Alachua County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Alachua County Office of Planning & Development, Room 6
111 S.W. 1st Street
Gainesville, FL 32601
Meeting Minutes
Members present: Carl Salafrio; Darlene Pifalo; Don Davis; John Brunner; Juanita Biles; Michael Conroy; Patricia Lee; Robert Stroh; Shaun Wasdo; Tim Flanagan.
Others present: Ken Zeichner, Principal Planner for Comprehensive Planning; Abu Karim, Growth Management staff liaison to the committee; Mark Ludlow, services provider to the committee.
The meeting began at 5:05 P M.
Old business
The minutes of the Committee’s meeting on July 2, 2008 were approved. Mark Ludlow spoke briefly to clarify the roles of Committee members, explaining that members are not limited in their contributions to the Committee by the particular category under which they were appointed.
Discussion of affordable housing incentives and CDBG grant application
Mr. Ludlow noted that information on household income and single family residential home sales and prices for Alachua County had been distributed to committee members so that they may begin to understand the context of housing in the County. He also mentioned that the Committee has two distinct roles, that of creating an affordable housing incentives package targeting regulatory reform and that of developing a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application.
Abu Karim then spoke about the CDBG application process and previous County CDBG projects. In particular, he discussed the four categories that applications for grant funding must fall within: commercial revitalization; neighborhood revitalization; economic development; and housing rehabilitation. Several committee members asked why the City of Gainesville received but did not have to apply for CDBG funding; Mr. Karim answered with an explanation of entitlement and non-entitlement local governments, noting that Alachua County is a non-entitlement local government and therefore has to apply for Florida’s Small Cities CDBG Program. After explaining the steps necessary for a CDBG application within the commercial revitalization, neighborhood revitalization, or economic development categories and noting the time constraint for the 2008 CDBG application cycle, Mr. Karim indicated that staff was recommending applying for CDBG funding within the Housing Rehabilitation category.
Mr. Karim also spoke about the upcoming public hearing on August 12, 2008, noting that the function of the public hearing was to allow for citizen input on community needs. This input will guide the Committee’s selection of a CDBG grant category. Several members had questions concerning the consultant selection process and the specific manner in which the consultant will be paid. Mr. Karim remarked that he would find out.
Committee members requested a list of applications for funding that were received for the 2006 CDBG application cycle, awards that were made, and the dollar amount of each award. Members also asked for a copy of the current scoring criteria to be used by the state in evaluating CDBG grant applications. Mr. Karim and Mr. Ludlow indicated they would locate the requested information and e-mail it to members, along with a webpage link for the application scoring criteria.
Alachua County Comprehensive Plan
Ken Zeichner gave an overview of the County’s Comprehensive Plan, which guides future growth and development. After discussing the Plan’s role in guiding future land use, Mr. Zeichner mentioned the concept of gross residential densities and the connection between density and affordable housing. He noted that the Plan’s Housing Element is particularly relevant to the Committee’s tasks.
Mr. Zeichner then introduced the Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) process, through which recommendations for revising the County’s Comprehensive Plan will be addressed. He discussed the list of community issues that resulted from public input at the start of the EAR process and noted that several issues concerning affordable housing would be addressed by the AHAC’s recommendations. A discussion of County land use policies in general followed; Mr. Zeichner answered questions that arose and further elaborated on questions concerning the Comprehensive Plan.
New business
Mr. Ludlow mentioned that a revised list of staggered member terms was in the packet of material available to each member; he noted that any member not in agreement with the list should contact him. Mr. Ludlow also pointed out that a draft copy of the Committee’s By-Laws was in the packet of material distributed for the meeting and asked that members review the draft for comment at a future meeting.
The meeting ended at 6:20 P M.