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Home My WebLink AboutAHAB Meeting AGENDA and MINUTES May 14, 2024 Orange County Affordable ORANGE COUNTY Housing HOUSING DEPARTMENT Advisory Board (AHAB) Meeting Agenda Tuesday, May 14, 2024 300 W Tryon St. Hillsborough, NC 27278 Teams link: Click Here to Join Meeting Staff Present: Bonnie Hammersley, Blake Rosser,Aaron Rimmler-Cohen Members Present: Matthew Ferguson (Chair), Lynn Nilssen (Vice Chair), Dion Graham, Sarah Adams, Hasan A. Abdullah, Mary Towell, Kyle Myers I. Call to Order II. Approval of minutes (5 minutes) Only four attendees to start. Forgoing the approval of the mins until a quorum arrives.Approved by Lynn and Matt. Lynn moves to start the meeting, Matt calls to order. Opportunity to ask County Manager Hammersley questions. Hamersley—This is an opportunity to provide feedback; already received feedback from providers who participated in the process. Hammersley requests to record.The information will be taken to Orange County Commissioners working session in September to support the next RFP for$S million. Purpose is to document the feedback and ensure a better process for next time. Blake to guide the discussion—there was a screen shot of the feedback form to support the feedback process. Lynn: Did you receive our feedback? Hammersley: Only received two. Lynn: Process was very cumbersome, not user-friendly, which made it difficult to participate.The request did not have a consistent format for the responses; it would be easier if there was a consistent reporting mechanism so that she does not have to sift through reams of data. Hesitated answering qualitative questions or questions outside of her expertise. She would like to see more emphasis on quantifying sustainability and knowing to what extent the projects actually support affordable housing. Orange County Affordable ORANGE COUNTY Housing HOUSING DEPARTMENT Advisory Board (AHAB) Meeting Agenda Tuesday, May 14, 2024 300 W Tryon St. Hillsborough, NC 27278 Kyle: The scoring document prevents otherwise viable projects frorpeg-AgirliAkv�lic�E.. WEW iT8A'& yii p in beds" and shovel-ready projects. If you didn't change the architectural features, or other criteria that seemed outside the scope of affordable housing, it hurt the application (this specifically harmed NOA and rehabs). Lynn: Reciting a question from Commissioner Hamilton—what are the number of affordable housing units?AHAB is using the historically available data to research this question. Manager Hammersley:The Housing Department's Consolidated Plan planning process will accomplish this. Lynn: So you're saying we don't need to do this? Manager Hammersley: We know how many affordable units there are and how many are needed. Kyle: What is a Comp plan? Blake: 5-year consolidated plan for HUD. Matthew: It's good to know that the number of affordable units and how the investments are addressing the need in Orange County. Hammersley: Housing records this information; we know the impacts of our investments. Lynn: No ability to do a cost/unit calculation. No ability to discern between differences in types of projects. Kyle: My perspective is, given that I'm wearing a safety vest, is from a safety perspective. 4 points: 1) Depending on the sophistication of the applicant, certain applicants performed well (perhaps because they had a team or a specialty in grant approval). 2)The process is cumbersome; 3) We should have a standardized form, and someone from staff should be evaluating whether the application is complete (this was a major problem); 4)Applicants' histories weighed heavily in applicants' ability to access funds. It's not just CASA, Habitat for Humanity, or other well-known developers.The point should be about getting the most affordable units,the fastest. If an applicant can build 80 units, but they aren't near a Orange County Affordable ORANGE COUNTY Housing HOUSING DEPARTMENT Advisory Board (AHAB) Meeting Agenda Tuesday, May 14, 2024 300 W Tryon St. Hillsborough, NC 27278 bus station, should that prevent the project?We almost lost fundinFe�n�rs9AX.CCgWk pR*f8 h8rl�oeetinp Chapel Hill because of these criteria. Our criteria should mirror the North Carolina Housing Finance criteria. It's a question of what's the best use of the money. Last point: because of the turnover in the committee staff members,we don't have the answer to the question of"what