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Minutes_Housing Commission 1 26 16 HOUSING COMMISSION MEETING DATE: Tuesday, January 26, 2016 TIME: 4:00 p.m. PLACE: Housing and Community Development Department 350 W. 6th Street, Suite 312, Dubuque, IA 52001 Chairperson Rick Baumhover called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m., following staff assurance of compliance with Iowa Open Meeting Law. Commissioners Present: Rick Baumhover Amy Eudaley (joined at 4:09) Anna Fernandes Jill Kedley Bob McDonnell Sr. Dorothy Schwendinger Coralita Shumaker David Wall Commissioners Absent: None Staff Present: Alvin Nash Teresa Bassler Brenda Henry Tonya England Mike Van Milligen Janet Walker Kris Neyen Erica Haugen Scott Koch Jerelyn O'Connor Public Present: Tom Barton, Telegraph Herald Review and Certification of Minutes of November 24, 2015 Commission Meeting Commissioner McDonnell moved to approve the minutes as submitted. Commissioner Schwendinger seconded. Roll call. All present in favor. Motion passed. Correspondence/Public Input None Old Business None New Business 1. Proposed Changes to Section 8 Administration Policy a. Proposed Change to City of Dubuque Administrative Plan for Interim Reexaminations Janet Walker, Assisted Housing Supervisor, explained the current process regarding re- examining income and the proposed changes in the process. If the client's income changes $200 or more per month the interim re-examination will be processed. This amount will save in both time and money for staff and benefit the client. All increases still must be reported but will not be processed unless the amount of the increase is $200 or more per month. Commissioner Kedley moved to approve the proposed change to the Administrative Plan for Interim Reexaminations as submitted. Commissioner Eudaley seconded. Roll call. All present in favor. Motion passed. b. Proposed Change to City of Dubuque Administrative Plan for Minimum Rent Walker explained the current minimum rent was set at $50 for family share of rent. Housing Director Alvin Nash has suggested that the minimum rent be set at $0 due to the amount of concerns and complaints being made and the hardship the $50 was causing many clients. HUD has a provision that minimum rent must be set between $0 and $50.Commissioner Eudaley asked if we could provide the utility allowance directly to the utility company versus to the client. It was explained by Walker that it is difficult to decide which utility provider should receive the payment since the software does not allow for more than one check to be issued. Commissioner Eudaley moved to approve the proposed change to the Administrative Plan for Minimum Rent as submitted. Commissioner Wall seconded. Roll call. All present in favor. Motion passed. c. Proposed Change to City of Dubuque Administrative Plan for Notification and Attendance at Briefing Walker explained that some clients are having difficulties getting to the Briefing appointment on time due to problems with locating the building and parking issues. The current rule is that if a client is one minute late for their appointment, that appointment must be rescheduled. The proposed change is to allow 15 minutes for the client to get to the Briefing appointment after the scheduled time. If the tardiness is over 15 minutes, then the appointment would need to be rescheduled. A client is allowed two reschedules before they lose their opportunity for a voucher briefing and the opportunity is moved to the next eligible participant. It was suggested that the change be made on page 5-2, paragraph 3, under Notification and Attendance to start a new paragraph after the first full sentences (ending in the middle of line 3). Thus the new paragraph would begin with "Applicants who fail to attend..." This change allowed the Commission to vote on the Proposed Change without changing the wording of the original proposed change. Commissioner Schwendinger moved to approve the proposed change to the Administrative Plan for Notification and Attendance at Briefing as submitted. Commissioner Shumaker seconded. Roll call. All present in favor. Motion passed. 2. Proposed International Property Maintenance Code Nash explained to the Commission that since 1970 the City has operated under a General Housing Code for enforcement and inspections. The traditional maintenance code generally being used is the International Property Maintenance Code. The purpose of changing the Code being used is to give the City and Inspectors better opportunity to better enforce violations and improve the quality and workmanship of the repairs required to be made. City Council will need to approve this since it is a change in City Code. It will go to City Council in approximately two months. The purpose is to have more consistency within the City Departments by using the same codes. The IMPC gets updated every three years. Commissioner Schwendinger moved to approve the proposed change to the International Property Maintenance Code as submitted. Commissioner Kedley seconded. Roll call. All present in favor. Motion passed. Reports Crime Reports City Manager Mike Van Milligen provided information and handouts on Iowa Headlines and Safe Neighborhoods. Van Milligen discussed in detail some of the statistics for gun violence in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Davenport, Sioux City and Des Moines. He talked about the difference having more cameras being installed and used by the police have assisted in improving the speed in solving crimes. He also shared that the Police Chief of Dubuque is meeting with other police chiefs from around the state to discuss ways to address concerns and find ways for additional legal remedies for the increase in gun violence. Corporal Scott Koch provided a brief overview of the reports he had provided to the Commission. Nuisance Property Report Corporal Koch stated we have an enhanced Neighborhood Program. We are up to 78 nuisance properties since 2014. There have been 388 backgrounds completed in 2015 and 27 completed since January 2016. CDBG Advisory Commission Report There were no questions or comments to the CDBG report that had previously been provided by Erica Haugen. Rehabilitation Reports Kris Neyen, Rehabilitation Programs Supervisor, presented a Rehabilitation Department Monthly Report to the Commission. There were no questions or comments from the Commission. Neyen shared she had a ribbon cutting at 2300 Jackson Street. The sale of that home will be closing on 1/29/16. Neighborhood Services Report— Jerelyn O'Connor, Neighborhood Development Specialist, shared the importance of neighborhoods working together toward safety. O'Connor shared that the handout provided by Van Milligen is something she shares when she is out in the community at meetings. O'Connor provided a newsletter from the Point Neighborhood. That group received a grant to try to keep in touch with everyone within that neighborhood. Information Sharing Alvin Nash, Housing Director, shared information regarding the recent award of Resiliency Flood Mitigation grant. It was a $31.5 million dollar grant, with City Housing receiving $8.4 million dollars. This is to assist property owners to maintain and improve properties damaged by prior years flooding. It enables the houses damaged by past floods to be more resilient from future flooding. Some of the money will go to the Bee Branch to help with the flooding. We are looking to try to assist 320-350 units with an average of approximately $16 —20,000 per house to ensure resiliency. It is a grant...not a loan. Out of 40 applications, there were only 13 awarded funding. Van Milligen shared that there was $1 Billion dollars available. To qualify, you had to have floods in 2011, 2012 or 2013. Originally there were 80 applicants in the first round. Dubuque received the 4th highest award in the country. Erica Haugen was a key leader in the application process. He noted that people involved in this application process did some "great, great work." Commissioner Schwendinger wanted it noted that the "Commission congratulates all parties involved for the great work done. It was a HUGE success." Nash mentioned there is a Healthy Homes part of this grant. There is a Home Advocate included in this to assist with the health and any other issues that a family may have that stemmed from the flooding as well. This will do more than just assist with the clean-up of mold and mildew, but help if there are any medical or other issues. Commissioner Baumhover reminded the Commission that February 17, 2016 is the Budget Presentation for City Council. There will be a dinner provided before the presentation. The dinner will be held in Room 250 of the Federal Building. Teresa Bassler introduced Tonya England to the Commission. She is the new Assisted Housing Secretary who will be taking the minutes for the future Housing Commission meetings. Adiournment There being no further business to come before the Commission, Commissioner McDonnell moved to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Schwendinger seconded. Motioned passed by voice vote. Meeting adjourned at 5:17 p.m. Minutes taken by: oe" �4 , Brenda Henry Recording Secretary Respectfully submitted: Alvin Nash Department Director