Title
a. Conduct a Public Hearing to take comments on the proposed Substantial Amendments to the Urban County FY 2013-14 and FY 2014-15 Action Plan and the Urban County Consolidated Plan's Citizen Participation Plan;
b. Accept the transfer of approximately $190,082 in funds that have been generated by repayments of principal and interest (Program Income) on County loans from State of California Housing and Community Development's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to the Urban County;
c. Authorize acceptance of transfer of all future Program generated by CDBG funds to the Urban County;
d. Accept receipt of the Del Rey Oaks Program Income of approximately $43,175, as well as future Program Income generated by CDBG funds previously awarded to Del Rey Oaks, to the Urban County.
e. Reallocate unspent Urban County allocations from FY 2013-14 in the amount of $32,085.37 for use in 2014-15 in order to retain the funds as follows: $21,000 to GRID Alternatives' Solar Installation Project located within the Urban County and $11,085.37 to MidPen Housing, Inc.'s Geil Street Housing Rehabilitation Project located in Castroville.
f. Allocate funds available, as of June 30, 2014, from the transfer of Monterey County Program Income to the Urban County in the amount of $190,082, as well as Program Income estimated at $45,000 to be received in FY 2014-15, as follows: $50,418 to MidPen Housing, Inc.'s Geil Street Housing Rehabilitation Project; $175,664 for improvements to a recreational facility in Chualar; and $9,000 for administration of the Urban County program;
g. Allocate Del Rey Oaks funds available from the transfer of Program Income to the
Urban County in the amount of $43,175 for ADA improvements to City Hall;
h. Reallocate Gonzales FY 2013-14 funding in the amount of $34,972 from two HVAC projects to (i.) the City's FY 2013-14 Childcare roof project in the amount of $19,878 and (ii.) the City's FY 2014-15 ADA curbs project in the amount of $15,094.
i. Amend the Citizen Participation Plan to cite the Monterey County Weekly and the Gonzales Tribune as the papers for noticing in English and El Sol for noticing in Spanish.
j. Authorize the Director of Economic Development to notify the State regarding the approval of, and action to transfer, existing Program Income of approximately $190,082, as well as all future Program Income generated by CDBG funds, to the Urban County;
k. Authorize the Director of Economic Development to submit these Substantial Amendments to these Urban County FY 2013-14 and FY 2014-15 Action Plans and the Citizen Participation Plan to HUD; and
l. Authorize the Director of Economic Development to execute contracts and any and all other necessary and associated documents in regard to these allocations for Urban County projects.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Conduct a Public Hearing to take comments on the proposed Substantial Amendments to the Urban County FY 2013-14 and FY 2014-15 Action Plan and the Urban County Consolidated Plan's Citizen Participation Plan;
b. Accept the transfer of approximately $190,082 in funds that have been generated by
repayments of principal and interest (Program Income) on County loans from State of California Housing and Community Development's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to the Urban County;
c. Authorize acceptance of transfer of all future Program generated by CDBG funds to the Urban County;
d. Accept receipt of the Del Rey Oaks Program Income of approximately $43,175, as well as future Program Income generated by CDBG funds previously awarded to Del Rey Oaks, to the Urban County.
e. Reallocate unspent Urban County allocations from FY 2013-14 in the amount of $32,085.37 for use in 2014-15 in order to retain the funds as follows: $21,000 to GRID Alternatives' Solar Installation Project located within the Urban County and $11,085.37 to MidPen Housing, Inc.'s Geil Street Housing Rehabilitation Project located in Castroville.
f. Allocate funds available, as of June 30, 2014, from the transfer of Monterey County Program Income to the Urban County in the amount of $190,082, as well as Program Income estimated at $45,000 to be received in FY 2014-15, as follows: $50,418 to MidPen Housing, Inc.'s Geil Street Housing Rehabilitation Project; $175,664 for improvements to a recreational facility in Chualar; and $9,000 for administration of the Urban County program;
g. Allocate Del Rey Oaks funds available from the transfer of Program Income to the Urban
County in the amount of $43,175 for ADA improvements to City Hall;
h. Reallocate Gonzales FY 2013-14 funding in the amount of $34,972 from two HVAC projects to (i.) the City's FY 2013-14 Childcare roof project in the amount of $19,878 and (ii.) the City's FY 2014-15 ADA curbs project in the amount of $15,094.
i. Amend the Citizen Participation Plan to cite the Monterey County Weekly and the Gonzales Tribune as the papers for noticing in English and El Sol for noticing in Spanish.
