The meeting convened at 5:05. Jusofovic moved to approve the agenda; seconded by Pulliam; carried by unanimous vote. Pulliam moved to approve the minutes of October 17; seconded by Volm; carried by unanimous vote.

OFFICER'S REPORT. Kahoun reported on recent City Council actions, including receiving the NRB's recommendations on the upcoming Capital Improvements budget and neighborhood selection. The zoning ordinance regarding used car lots had its first and second readings. The Neighborhood Development Corporation gave a presentation on its current projects and plans. Council approved the selected neighborhoods and forwarded the recommendations to Polk County for action by the Supervisors on November 13.

CITY MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE HUD 2002 CONSOLIDATED PLAN. The City Manager discussed his recommendations for the HUD 2002 Consolidated Plan, saying they were quite similar to the Board's recommendations with only two major changes. He recommended the City start requiring inspections of houses sold on contract, but private inspectors should perform them, not City staff. He recommended the money the NRB set aside for this activity be used for private property cleanups. The Manager also recommended that $10,000 be taken from the Board's recommendation for NCS and given to Creative Visions. Anderson said he found the Board's recommendations for the next year to be very well thought out. Moisa said the staff had given them good support materials and staff recommendations to work from.

Regarding contract sales inspections, Moisa asked if the Manager intended that the inspections be overseen by any City group, and if private inspectors were to be used, how would the policing group be implemented? Anderson said he agreed that inspections were needed and good inspectors must be used. He said there were national certifying organizations and he thought the private inspectors should have this certification and a reputation that qualifies them to inspect. He also recommended that City staff spot-check the inspections and if fraud is found, charges should be pressed.

Dozier said if the Neighborhood Inspection Division staff were to do this spot-checking, that would contribute to the backlog they already have on rental inspections. Anderson said rental inspection was being revamped. The Manager and Board discussed when the inspection should be timed to occur, whether the buyer should be required to be present, whether a new inspection should be required for each prospective buyer, or if not, how old that inspection could be. Muldoon said she wanted all inspection reports to include the costs of necessary repairs; Anderson said there was so much variance in the estimation of repair costs that an average range would probably have to be used. Dodge updated the Board on the work of other groups on this issue. Pulliam said it was important to get this requirement in place at this time, as he had been at a seminar at UCLA which predicted that people will be moving back to the centers of cities and there would be a resurgence in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Muldoon asked the Manager whether he thought the Court Avenue project failed because of the prospect of the Jordan Creek Mall in Dallas County. Anderson said the Court Avenue project had not failed at this point, but there was no question that the new high-scale mall was a very serious threat to retailers all over the metro area, particularly the other two west-side malls.

HUD 2001 CONSOLIDATED PLAN CARRYOVERS, EXTENSIONS, AND PROGRAM INCOME. Schulte submitted a list of projects which would require Board and Council approval to be extended or carried over. Kahoun discussed various projects on the list and why they needed extension or carrying over. The reasons were generally delays in construction and complications in gathering financing. Vorbrich submitted information on the different types of loan the Economic Development Division uses and said they are considering revising the commercial redevelopment loans to raise the available limits and expand its permitted uses. He said the Board would receive a request for action on that near the end of the year.

Vorbrich said the OED had made eight loans last year totaling $278,000. These loans leveraged $1.8 million, created or retained 75 jobs, 51% of which were held by low/moderate income employees. Of the eight loans, seven were to businesses owned by women and/or minorities.

Jusofovic asked about the Drake program brochure included in the packet of information and wondered if they got funding for next year. Vorbrich said that program was operated through a 28E agreement to supply the Small Business Development Center with books and instructors.

Muldoon asked if all the businesses which got loans were in low/mod neighborhoods. Vorbrich said he thought so, but that was not a requirement. Muldoon asked why there were unspent funds. Vorbrich said part of this year's unspent money represented a loan that was repaid early when a business was sold; also

they had to have funds on hand to make the loans with, and the demand was very unpredictable. Muldoon asked if OED had ever asked the County for money; Vorbrich said the County contributed to a funding source that OED accessed, and had partnered with the City on many other projects.

Dozier said only Des Moines residents should be hired by businesses receiving these loans, and in the past OED had not monitored that. Vorbrich said that could not be required, but the businesses and the jobs were in Des Moines and 51% of the jobs created went to low income employees. He said that statistically about half the employees hired by these businesses were Des Moines residents.

Muldoon moved to approve the carryover, extension and program income provisions as listed in the staff recommendation; seconded by Lumley.

DISTRIBUTION AND REVIEW OF OWNER-OCCUPIED REHABILITATION PROGRAM MANUAL. Leipzig said the rehabilitation manual had been revised and reviewed internally, and Board members could pick up copies starting November 9. There will be a presentation at the next meeting. Muldoon thanked Leipzig, saying this method was much better than having a subcommittee do it.

NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT. Kahoun asked the Board if they wanted to meet on November 21, since it would be the day before Thanksgiving and several members would be out of town. Pulliam moved to cancel that meeting; seconded by Muldoon, carried by unanimous vote.

COMMITTEE AND REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS. Pulliam said he had recently attended several neighborhood association meetings and had been impressed by the plan the Parks Department presented to the Southern Hills Association for making a park behind Goodrell School. He said it was an excellent example of what can be accomplished when an active association works closely with the City.

OTHER BUSINESS. None

The meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m.

Betty Volm, Secretary