Du Page County Home Advisory Group met March 3.
Here is the minutes provided by the group:
1. CALL TO ORDER
11:00 AM meeting was called to order by Villa Park Director of Community Development Patrick Grill at 11:00 AM.
Chairperson Rutledge and Vice Chairperson Chassee were unable to attend this meetings. As allowed by the Community Development Commission Bylaws, Patrick Grill was chosen to be Chairperson Pro Tem.
2. ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Bastian, Broder (11:07 AM), Chaplin, Crandall, DeSart, Grill, Krucek, Renehan, Selmon
ABSENT: Chassee, Ozog, Rutledge, Ungerleider
Staff Present: Mary Keating, Community Services Director; Christine Pedersen, Senior Accountant/Community Services Manager; Julie Hamlin, Community Development Manager; Elizabeth Dunn, Senior Community Development Specialist; Tom Schwertman, Community Development Specialist, and Anna Sitton, Community Development Specialist.
State’s Attorney - Katherine Fahy.
Others Present: Amy Palumbo, Division Director - Catholic Charities; Amy LaFauce, Director - Catholic Charities; Barry Mullen, Development Director - Alden Foundation; Jonathan Nelson, Policy and Program Manager - DuPage County Board Office; Evan Shields, Information Officer - DuPage County Board Office, and Joseph Viso, Multi-Media Specialist - DuPage County Board Office.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A. Home Advisory Group - Regular Meeting - Jan 7, 2020 11:00 AM
On a Voice Vote all Ayes, the Minutes of January 2020 were approved.
RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Elizabeth Chaplin, District 2
SECONDER: Michael Crandall, Village of Addison Director of Comm Dev
AYES: Bastian, Broder, Chaplin, Crandall, DeSart, Grill, Krucek, Renehan, Selmon
ABSENT: Chassee, Ozog, Rutledge, Ungerleider
5. COMMITTEE VOTE REQUIRED
A. Action Item -- Recommendation for Approval of a Conditional Commitment of HOME Investment Partnerships Act (HOME) Funds Program between DuPage County and Alden Foundation – Warrenville Horizon Senior Living Community – In the Amount of $2,550,000.00.
Barry Mullen, with the Alden Foundation, was in attendance to answer any questions the Committee would have.
Hamlin informed the Committee that Staff was requesting approval of a conditional commitment in an approximate amount of $2.5 million in HOME Investment Partnerships Act funding. This project will provide 67 units of affordable senior housing. The complex will have 71 total units, with an on-site manager unit, and three market rate units. The proposed location is at the corner of Batavia and Butterfield Roads in Warrenville. This project was first brought to this Committee approximately a year ago requesting a preliminary set-aside. Since that time, Staff has been working with the Alden Foundation to underwrite the project.
The development will include a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments; all affordable senior housing. There will be enough surface parking for each unit. This Developer has extensive experience in affordable housing, including low-income tax credit projects in which the County’s funding will be layered. There is also funding from Illinois Housing Development Authority’s (IHDA) Risk Share loan program which is also funded from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as is the County’s. For the purposes of the County’s $2.5 million, there will be 16 rent-restricted units that will align with high or low home rents as outlined in the underwriting memo. For the property, itself, Staff has been working on an Environmental Assessment as required by 24 CFR Part 58. This is a HUD requirement anytime funding is invested into a project.
This development consists of four parcels; two that have single family homes and two vacant. The west branch of the DuPage River runs across the back portion of all four parcels. Typically, when a project has floodplain or wetland issues, it will not receive funding through the County. However, working with Alden Foundation, the part of the parcels that contain the floodplain and wetlands will be donated to the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. The proposal has been accepted by the Forest Preserve, and this action will take place at the time of the acquisition of the properties. To ensure that the land donated to the Forest Preserve stays as floodplain and wetlands, there will be a deed restriction placed. Technically the development will not have floodplain or wetlands.
The two single family homes will be voluntarily acquired. There are arms-length transactions and the sellers have signed documents stating that they are not eligible for Uninform Relocation Assistance.
Once the properties are acquired, the single family lots will be tested for asbestos. If anything is found, the County will move forward with all local, State and Federal requirements for abatement. The structures will then be demolished, and the four parcels will be turned into one parcel with a new legal description and new Parcel Index Number (PIN).
In addition to the wetlands and floodplain issue, on the opposite bank of the west branch is an old landfill, now called Mount Hoy, a recreational area. In that location, a Phase I Environmental Analysis was performed. Initially, a couple of elevated levels were found so a Phase II was performed on the actual project location, and the land came back clean with no contaminates.
Keating felt it was important for the Committee to understand what has transpired to get the project to this stage in the process. In addition, she stated that the City of Warrenville was extremely supportive of the project, and Mullen said it was passed last night at the City Council meeting.
Renehan questioned if donating the land alleviated any issues with HUD with the floodplain/wetland issue. Hamlin said an Eight Step Notification process was done which includes notifying the public of investing federal dollars in a project. One of the requirements is to suggest alternative options and one was to look elsewhere in DuPage County. However, there is not much undeveloped land left in the County. As noted, this had very strong support from the City and from the community. Due to the support received, relocating did not seem to be a valuable option, but eliminating that part of the land was. The development would no longer contain floodplain/wetlands. Staff also reached out to the Environmental Specialist with HUD to confirm that it would be an acceptable method and the Specialist agreed providing the Eight Step process was followed and was included in the conclusion. An important piece is that the Forest Preserve will continue to maintain the donated property as floodplain/wetlands.
