MINUTES
Neighborhood Revitalization Board
St. Etienne Conference Room – Armory Building
December 3, 2003
Present: Betty Volm, Bob King, Jean Minahan, Dolph Pulliam, Joann Muldoon, Carol Bower, Mike Gibson
Absent: Nadine Hogate, Mike Kinter, Kimberly Hansen, Martha Walden, Pam Carmichael
Staff: Kathy Kahoun (CD); Susan Minks (CD); Mindy Miller (CD); Bob Schulte (HS); Bridget Montgomery (CD), Jason Van Essen (CD), Barb Ashton (CD), Mary Neiderbach (CD)
Guests: Gary Dodge, Dave Stephenson, Cindy
Scott, Ward Iutzi
The meeting convened at 5:04 without quorum.
OFFICER'S REPORT/CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION. Kahoun reported on recent Council actions, including approval of a development agreement for the East Village project (old Dewey Ford site) and resolutions of support for various Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects. Kahoun said the City is not supporting the Metro Plains proposal, but will provide CDBG funds if the project is approved. Kahoun said Carmichael wants this item placed on a board agenda in January to discuss its impact on NCS funding reserves. She said the City did not support the ANAWIM proposal because the neighborhood association does not support it and there are zoning issues.
At this point, a quorum was present. King moved to approve the agenda; seconded by Pulliam, carried by unanimous vote. Volm moved to approve the minutes of the November 19 meeting, corrected to show that Hansen attended the meeting. Seconded by King; carried by unanimous vote.
FY2003-04 SECOND SIX MONTH CSBG REPORT. Ashton submitted the final report for 2003. Muldoon asked what "telephone assistance" was; Ashton said it provided $6.50/month toward a client's phone bill and was financed by a small charge on every customer's bill. Muldoon asked if there were services that were no longer being provided and whether the volume was the same. Ashton said the numbers requesting services were down a little. Muldoon asked if the money for energy assistance was the same. Ashton said it was up a little and amounted to about 28% of most clients' bills. Muldoon asked if there was a waiting list; Ashton said there was one for weatherization, and staff prioritized the requests according to who had the highest bills. Volm asked if the SCRUB program was able to function with the cuts to its funding; Ashton said even if they had received all they requested, it wouldn't be enough to cover the CDBG areas, and Public Works was going to bear part of the cost. She said this last season packer trucks had been used, which helps cut the time people had to wait in line, but they are more expensive. Muldoon asked if the money the Board had earmarked for appliance stickers had been cut. Ashton said it had not and she would give a report on it after the site office consolidation was finished. Ashton said Community Services will close its offices at Four Mile and Southeast January 1 and reduce staff. All known clients will be contacted and told where to go for services.
King moved adoption of the report; seconded by Gibson; carried by unanimous vote.
KING IRVING NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN. Montgomery presented the King Irving Neighborhood Action Plan and said the neighborhood association had approved it. The neighborhood's major issues include the large number of vacant lots and abandoned buildings, contract sales, illegal rentals, junk and debris, and the neighborhood's negative image. A project area has been identified on Forest between 12th and 17th and a vacant lot strategy will be developed. The whole neighborhood will be designated an urban renewal area. The Plan also calls for connection to trails and expansion of King Elementary and the Forest Avenue Library.
Ward Iutzi of the neighborhood's planning committee thanked the planning staff for all their hard work. Cindy Scott said the neighborhood had thought the City didn't support their area and thought the residents of the area were not interested in improving their neighborhood - now both sides knew this wasn't true. Gibson asked how many households there were in the neighborhood; Montgomery said there were 686 households.
Gibson asked when CDBG projects for the area would begin. Kahoun said the NFC, CCI and HOME Inc. would be working to help contract buyers refinance with a regular mortgage. Builders are lining up to do infill housing. There will be a housing consortium. The Board discussed ways to address infill and gap financing. Pulliam asked if Habitat for Humanity would be working in the area. Kahoun said they had a new interim director and were working more closely with the City than ever before. Habitat has landbanked lots and discussions are taking place about doing a "building blitz" on one block that is mostly vacant.
Pulliam asked what was going on at 12th and Jefferson. Dave Stephenson said a Wausau home was going in there. Pulliam said it looked out of character. The Board discussed the impact of manufactured housing on the character of older neighborhoods. Pulliam said many sidewalk repairs had been done, but people were still walking in the street - usually because vegetation had overtaken the sidewalk. Kahoun said Des Moines didn't have a property maintenance standards policy like some of the surrounding cities do. The Board discussed ways to get properties cleaned up and weeds taken care of. Pulliam told neighborhood representatives the plan contains many excellent strategies to improve the area, and he hopes they will follow through on the Plan. He volunteered to work with them.
King moved acceptance of the Plan; seconded by Muldoon, carried by unanimous vote.
CDBG PROJECT EXTENSION REQUESTS. Schulte presented a list of CDBG projects which need to be extended so work may be completed. These include the Agrimergent Business Park, Neighborhood Small Grants, Highland Park Streetscape, and Capitol East projects. Pulliam moved to approve the extensions; seconded by King, carried by unanimous vote.
King requested Kahoun to check on the idea that a meeting is considered to have a quorum for the whole meeting if quorum is achieved at any time during the meeting.
2004-2009 HUD CONSOLIDATED PLAN DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE. Minks discussed how the Board would be involved in developing the 2004-2009 Consolidated Plan. She said regulations require a citizen input meeting. She suggested educational sessions and partnering with nonprofits to do two or three public meetings to aid in the needs assessment process. Staff also suggests one Saturday session to work out the final priorities. Minks said this plan is only done once every five years and this one should be better than previous plans as there were many more resources and data sources available to be used in building it. She said the City's fiscal position will have a significant impact compared to previous plans. King said Minks did an immense volume of work in putting together these plans, and she should be commended.
Volm said she thought this schedule would amount to too many meetings. Minks said if there were only one, it might not gather input from a sufficient group of stakeholders. Kahoun said the Board need not attend all of the community sessions. Kahoun said staff would put together a calendar for development of the plan.
ZONING ORDINANCE REVIEW PROCESS. Neiderbach distributed an update on how the revamping of the City's zoning ordinances is going. There will be a meeting at the Mickle Center on January 8 to explain the changes to the neighborhood organizations and tell them how they can have input. Issues of interest to neighborhood associations include nonconforming uses and rules on rebuilding after a fire. The City will not meet with each association, but will meet with certain neighborhoods where major zoning changes will occur. Neiderbach asked the Board to host this meeting.
NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT. Kahoun said the Neighborhood Development Division had completed its move to the first floor of the Armory. The NRB meeting for December 17 is cancelled. The Council is having workshop meetings on the budget in December and January.
COMMITTEE/REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS. None
OTHER BUSINESS. None
The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
Carol Bower, Secretary