The meeting convened at 5:06. Volm moved to approve the agenda; seconded by Pulliam; carried by unanimous vote. Regarding the minutes of September 22, Dozier said that her motion to allocate CDBG funds to New Horizons included a stipulation that persons receiving the services sign a document stating that they are at 80% of median income or below. Muldoon asked to reword her motion that the NRB and staff to work together to determine if CDBG funding is replacing City funding in low/mod areas, to track how that happens, and whether the money is being used as the NRB intended, and to make recommendations on the funds. She asked that it be worded, "I recommend that City staff and the NRB study the extent to which CDBG funds supplant City funds in low and moderate income neighborhoods and how fees and fines of programs funded by CDBG dollars will be recaptured by those programs. Hogate moved to approve the minutes as amended; seconded by Volm; carried by unanimous vote.

OFFICER'S REPORT. Kahoun reported that no Council meetings had occurred since the Board's last meeting.

CONTRACT SALES DISCUSSION. Bruce Bergman of the City's Legal Department and Eric Anderson, the City Manager, gave a status report on the contract sales issue. Bergman and Volm have contacted the City of Davenport to see how they are handling it. Bergman said Davenport has been requiring an inspection and if health-threatening problems are found, they will not issue an occupancy permit. If the problems are not corrected within a reasonable period, a civil infraction is issued.

Bergman said part of the problem was whether Des Moines as a city has the right to impose regulations that govern what the County Recorder does. County Recorders are subject to state law and it is Legal's and the Manager's feeling that it will not help the problem if Des Moines passes an ordinance that conflicts with State law. Holding up issuing an occupancy permit is also a problem, because the buyers may then be put in a worse situation.

Bergman said it is best if the City works with the League of Municipalities and legislation is drafted that will benefit contract buyers statewide. It is also important that any legislation drafted makes provision that the contract isn't final until the buyer gets the results of the inspection and the disclosure statement and is given a short review period. The Manager said the Council's roundtable group is very concerned that the inspection requirement be worded very carefully so that it works for both urban and rural situations. Anderson said one point that must be included is the City should get a copy of the inspection and if the structure is not fit for habitation, no occupancy certificate will be issued.

Dozier said the Board wanted a faster solution than waiting for the legislature to act. She asked that a municipal infraction be put in place, and that City inspectors be used. She said she understood that smaller cities would have to use private inspectors, but Des Moines did not, and she wanted City inspectors to have this responsibility. She also said the Board did not want the structures occupied until they were inspected. She said when a house is advertised as "Rent to Own," it was technically a rental, and it should be inspected as such. Bishop said if it was listed as a rental, it would be inspected. Dozier asked how the inspection division would find them all – drive the street and look for signs? Bishop said they were working on ways to find illegal rentals.

Volm said Davenport's problem seems to be with only a couple of contract sellers who are selling unfit properties, but Des Moines had 600 contract sales last year. Bergman said the Attorney General suggested in his opinion that Des Moines might consider setting a limit at which inspection is triggered – for example, if the same company sold five houses within a year, then inspections had to take place. Dozier said it would have to be very carefully defined so that companies could not create subsidiaries to get around the law.

The Manager said he understood the Board's wish for quick action, but the legislative route was the only way to ensure solving, not just complicating, the issue. Muldoon asked if inspections could be required in the interim until legislation is in place. Bergman said that could be done, if it could be figured out who would inspect and at what point. Pulliam said it was important to write the requirement so that it would work for either rural or urban areas, as the problems were not the same. Anderson said the question of using City or private inspectors would have to be discussed further, but if the Board felt that the first step was to require inspections, then that request could be presented to Council at this time. Volm said the Board wanted the inspections performed by City inspectors because they trusted them, but she was concerned about the 180 day period to record the contracts. Bergman said while the law allowed a 180 day period, most contracts were recorded right away. Hogate asked if the period to record could be based on zoning. Bergman said it could be shortened and no legitimate seller would be likely to object. Anderson said it should be possible to get the period to reject the contract to be one day longer than the period to record. Bergman said he believed that could be done.

Lumley asked if the disclosure statement could show the last sale, so if a house was bought one day and sold the next for $10,000 more, it would be obvious no rehab was done and the increase was unjustified. Bergman said prior sales were a matter of public record. Lumley said she didn't think that immigrant buyers would know what information was public record and where to find it.

Dozier asked that the subcommittee meet again as she felt further discussions with Bergman were necessary.

PROPOSED DRAKE REZONING. Kahoun introduced Mike Ludwig, new administrator of the Planning and Urban Development Division of the Community Development Department. She said that during the neighborhood selection process, Drake Neighborhood discussed their desire to decrease density and to have many large old homes that had been divided into rental units return to single family occupancy. They requested a study area and went to the City Council who approved a recommendation for rezoning of that area. Kahoun said Richard Brown, Bert Drost and Mary Neiderbach were the planners who along with Ludwig had been working on the proposed rezoning and alternatives for downsizing. Larry James, Vice President of Drake Neighborhood Association, said the character of the neighborhood had changed over the last two decades. The houses were originally carved up to meet housing demands for Drake students, but now Drake students do not live close to the University, and the units are filled with low-income renters. James said many of the rental units were substandard housing and only minimally meeting code.

