Alachua County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Alachua County Office of Planning & Development, Room 6
111 S.W. 1st Street
Gainesville, FL 32601
Meeting Minutes
Members present: Carl Salafrio; Don Davis; John Brunner; Juanita Biles; Michael Conroy; Patricia Lee; Robert Stroh; Shaun Wasdo; Tim Flanagan.
Others present: Steve Lachnicht, Director of Growth Management; Abu Karim, Growth Management staff liaison to the committee; Mark Ludlow, services provider to the committee; Kali Blount, a member of the public.
The meeting began at 5:10 P M.
Introductions and opening remarks
The meeting began with opening remarks from Abu Karim on the general mission and responsibilities of the committee. Mr. Karim’s remarks introduced the committee’s upcoming tasks and emphasized the importance of those tasks. Steve Lachnicht spoke briefly on the extent to which the county’s Comprehensive Plan and land development regulations already address several of the regulatory items the committee is required to review. Mr. Lachnicht answered several questions from committee members concerning county land use regulations. Committee members then introduced themselves.
Meeting procedures
Mark Ludlow noted that a summary of Florida’s Sunshine Laws and a copy of the county’s committee by-laws were included in a packet of handouts for each member. Mr. Ludlow then pointed out a few key aspects of each document, such as the facts that all of the committee’s meetings are public meetings and that future meetings must be conducted according to parliamentary procedures. Mr. Lachnicht commented that if committee members were to desire more familiarity with Florida’s Sunshine Laws, the county attorney’s office can answer questions and provide more detail.
Review of committee responsibilities and deadlines
Mr. Ludlow and Mr. Karim gave a presentation on the two primary functions on the committee-- to create an affordable housing incentives package and to develop an application for Community Development Block Grant funding. The presentation sparked questions answered by Mr. Lachnicht, Mr. Karim, and Mr. Ludlow about both the general and the specific nature of the committee’s responsibilities and how the committee will carry out its responsibilities. Several committee members asked for further information, a request that Mr. Ludlow indicated he would respond to by e-mailing the links to the county’s Comprehensive Plan, land development regulations, and 2003 Affordable Housing Study to members. Several committee members asked that the presentation and member e-mail addresses be sent to all members, a request that Mr. Ludlow said he would act on.
Election of Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary
Mr. Lachnicht asked that members indicate their desire to be committee chair. Mr. Wasdo and Mr. Salafrio together remarked they would serve as chair; Mr. Salafrio, noting Mr. Wasdo’s willingness to take leadership of the committee, indicated his support for Mr. Wasdo as chair. Mr. Wasdo was chosen with a show of hands of a majority of members present. Volunteers for vice-chair were asked for; Mr. Salafrio said he would serve and was chosen with a show of hands of a majority of members present. Volunteers for secretary were asked for; Mr. Stroh indicated his willingness to become secretary and was chosen by a majority of members present.
Member terms
After appointing members to the committee on June 24, 2008, the Board of County Commissioners directed staff to stagger the terms of committee members so that all current member terms do not expire in 2012. Committee members were asked to review the terms proposed by staff; committee members desiring a term different from that proposed by staff should contact Mr. Karim or Mr. Ludlow.
Future business
Although staff scheduled committee meeting dates through the end of August for planning purposes, members were asked if there were better dates and times for meetings. Several members asked about the work load of the committee and remarked that the work load would generally drive the committee’s schedule. Given staff’s desire to keep the scheduled meeting dates because of the work load through the end of the year, members decided to meet at 5:00 p.m. on the July dates selected by staff--July 16 and July 30 (if necessary). Meetings are to be at 5:00 p.m. at the Alachua County Growth Management Department’s Office of Planning & Development, 111 S.W. 1st Street, Gainesville. Members decided that beginning in August, committee meetings would be on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.
In an effort to encourage members to begin thinking about affordable housing incentives in the form of regulatory reform, members were asked to choose the top three or four areas for review from Table 1 of the orientation report that they considered to be a priority for the committee to discuss at future meetings. Affordable housing issues that members think are important and that are not listed in Table 1 may also be discussed. A short discussion of affordable housing issues followed.
The meeting ended at 6:25 P M.