if the person who is applying didn't do what they said they would do?" We need to look at the track record of the applicants and see what they accomplished if they previously worked for Orange County. Matt: Lynn hit most of the points that I would raise. Hasan: I would echo the previous comments. Hammersley:Thank you for the input.The Commissioners decide the application process, and they have expressed interest in changing aspects of the matrix. Regarding whether prior applicants perform well: we know, because we have development agreements that go through the county attorney.Your input is deeply valued.After staff feedback, and other forms of feedback,we will be re-evaluating the process. Thank you for your service. Members thank Bonnie for her time. Blake stopped recording. Group determines whether there's a quorum. We now have outside observer: realtor,vice chair of Chapel Hill's Board of Adjustment, and wanted to get involved, but prior to doing that wanted to see how the group operated (Thomas Grasty). III. Updates (20 minutes) a. County Manager, Bonnie Hammersley, Bond and CIP RFP Review b. Board Members Kyle: We're still planning an affordable housing construction visit. I have 8 projects, 7 of which are affordable, and it would be great to see the close-out of a project. I also have 132 workforce housing units, which are in various stages of development. Orange County Affordable ORANGE COUNTY Housing HOUSING DEPARTMENT Advisory Board (AHAB) Meeting Agenda Tuesday, May 14, 2024 300 W Tryon St. Hillsborough, NC 27278 Lynn: Offers to do a Doodle Poll—Wednesday the 29th or June 5tn a%k} is li4 pp i@I�i'cS ogp� lyobZ "ge'Rng and 1 PM). 310 Jackson St. Durham; 719 Hardy Street, Durham. Matthew: I'll have to check the schedule, but school will determine. Kyle: 11 AM on the 11t" is also an option. Matthew: If you know any non-profit organizations who could benefit from the Climate Action Plan, especially in the more rural part of the community, please encourage folks to apply. Commission for the Environment(Matt is a member of the Board).The County has passed a Climate Action Plan to pursue sustainable projects, starting in construction and then moving to other projects.The projects will carry through to 2050. Staff Introduce Aaron Rimmler-Cohen. Worked in food for a decade, supporting equity and sustainability. Brings experience in grant management to support County and residents. Blake: Budget issues in Orange County, compounded by the Medicaid reimbursements, has caused a massive budget shortfall.This has had consequences for two positions in the Housing Department: Alma's position and the EHA administrator position will no longer exist. We have 3 to 4 more months of being able to provide EHA, eviction diversion funds, and then we will need to transition the program to something else that will serve County residents. The balance between sales tax and increased Medicaid expenses, has resulted in $3 million fewer than expected.The bigger counties are suffering from as much as a $15 million shortfall. Kyle describes CASA project that cost$8 million IV. Update from Housing Advisory Board (5 minutes) Blake provides an Orange County Housing Authority Board update: 1) Scheduled to have a public hearing to change our governing documents—approving the PHA plan. Blake provides an update on March 2023 voucher and HAP utilization. Can't use our entire voucher level because then we would be Orange County Affordable ORANGE COUNTY Housing HOUSING DEPARTMENT Advisory Board (AHAB) Meeting Agenda Tuesday, May 14, 2024 300 W Tryon St. Hillsborough, NC 27278 running over-budget. Our HUD representatives are quite happy wittWA&P619 r4%J� c&Rs fii levelled off on a monthly basis. Our"port-ins are climbing." Kyle clarifies: $6 million budget? Blake:Yes about$6.2 million annually. Our voucher utilization rate has increased every year since 2020, leading to a more responsible level of utilization of voucher. Lease-up times are holding steady. Program Updates: Re-funding the HCV program,will be re-funded at 118%of previous year, anticipating an increase in fair market rents. Kyle: They want you to believe that there's too much inventory, but reports suggest a massive increase in prices over the next decade. Blake: Our clients have absolutely been experiencing an increase in prices. Blake proposes a Concept: Orange County Housing Authority could match