Ludwig said the City has several concerns:

Ludwig said the City and the Association also want to make sure that the conversions and the new units are compatible with the character of the neighborhood. James said the association wants the density to decrease slowly and new apartment buildings to develop along the commercial corridors of University and Forest to replace the low-cost units that are lost. Drake Association also wants to increase the Neighborhood Finance Corporation's limit to help conversions. The Association has also applied for funds to clean up old gas station sites along Forest so redevelopment can take place.

James asked for the Board's input and support on this issue. Ludwig told the Board the proposed rezoning request will go to the Drake neighborhood association on October 25 and to the Plan and Zoning Commission on December 6.

Muldoon said she thought the whole city was being rezoned through the Community Character Plan. Kahoun said that wouldn't answer the problem soon enough so Drake was going to try this approach. Muldoon asked how the existing apartment buildings would be handled if the whole area was zoned R-160. James said there would be nodes of R-3 zoning for them.

Dozier said James should research with staff how Woodland Heights handled the same problem. Pulliam asked what impact the I-235 improvements would have on the Drake neighborhood. James said it would be drastic, but he didn't know yet how many houses would be lost. Hogate said she thought the long range density-lowering plan sounded like an exciting prospect for a difficult area, but it was hard to predict what the market would do. She cited similar problems the Capitol East Neighborhood faced in redeveloping the commercial area of East Grand. James said the neighborhood was very concerned to develop a balanced solution that would return the neighborhood to its original use but would not shortchange those who needed affordable rental units. Hogate said anything that developed would need to be friendly to Drake University as well. Pulliam said he felt that anything that improved the area would only enhance Drake, and he looked forward to working with the association and finding ways to further their concept.

POLK COUNTY POLICY FOR DISPOSITION OF TAX SALE PROPERTIES. Lumley presented an update of the Polk County tax sale policy. The update included changes in the costs the County has to pay when it sells properties and removal of the provisions that permit the County to sell properties on contract. Lumley said not everything the County owns can be sold off, as many of the properties are easements, landlocked parcels, and other unbuildable pieces of land. Lumley said the County works with contiguous owners where possible if they want to buy a unbuildable lot next to them as a sideyard.

The County would like to sell more of their landbanked properties, but they want to avoid selling them to speculators who may not be able to redevelop them.. Lumley said the County believes King Irving neighborhood will become designated in the near future, and so they are holding some of the lots the County owns in that area until they can be addressed in a Neighborhood Action Plan.

Lumley said the County mostly sells properties by auction, with housing nonprofits getting first chance at the list. Few have structures, and of those structures, many need to be demolished.

Dozier said one of the houses on the recent auction list was in her neighborhood Woodland Heights and it didn't sell. She asked why the NDC wasn't notified. She said when a neighborhood is chartered, the neighborhoods are to be carrying on their Neighborhood Plans on their own and they need to get the information to do so. She asked why the County sold at auction – poor couples looking for housing will not go to an auction for it, and the properties will be bought by slumlords. Dozier asked why the County didn't have contracts with realtors to find new owners for their properties. Lumley said the County policy didn't preclude that practice. Also, properties owned by the County are on its website and therefore are available to realtors.

Dozier asked how the County arrived at the fair market value for properties. Lumley said they ask the County Assessor for an appraisal. Dozier said that wasn't accurate because there are too many disfunctional formulas used by the Assessor. Lumley said the County can use an independent appraisal if necessary. Dozier said if the County was using a real estate agent they would have their own company appraiser.

2002 CONSOLIDATED PLAN – NRB RECOMMENDATION LETTER. The Board reviewed a draft of their recommendations for 2002 CDBG, ESG and HOME funding. Muldoon and Kahoun discussed rewording the part about whether CDBG funds are being used to supplant City funds in low income areas. Muldoon provided a written copy of the wording she wanted used. Lumley asked whether SCRUB was a mandated service; Kahoun said it wasn't. Lumley asked if code enforcement was also mandated; Kahoun said it was, but the CDBG funds were used to provide a higher level of service for eligible areas.

Dozier moved to approve the letter as amended; seconded by Hogate.

King said Jerry Overman's resignation made it necessary to choose a new Board secretary. He asked whether the Board wished to have an election or to have him as chair appoint a new secretary to serve until the next time elections are held. Hogate moved to have the chair appoint an interim secretary; seconded by Walden. King asked Volm to serve as secretary and she agreed.

NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT. Kahoun distributed the Neighborhood Update and told the Board staff had met with the newly-selected neighborhoods. She also gave the results of the annual neighborhood association survey. There are 51 neighborhoods, 25 had replied and were in compliance with the survey, 26 were not. She asked to discuss the next step at the next meeting. She also asked the Board if they had any nominations for the SCRUB Task Force, and whether they wanted an NRB member on it. Dozier recommended George Nichols. Pulliam said he felt there should be an NRB member and volunteered. King thanked him for volunteering and appointed him to the Task Force.

Volm asked when the Board's recommendations for the CIP budget were due; Kahoun said it should be soon so the Board's recommendations got consideration as the departments worked out their budgets.

COMMITTEE AND REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS. Hogate said the NFC will meet on the fourth Thursday of the month at 3:00.

OTHER BUSINESS.

The meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.

Joann Muldoon, Vice President