Renehan verified that if there is a flooding issue there will be no penalty. Hamlin said that other mitigating factors were being put in place, such as a five-foot retaining wall, as well as the structure being well above the floodplain. Mullen further clarified that the building is nowhere near the floodplain. The parking is in the rear of the building and is well above that level. The retaining wall is in two tiers, a total of nine feet.
Crandall asked if the 3.8 acres included the floodplain. Hamlin said yes and about 1.4 acres will be donated.
There were no further questions.
On a Voice Vote, all Ayes, the motion passed.
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Dawn DeSart, District 5
SECONDER: Elizabeth Chaplin, District 2
AYES: Bastian, Broder, Chaplin, Crandall, DeSart, Grill, Krucek, Renehan, Selmon
ABSENT: Chassee, Ozog, Rutledge, Ungerleider
B. Action Item -- Recommendation for Approval of a Conditional Commitment of HOME Investment Partnerships Act (HOME) Funds Program between DuPage County and Catholic Charities, Project Number HM19-03a – Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program – In the Amount of $200,000.00.
Since Action Items A. and B. are the same program, but run through two different agencies, Keating suggested combining the vote.
Selmon made the motion, seconded by Renehan to combine items A. and B.
Chaplin noted that Catholic Charities receives these funds, as well as Human Services Grant funds. She requested a spreadsheet notating what funds this and other agencies received through the County. It seemed as if many of the same organizations are receiving funds. Keating said that Renehan has asked for the same and she is working on it.
Keating did state that the Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) is a very specific program as statutorily defined by the HOME regulations. It has explicit requirements such as a self-sufficiency plan for the tenants, and what type of case management can be done. Several years ago, when the decision was made to fund the TBRA program, it was learned that a very small number of agencies have the capacity to run this program.
There are a number of agencies who receive funding from the County through a number of different sources. It was felt that different programs within each agency received different funding sources. The same program did not receive all the funding.
On a Voice Vote, all Ayes, the motion carried.
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Ashley Selmon, District 1
SECONDER: Julie Renehan, District 3
AYES: Bastian, Broder, Chaplin, Crandall, DeSart, Grill, Krucek, Renehan, Selmon
ABSENT: Chassee, Ozog, Rutledge, Ungerleider
C. Action Item -- Recommendation for Approval of a Conditional Commitment of HOME Investment Partnerships Act (HOME) Funds Program between DuPage County and DuPage Pads, Project Number HM19-03b - Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program – In the Amount of $100,000.00.
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Ashley Selmon, District 1
SECONDER: Julie Renehan, District 3
AYES: Bastian, Broder, Chaplin, Crandall, DeSart, Grill, Krucek, Renehan, Selmon
ABSENT: Chassee, Ozog, Rutledge, Ungerleider
6. INFORMATIONAL ITEM
1. Informational -- FY2019 Single Family Rehab, Cost Overage Information
According to the Single Family Rehab (SFR) program, the department does have the authorization to go over the maximum of $15,000 with the caveat that the Committee is informed. Typically at the planning stage of a project, if it is determined the scope of work will go over the maximum funding allowed, the department will not proceed. However, there are certain instances when unforeseen situations arise.
Grill asked if there was a guide used to determine when the department is willing to go above the allowed amount. Keating said oftentimes once a contractor begins work, additional problems are encountered such as bad plumbing or electrical issues and/or a special permit is required. If the scope of work ends up costing more than anticipated, then a component will be removed and the scope modified. The SFR program is a health and safety program and does not do cosmetic work such as painting, wallpaper removal, cabinet updates, carpet removal etc.
There were no other questions.
7. OTHER BUSINESS
1. Keating said that a couple of weeks ago, the President’s budget was released. Again, the CDBG and HOME programs were zeroed out. This is the third year in the row that this has happened. This is not the only administration that has proposed eliminating these programs.
Last week Keating attended the National Assocation for County Community and Economic Development (NACCED) conference in Washington D.C. While attending this conference she also did Hill visits. The Congressional members with whom they met with, were reassuring and said these were very popular programs. They will be included in the 2020 budget. The County Board has included it in its legislative priorities. She requested that the municipal members, if possible, take up the issue and reach out to their members of Congress in support of the of these programs stating how valuable they are to DuPage County’s residents.
2. Last year, certain members of the staff, spearheaded by Dunn, revamped the HOME program monitoring method done for agencies that receive HOME funds. There are over 900 units and just under 30 developments that require monitoring. Monitoring involves authenticating eligibility of the occupants, that includes income verification and household size, as well as the condition of the unit itself. In addition, Dunn created a tutorial and brought all the property managers together for training. It was extremely well received. The County actually received a National award from NACCED for the workshops. This is the second year of monitoring being done under this system. Last year, there was only one property that had no concerns or findings. So far for this year, there have been no concerns or findings.
8. ADJOURNMENT
The motion was made by Chaplin, seconded by Selmon, to adjourn the meeting at 11:18 am.
On a Voice Vote, all Ayes, the motion passed.
9. NEXT MEETING DATE - APRIL 7, 2020
http://dupage.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=15&ID=7232&Inline=True
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