X landlord dollars for wear- and-tear repairs for long-term tenants. We've played with different uses of"Client Needs" funds: we have considered landlord subsidies, landlord referrals, and another idea was long-term tenant support through a landlord matching program. Kyle: So a landlord could be a SFH, a MFH, is there an inspection? Blake:There is an intake inspection and then annual, or if the applicant qualifies, a biannual inspection. Blake: We're also looking to select through our waitlist for the first time.This transitions assistance from those who were experiencing homelessness to those with less, but still significant, economic need. Blake shows the waitlist preferences, including Homelessness, Domestic Violence, and "Move On" referrals. Blake then discusses the importance of residency as the top "non-automatically referred" criterion. Orange County Affordable ORANGE COUNTY Housing HOUSING DEPARTMENT Advisory Board (AHAB) Meeting Agenda Tuesday, May 14, 2024 300 W Tryon St. Hillsborough, NC 27278 Teams link: Click Here to Join Meeting V. Revising the Size of AHAB Kyle: Has there ever been 15 active members?There has to be a rigorous pattern of attendance, and there has to be a group of people who are interested in participating. Blake:The Chair and Vice Chair can change the board members at any time. Matthew: We don't want to cycle through people, because we're constantly introducing people, wasting time getting people up to speed. Lynn: By reducing the number down to those who participate consistently, and more manageable, and to see projects through, we need to reduce to 13. Kyle: Proposes an e-mail confirmation to all members,to ensure future participation. Blake: Suggestion: If we're going to reduce, let's consider reducing by more than 2, to ensure that it's manageable. Lynn: Re-iterates Board policy, and shares the importance regular attendance. Matthew: I'm happy to, as the Board Chair, send out an email. We can then return to the topic of the size of the Board next session. Dion: Confirms the question of whether we can remove members as Chair or Vice Chair. Blake: We could also ask folks, if they aren't interested in the Board,to simply resign. Matthew: It would be useful to know, by looking at the minutes, how many people were attending AHAB consistently. Kyle: Is Holly or Dion our longest-tenured member? (She has participated since 2020, everyone else has been participating since 2022). Orange County Affordable ORANGE COUNTY Housing HOUSING DEPARTMENT Advisory Board (AHAB) Meeting Agenda Tuesday, May 14, 2024 300 W Tryon St. Hillsborough, NC 27278 Mary: When I originally joined the Board,there was a requirement fbg�~i&cRr4mm§ � consecutively or fewer than 25%of the number of meetings in that calendar year. It makes sense to give people the opportunity to reflect on whether they have the time or energy to still participate. Matthew: We don't have to vote today, let's email people, see where their thoughts are, and then hold them to it. Dion: What about a trial meeting or the ability to participate on a trial basis prior to fully committing (Question for Clerk's Office) VI. Reviewing Meeting Agenda for 2024 (25 minutes) Hasan: Not a great reception around collaboration from Economic Development. Lynn:The intent was getting out of a silo. Matthew: We didn't even know we had the information regarding past applications/outcomes. Blake: I will follow-up with Bonnie about the past project performance and report back to the group. Aaron Nelson (Chamber of Commerce) has expressed interest in coming to speak with AHAB on behalf of a task force he is involved with (in collaboration with Habitat). Lynn: We didn't have Rachel to come to talk. Blake: Do we want to have Rachel to come to speak next month? VII. Research Project Update (10 minutes) VIII.Community Meeting Planning(10 minutes) Kyle: We would love to do a community meeting that isn't simply the airing of grievances. Blake: So bring them something as opposed to simply receive feedback. Orange County Affordable ORANGE COUNTY Housing HOUSING DEPARTMENT Advisory Board (AHAB) Meeting Agenda Tuesday, May 14, 2024 300 W Tryon St. Hillsborough, NC 27278 Dion: I was at the last community meeting—it wasn't necessarily aggArr4 pF#kgr was a frustration from the community because they didn't feel heard from.They don't feel like information is getting to the Board. IX. Adjourn