j. Authorize the Director of Economic Development to notify the State regarding the approval of, and action to transfer, existing Program Income of approximately $190,082, as well as all future Program Income generated by CDBG funds, to the Urban County;
k. Authorize the Director of Economic Development to submit the Substantial Amendments to these Urban County FY 2013-14 and FY 2014-15 Action Plans and the Citizen Participation Plan to HUD; and
l. Authorize the Director of Economic Development to execute contracts and any and all other necessary and associated documents in regard to these allocations for Urban County projects.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) qualified Monterey County and the Cities of Del Rey Oaks and Gonzales as an Urban County for entitlement purposes. The Monterey Urban County was awarded an allocation from HUD of $865,067 for FY 2014-15. Subsequently, the State of California Housing and Community Development Department's (HCD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program issued CDBG Management Memorandum #14-05 which made substantial policy changes to the CDBG program effective July 1, 2014. These policy changes affect the Urban County in regard to Program Income from HCD's CDBG program. The policy change requires that any Program Income not held in a revolving loan fund be transferred to an entitlement jurisdiction or returned to the State. Based upon this policy change, new and revised 2014-15 funding allocations are recommended and require a Substantial Amendment to the Urban County FY 2014-15 Action Plan previously submitted to HUD. Additionally, reallocation of unspent FY 2013-14 funds can be addressed as a part of a Substantial Amendment for FY 2013-14. Finally, a change in public noticing can also be addressed at this time as part of the Substantial Amendment.
DISCUSSION:
Each year, HUD recipients are required to submit an Action Plan to HUD which includes approved funding recommendations for projects, services, and administration. To satisfy that requirement, a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) was issued December 4, 2013 for CDBG funds for FY 2014-15. An application workshop for interested parties was held at the County Government Center on December 16, 2013. On January 28, 2014, the Board of Supervisors created an Ad Hoc Committee to review and recommend funding for County projects and services and appointed Supervisors Calcagno and Salinas to the Committee. The Ad Hoc Committee met on March 6, 2014 and made recommendations for funding. On April 1, the Board of Supervisors approved the Draft Action Plan for FY 2014-15, including recommendations for projects and programs to be funded. After a 30-day period of public review, the Board approved the FY 2014-15 Action Plan. HUD subsequently approved it on June 30, 2014. The Action Plans can be found on the County's website. A link is provided in the Attachments list below.
It is now recommended that Board of Supervisors hold a public hearing in regard to Substantial Amendments to the FY 2014-15 Action Plan and to the Citizen Participation Plan based upon new funding available since that process took place. The purpose of the public hearing is to receive comments on the proposed Substantial Amendments. In the absence of evidence and testimony to the contrary, it is recommended that the Board of Supervisors take action on the recommendations regarding the Substantial Amendments. A final copy of the Substantial Amendments will be made available on each participating jurisdiction's website and a hard copy will be available at the Economic Development Department immediately thereafter.
Further, it is recommended that the Urban County accept the transfer of State CDBG Program Income from grants previously awarded to the County and Del Rey Oaks and reallocate those funds along with unspent FY 2013-14 funds and FY 2014-15 funds. It is also recommended that the Citizen Participation Plan portion of the Consolidated Plan be amended to cite the Monterey County Weekly and the Gonzales Tribune as the papers for noticing in English and El Sol for noticing in Spanish. Finally, it is recommended that the Director of Economic Development be authorized to execute contracts, as well as other necessary and associated documents relating to these allocations, so that minor adjustments may be made to allow for variances in expected Program Income and otherwise facilitate the amendment approved by this action.
Based upon the above, the following recommendations have been publicly noticed and placed on the agenda for public comment and action at the September 30, 2014 Board meeting:
1. Transfer of existing State Program Income held by the County of approximately $190,082, as well as all future State Program Income generated by CDBG funds, will preserve the Program Income for use by the County through the Urban County.
2. Approval and acceptance of the Del Rey Oaks Program Income of approximately $43,175, as well as all future State Program Income generated by CDBG funds will preserve the Program Income for use by Del Rey Oaks through the Urban County.
3. Reallocation of unspent Urban County allocations from FY 2013-14 in the amount of $32,085.37 for use in FY 2014-15 will avoid loss of the HUD funds and will benefit the community via two projects. The first recommended project is by GRID Alternatives and will provide $21,000 for solar installations to seven low income families which will allow them to reduce the amount of their total income spent on housing. The project will also provide job training skills to low income individuals as they learn how to install solar systems. The second recommended project is by MidPen Housing, Inc. and will provide $11,085.37 for rehabilitation of the Geil Street housing project in Castroville. The 52-year old affordable housing project is in need of major rehabilitation including remediation of health and safety issues. MidPen will be acquiring the property and undertaking the work so as to retain affordable housing units.
