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HRA 01/06/2005 - 29588i / � CITY OF FRIDLEY �� HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY JANUARY 6, 2005 � � CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Commers called the January 6, 2005 Housing and Redevelopment Authority meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Pesent: Larry Commers John Meyer Virginia Schnabel William Holm Pat Gabel Others Present: Paul Bolin, Assistant HRA Director Paul Eisenmenger, Accountant Rebecca Brazys, Recording Secretary APPROVAL OF MINUTES: December 2, 2004 MOTION by Commissioner Schnabel, seconded by Commissioner Gabel, to approve the minutes as presented. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. CONSENT AGENDA: • Consider Claims 8� Expenses Commissioner Schnabel questioned why only December 30 & 31 St are listed on the check register. Mr. Eisenmenger explained those were the only bills they had for December. MOTION by Commissioner Holm, seconded by Commissioner Meyer, to approve the consent agenda. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING — JANUARY 6, 2005 Page 2 of 6 � ACTION: • Contract for services — agreement beiween HRA & City Mr. Bolin explained he, Mr. Hickok and the HRA's legal counsel reviewed the agreement. It was originally determined that it would be easier to update the original 1979 agreement rather than creating one from scratch, but that hasn't been the case. At the November and December HRA meetings, drafts of this agreement were brought before the board and changes were requested. If there are any additional changes or corrections, he asked the board members to note those changes on their copy and staff will incorporate those changes. Commissioner Meyer stated the word Fridley is still in the document and should be replaced with the word City. In General Provision 3, Item C, it states it shall be the responsibility of the city together with the Authority to provide insurance policies and workman's comp. He felt this should be changed to specify that the City is responsible for that coverage. Commissioner Gabel stated the first sentence of Item C should be deleted `The City does not assume any responsibility or liability for the acts or omissions of the officers..." � � �� Commissioner Schnabel asked if the Mr. Bolin has discussed the liability issue with the city attomey. !—L� Mr. Bolin responded he has not but he would be happy to do so. He added that the city is self insured up to a certain dollar amount, and then the League of Minnesota Cities insurance takes over after that. It is his understanding that the HRA is covered under the umbrella of the City. Commissioner Schnabel asked that Mr. Bolin clarify this issue prior to the next meeting. Commissioner Schnabel stated she does not like the sexist language in the document and asked that it all be removed; any reference to "he" should be removed and replaced with the position title. She also found some grammatical errors that she circled. On the last page of the document in the paragraph just above General Provisions which requires the Authority to pay the City for overall administrative expenses not to exceed 5% of the salaries of personnel services attributable to the Authority. She questioned what the additional 5% is necessary when the HRA is already paying salaries, rent and services. Mr. Eisenmenger stated he will look into this and report back at the next meeting. Commissioner Schnabel stated under General Provisions, Item H, regarding the procedure for replacement of the Executive Director. Since the Executive Director is the City Manager, the wording of this provision does not appear correct. �"� HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING — JANUARY 6, 2005 Page 3 of 6 Mr. Bolin stated he will review this writh the city attomey and report back at the next �`'� meeting. �` Commissioner Holm stated he has some minor items that he's marked on his copy of the agreement and he will share that with Mr. Bolin. INFORMATION ITEMS: • 2005 CDBG Application Mr. Bolin stated the 2005 Community Development Block Grant application is due to Anoka County by January 14. Staff attended a meeting on December 8 reviewing the application process with Anoka County. There is a lot more documentation required with the CDBG applications than in the past and HUD has been monitoring the projects more closely. All the objectives stated as a part of the application need to be followed through. This year, acquisition and blight demolition were a high priority both for the county and at the federal level. In 2003 the ciiy received $200,000 for acquisition and blight removal for the Gateway West project. For 2005, based on numbers put together by Mr. Casserly, they are requesting $167,000 additional to help with further acquisition and blight removal in the Gateway West area. The application does require a resolution from City Council and the City Council passed that resolution on January 3, 2005. Of the $167,000, about $5,000 is actually demolition and the remainder will cover acquisition and relocation costs. The maximum amount for a CDBG application is $300,000, Mr. Bolin explained, and each dollar requested must be accounted for at the beginning of the process. Staff determined that $167,000 would be the amount necessary to purchase a particular property for Gateway West. Since the city is already in the process of purchasing the four-plex in the Gateway West area, it is not eligible for CDBG funds. Chairperson Commers asked if infrastructure repair or changes can be done with CDBG funds. Mr. Bolin responded that is an eligible activity but it has not ranked very high with the county. For the entire county, there is only a little over $1 million to disburse and the county typically receives a much higher number of applications for projects than they are able to fund. • Update on Gateway West Mr. Bolin reported that after a number of unsuccessful attempts to purchase the four- plex at 5355 3`� Street in the Gateway West area, on December 7�' a realtor representing the owner of the four-plex contacted the city to say the owner was interested in selling. Staff then toured the property with the city's appraiser and the �--� blight analyst. They had full access to the property. Three of the units are taken apart HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING — JANUARY 6, 2005 Page 4 of 6 ..