Title
Approving the July 26, 2017 HRA Board Meeting Minutes
Body
ROLL CALL
Present 6 - Commissioners Bostrom, Noecker, Prince, Stark, Tolbert and Chair Brendmoen
Absent 1 - Commissioners Thao
CONSENT AGENDA
Note: Items listed under the Consent Agenda will be enacted by one motion with no separate discussion. If discussion on an item is desired, the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda for separate consideration.
Approval of the Consent Agenda
1. Approving the July 12, 2017 HRA Board Meeting Minutes
Adopted as set forth in Min 17-27
Moved by Commissioner Tolbert, Consent Agenda is Adopted
VOTE: Yeas - 6 Nays - 0
FOR DISCUSSION
2. Resolution Approving the Rental Rehabilitation Loan Program Guidelines
Mr. Sage-Martinson, HRA Executive Director, stated this item is approving the guidelines for the new rental rehab loan program that was included in the 2017 HRA budget. This program is specifically targeted to help make improvements to single family, duplex, triplex and fourplex rental buildings with a goal of providing resources to landlords who want to improve the quality of their buildings to provide safe, quality housing across the City. The initial budget of $750,000 will be phased in first to properties located in the ACP50 areas in the first 6 months of the Program before opening up Citywide.
Commissioner Stark asked if insulation is an eligible expense. Mr. Sage-Martinson stated it is.
Commissioner Prince asked for clarification on the landlord and property eligibility criteria as written in the program guidelines. Mr. Sage-Martinson explained that DSI grades properties A through D, D being the lowest classification, the intention is to focus on the C & D properties to help those improve. The responsible landlord definition includes having a track record of owning C’s & B’s, having quality properties and maintaining or improving them.
Chair Brendmoen asked if a landlord with one D property wouldn’t be eligible for a loan. Patty Lilledahl, Planning & Economic Development Housing Director, explained that a landlord can have a D property but would need to meet one or more of the responsible landlord categories. It will be mandatory that the landlord receive a recommendation letter from the district council Executive Director.
Commissioner Noecker thanked Chair Brendmoen for taking the lead on this issue and expressed confusion with the letter grades and asked for clarification in the program guidelines to include A, B & C rather than B & C and to make it clear that a landlord needs to qualify for one of the criteria as a responsible landlord. Ms. Noecker also asked if the reimbursement process has been discussed to minimize the turnaround time. Ms. Lilledahl stated that once the repairs are completed the contractor would submit a request for payment to our rehab specialist and stated that accounting should be able to process a check within a week.
Moved by Commissioner Noecker, Resolution is Amended
VOTE: Yeas - 6 Nays - 0
Commissioner Bostrom stated that he is against rewarding property owners who are not taking care of their property and asked about the recourse of defaults. Patty Lilledahl stated that the loan will be recorded with the property as a subordinate loan and the guidelines to receive the loan will be underwritten by staff to determine repayment ability and value of property as security for the Loan.
Commissioner Tolbert asked how long property owners have to own the property after taking the loan. Patty Lilledahl stated that the loan is a ten year interest free loan that has to be repaid upon the sale of the property or if it no longer meets the affordability requirement. Mr. Sage-Martinson clarified that this is a loan to the property owner with a payback schedule and that if a property owner sold before the ten year timeframe, the remainder of the loan would need to be repaid.
Chair Brendmoen thanked Patty and the Housing staff for their work on this and requested a six and twelve month follow-up on the program.
Moved by Commissioner Stark, Resolution Approved as set forth in RES 17-1158
VOTE: Yeas - 5 Nays - 1 (Commissioner Bostrom)
PUBLIC HEARING
3. Authorization to Lease 168 Front Avenue to District 6 Planning Council, North End District 6, Ward 1
Mr. Sage-Martinson stated this item is a 10 year lease, rather than a sale of the property, to District 6 Planning Council as a Community Garden. Version 2 of the resolution is available in Legistar.
Moved by Commissioner Stark, Resolution Public Hearing is Amended
VOTE: Yeas - 6 Nays - 0
Kerry Antrim, Executive Director District 6 Planning Council, shared background information and plans for the property with the commissioners
Moved by Commissioner Prince, Resolution Public Hearing Approved as set forth in RES PH 17-210
VOTE: Yeas - 6 Nays - 0
GUEST SPEAKER
4. Population Trends Update
Susan Brower, MN State Demographer, gave a population trends update presentation.
Received and Filed as set forth in SR 17-92
ADJOURNMENT
HRA Board Meeting is Adjourned