4. Approval and allocation of County funds available from the transfer of Program Income to the Urban County in the amount of $190,082 (as of June 30, 2014) as well as Program Income estimated at $45,000 to be received in FY 2014-15 will assure that future CDBG grant funds will not be reduced due to Program Income on hand. The first recommended project is additional funding of $50,418 for the Geil Street project. Together with the original commitment of $100,000 and the above recommended commitment of $11,085.37, the County's total support of $161,503.37 will fund just over 25% of the total rehabilitation needed on the project. The second recommended project is funding in the amount of $175,664 for improvements to a community recreational field located in Chualar, adjacent to and a part of Chualar Elementary School. Planned improvements include replacement of the sod with artificial turf and other miscellaneous improvements to the fencing and entry gates. This project was previously approved by the State for funding with Program Income but had not yet been started. Lastly, Program Income in the amount of $9,000 will be allocated for administration of the Urban County program.
5. Approval and allocation of Del Rey Oaks funds available from the transfer of Program Income to the Urban County in the amount of $43,175 as of June 30, 2014 for City Hall ADA Improvements will assure that future grant funds will not be reduced due to Program Income on hand.
6. Approval of a reallocation of FY 2013-14 funds, previously approved in the amount of $34,972 for two HVAC projects in Gonzales, will allow Gonzales to complete its underfunded FY 2013-14 Childcare roof project and fund additional ADA curb improvements in FY 2014-15. Allocations for the two HVAC projects exceeded the bids received while an allocation for a roof project was insufficient to cover the work. Gonzales has requested the following reallocations of excess funds: a reduction of $27,410 in the FY 2013-14 allocation for the Medical Clinic's HVAC system; a reduction of $7,562 in the FY 2013-14 allocation for the Childcare's HVAC system; an increase in the FY 2013-14 allocation for the Childcare's roof of $19,878; and an increase in the FY 2014-15 allocation for ADA curbs improvements of $15,094.
7. Amendment of the Citizen Participation Plan as approved in June of 2013 by HUD will allow better outreach to citizens and better use of administration funds. The County's Consolidated Plan includes a Citizen Participation Plan which outlines how outreach to the community is to be undertaken. As written and approved, the Citizen Participation Plan provides for noticing of public hearings for the Urban County in the Salinas Californian, the Monterey Herald, El Sol (Spanish language paper) and the Gonzales Tribune. Over the last two years as work began on becoming an Urban County and continued after its establishment, staff has more fully understood the cost of noticing in four papers as well as their circulation numbers. As the Monterey County Weekly newspaper exceeds that of all the other papers combined, it is recommended that the Citizen Participation Plan be amended to delete noticing in the Salinas Californian and the Monterey Herald and to add the Monterey County Weekly. Public noticing would be continued in the Gonzales Tribune for specific outreach in Gonzales and El Sol for noticing in Spanish.
The revised funding recommendations for projects are shown below in Exhibit A attached hereto.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
On December 4, 2013, a NOFA was issued for CDBG funds for FY 2014-15. On December 16, 2013, an application workshop for interested parties was held at the County Government Center. On March 6, 2014, an Ad Hoc Committee, including the Cities of Del Rey Oaks and Gonzales, met and made funding recommendations for the FY 2014-15 HUD allocation. On June 30, 2014, HUD approved the Action Plan and awarded funding for FY 2014-15. Effective July 1, HCD issued a CDBG Management Memo in regard to policy changes relating to Program Income. Each City thereafter made recommendations for projects located in their jurisdictions. County staff made recommendations for county projects to the Ad Hoc Committee. On August 25, 2014, the Ad Hoc Committee made funding recommendations in regard to FY 2013-14 and FY 2014-15 projects as well as a recommendation in regard to public noticing.
FINANCING:
The HUD grant is a five (5) year agreement which is funded annually. Funding in the amount of $856,820 was awarded for FY 2013-2014. The funding award for FY 2014-2015 is $865,067. If the County transfers existing funding from State PROGRAM INCOME and accepts PROGRAM INCOME received in FY 2014-15, the total FY 2014-2015 CDBG funding will be $1,098,324. If the County complies with the grant, the County will continue to receive annual entitlement funding, subject to the federal budget process.
The grant has been included in the department's baseline budget submissions for FY 2014-15 in its Appropriations Unit DEO003, Fund 013, Budget Unit 8200 (Community Development Grants).
Prepared by:
_________________________________
Jane Royer Barr,
Housing Programs Manager, Ext 5389
Approved by:
_________________________________
David L. Spaur, CEcD, EDFP
Economic Development Director Ext. 5387
Attachments:
Exhibit A, Substantial Amendments to the Action Plans & Citizen Participation Plan