` with incompiete remodeling projects. Staff worked with the HRA's legal counsel to draw up a purchase agreement and they are now waiting for a final number from the � appraiser. The offer will then be presented to the owner. Mr. Bolin explained that on January 3, 2005, the property owner's son for 281 57th Place contacted staff and indicated that they will continue negotiating with the city. He is optimistic that agreements can be made for both of these properties prior to the February meeting at which time they will be brought to the HRA for approval. • Monthly Housing Report Mr. Bolin reviewed the Loan Application Summary stating two applications were sent out in December. For the year, 27 loan applications were processed with 18 closed on. Compared to four loan closings last year, it is clear that this program has become more popular. Mr. Bolin reviewred the Loan Origination Report explaining that $283,414 actual HRA dollars were put out into the community this past year. Looking at the types of improvements, there were a total of 28 loans made but included 46 separate projects. Each loan sometimes generated multiple projects; windows and doors and heating systems. Mr. Bolin explained the Loan Servicing Report is actually based on November 2004 data. The principal balance for loans in the community was $848,000. During �� November they took in $42,000 in repayment on those loans. Currently there are four delinquent loans with a total past due of just over $2,500. Mr. Bolin stated during the month of December the Remodeling Advisor and Operation Insulation scheduled two appointments and completed weatherization. The Remodeling Advisor had no visits or calls in December. Mr. Bolin further stated that staff was asked by the HRA at their last meeting to look into things that can be done to promote the city's home loan program. Included in the � agenda for this meeting was a memo from the Center for Energy and Environment which compared Fridley's home improvement financing activity with other communities for 2004. Fridley had a total of 28 loans compared to 10 for Anoka, 43 for Blaine, 11 for Columbia Heights, and 23 for Coon Rapids. He pointed out that Coon Rapids is nearly twice the size of Fridley yet Fridley processed more loans. As far as different marketing strategies, the Center for Energy and Environment found that the more you can get the program in the city newsletter the better the program does. So staff has been working with the City Manager to get an increased presence in the City newsletter; in the February issue there's a small mention about the various programs the City offers and hope to have a full article on the programs in the April newsletter. This past year, the Center for Energy and Environment did one mailing to Fridley residents and for the upcoming year they have budgeted to do iwo mailings. Staff also plans to work with utility billing to include program information with their mailings. Another opportunity is ,� tl 1 . • HOUSLNG AND REDEVELOPMENT AiJTHORITY MEETING — JANUARY 6, 2005 Page 5 of 6 cable television and during tonight's show there is a scrolling marquee across the �� bottom of the screen listing some of the city programs. Also, an electronic billboard page has been created for the cable station with a regular spot for city program information. In addition, staff is working with the cable television director and the Center for Energy and Environment to put together some shows to get the message out about the loan program. Another marketing effort will be participation in the Home and Garden Show that will be held March 5 at the new Schwann Center in Blaine. Commissioner Meyer asked if any of the marketing includes information about energy and costs savings as a result of home improvements through the city loan program. Mr. Bolin stated that information has been a big part of the Operation Insulation Program but agreed that it would be good to include that in the loan program information. • Hardee's Condemnation Witness Expense Mr. Bolin explained that at about 4:00 p.m. today it was brought to staff's attention that there is a hearing scheduled on the Hardee's matter for January 24�'. Staff believes it is very important to have Rick Bentz present as a witness for the city at this hearing. It may be costly to bring Mr. Bentz to the area (a couple thousand dollars for a flight and hotel) but will likely help to save the city thousands of dollars or more in the long run. The City Attorney would like a response on this matter today. If the HRA deems the /�� expense appropriate, staff recommends that the City pay half the expense and the HRA pay the remaining half of Mr. Bentz' expenses. Chairperson Commers asked Mr. Bolin for a copy of the court order relating to this case allowing a new trial. Commissioner Meyer stated there is no reference to reimbursing Mr. Bentz for his time. MOTION by Commissioner Schnabel, seconded by Commissioner Meyer, to pay half of the Bentz travel expenses, accommodations and compensation. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION by Commissioner Gabel, seconded by Commissioner Holm, to adjoum. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:24 PM. � � HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT ALTTHORITY MEETING — JANUARY 6, 2005 Page 6 of 6 Respectfully submitted by, �?��-����• ��'---� / Rebecca Brazys Recording Secretary �° - , �"'1-. , � � 1 � � � �� CITY OF FRIDLEY SIGN-IN SHEET HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING �c� ��S Name and Address Agenda Item of Interest