The meeting convened at 5:15 without quorum.

OFFICER'S REPORT/CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION. Kahoun reported on recent Council actions, including approval of Salisbury Oaks Neighborhood's request for recognition, approval of the CDBG contract with ISED, and certification that Oakridge's application for a drug-prevention grant was consistent with the Consolidated Plan. On June 4, the Council approved transfer of a tax certificate property at 1443 10th to a nonprofit for rehab; approved the Iowa AIDS Project's application for HOPWA funds, denied support for the projects proposed by Bernie Van Til, recommended support for four other tax credit projects, and approved a project by Community Housing Development Corporation to develop lots on Forest Avenue for senior housing. The contract for the grocery at 6th and University was also approved. Kahoun told the Board Walgreen's will not be participating in this project and alternatives are being sought.

RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT RFP PRESENTATIONS.

New Horizons. Ron Sallade, Paula Rees, Ben Malloy, and Bill Olson gave a presentation on the New Horizons program operated by Des Moines Schools. Sixteen projects have been completed by the program so far; two more are in progress. One house has been completed but is not yet sold. Olson said six students will graduate this year and five of them have been placed as apprentices. Hogate asked what the program did for the students in the summer; Malloy said he placed them if he could and tracked them after graduation when possible. Dozier asked if Sallade had considered obtaining his properties from Polk County; he said he had been doing that. Pulliam asked how many of the students in the program were minorities. Malloy said he encouraged the students to bring their friends into the program and this helped lower the dropout rate and increase the numbers of minorities. Olson said the dropout rate was very low, despite how often the kids had to work outside during the recent harsh winter.

Spectrum Resources. Jerald Brantley gave a presentation on his program which has contracted this year for new construction of three single-family homes and one rehab project funded by CDBG. He said his program employs a large number of at-risk trainees, and character development and team building were major aspects of the program. Since 1995, the program has served over three hundred clients.

Community Housing Development Corporation. Carol Bower gave a presentation on the CHDC program which has increased production dramatically over the last year. Bower said they had completed 50 units in the past five years, and will complete 47 in the next year. The homeownership program is expanding and adding services including a senior emergency repair program funded by the Polk County Housing Trust Fund. CHDC has also written two books for homeowners on home maintenance, with Spanish and Vietnamese versions coming out soon. They will move six houses from River Bend and have expanded out of the Enterprise Community into ACCENT neighborhood. They are doing a market study for on the need for senior housing, will do a Section 202 property at 1717 6th, and are employing youth who are in the Eldora Correctional Facility to do pre-fab framing. There are currently about 100 families on CHDC's waiting list. Bower said she "couldn't build fast enough" and asked the Board to let her know about any available properties.

Volm asked what happened to the proposed bilingual training program; Bower said they were still trying to implement it, but the funding sources available so far were too restricted. Volm said she was very encouraged by the reports of all three of these groups, and congratulated them for their achievements. Hogate said her neighborhood could use copies of the book, and asked if there was a charge. Bower said they did not intend to charge if they could get the production costs covered by a grant.

Quorum was reached at this point. Overman moved to approve the agendal seconded by Pulliam; carried by unanimous vote. Pulliam moved to approve the minutes of May 16 with the correction of the date; seconded by Hogate; carried by unanimous vote.

CSBG 2002 APPLICATION. Ashton submitted the application for 2002 CSBG funds for the Board's approval. Ashton said the amount budgeted for rental utility costs and indirect costs were up, and the extra funding they previously had for utilities had been used up. Volm asked how they would continue operations if the money was gone; Ashton said they would use I-CARE and city franchise funds. Ashton gave the Board a list of national priorities and asked them to vote to select Des Moines' top three priorities. The selected priorities will be made part of the application.

Hogate moved to approve the application; seconded by Overman; carried by unanimous vote.

NEIGHBORHOOD CIRCLES. Cliff Kessler gave a presentation on the Neighborhood Circles program which is funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Des Moines is one of 22 cities in the program. Kessler said the goal of the program is to give a voice to neighborhoods on the issue of children and families. Several meetings are scheduled and outreach will be done for immigrant populations in their individual languages. The goal is to get people involved in their neighborhood associations and local government.

Neighborhood leaders Maureen Van Syoc, Mary Kay Dial, Dawn Reis, and Linda Bouget spoke in support of the program.

HUD CONSOLIDATED PLAN – 2002 REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS. At the last meeting the Board received the proposed Requests for Proposals for next year's federal funds. Hogate moved to approve the RFPs; seconded by Walden; carried by unanimous vote.

NEIGHBORHOOD SELECTION. Kahoun gave the Board a sample packet of materials sent to neighborhood associations for the upcoming round of selection of designated neighborhoods. Kahoun said six neighborhoods had applied so far. Presentations will be held the week of August 6. Dozier said when the Carpenter/Drake project area was designated, the Drake neighborhood was told that would be their one turn at designation and they agreed. Kahoun said they are asking to submit an application again for this round, and she would research what happened last time.

Kahoun said the application had been modified to give more specific information on what the activities and expectations of neighborhoods were and what would be required from the association. Kahoun said that now that there was better technology available to the planners, the classification process would be different. Staff will consider home values and sales, percentage of owner-occupied, public nuisances, population changes and the composition of losses and gains. Staff will not be looking at information on income, crime (hard to get accurate info by neighborhood), or renters.

Dozier said counting a property as owner-occupied by seeing whether they have applied for homestead tax credits might not be accurate, as she knew some of her neighbors had not applied and were not aware of this benefit. Volm said she believed this lack of information would increase as the recent immigrants move into homeownership. Pulliam said he was concerned about the effect on property values in the neighborhoods next to distressed neighborhoods. Kahoun said that was an issue that might be discussed at the next meeting when the County Assessor came.

Howell said in the last two years predatory lending has become a big factor in neighborhoods' decline, as the foreclosure rate skyrockets. She shared information about what has been happening in Chicago. Kahoun said that would be examined when the plans are done for the newly-selected neighborhoods.

NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT. Kahoun said the second NRB meeting in August would be cancelled due to selection presentations and the 2002 planning conference. She distributed a synopsis of the information collected at the Neighborhood Open House and asked the Board if they wanted to put it on the agenda for the next meeting. The Board thanked Kahoun and her staff for all their hard work in putting on the event. Kahoun said it really was a group effort and she also thanked her staff. Overman asked that thank-you letters be sent to the various politicians who attended the open house, and to Dolph (who emceed) and the sponsors. King said Kahoun neglected to mention the CAB when giving the history of the NRB at the Open House.

COMMITTEE/REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS. None.

OTHER BUSINESS. None

The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

Jerry Overman, Secretary