In addition, the inspectors have been performing a variety of
inspection services for the Engineering Department for the past two months, on
an hourly basis. Those revenues will be utilized to reduce the deficit.
cc:
Jenny Larson, Budget Director