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12/01/2021 - Minutes MINUTES FROM THE HOUSING TRUST FUND BOARD MEETING Wednesday, December 1, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. Teams Meeting Call in Number: 1-385-355-0286 Pin: 734 240 638# Salt Lake City, Utah Board Members Board Members Not Present Matt Pauly(Chair) Robert Rendon Paul Cherecwich Shelley Bodily Edward Makowski Jose Organista Amy Rowland Marty Biljanic Scott Cuthbertson Staff Present Tony Milner,Housing Stability Amanda Best, Housing Stability Heather Royall,Housing Stability Ethan Sellers,Housing Stability Veatriz Alequin,Housing Stability Members of Public Present 1. Welcome Matthew Pauly,board Chair,welcomed the board. Remote Meeting Statement read by Mr. Pauly: "I,Matthew Pauly, Chair of Housing Trust Fund Advisory Board,hereby determine that with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic conditions existing in Salt Lake City that meeting at an anchor location presents a substantial risk to the health or safety of those who would be present." 2. Electronic Meeting Adoption Amanda Best reviewed the Electronic Meeting Adoption and the need for the adoption in the HTFAB Bylaws. Tony Milner also stated that it would allow for the board to meet electronically moving forward without the need for an emergency declaration by the mayor. Mr. Pauly asked if this will also allow for hybrid meetings moving forward,which would also be helpful in the future. The staff confirmed that would be the case as well. This would also give the board flexibility to meet if there is no anchor location. Ms. Best brought up the language for the electronic meeting adoption. Mr. Pauly asked by what means the board has been doing electronic meetings.Ms. Best stated it was under the Mayor's Emergency Declaration. Mr. Cherecwich asked about the flexibility of this statement,the motion did not seem to have the option for"both/and".Heather Royall answered the question stating that the current code is written this way to have an option but does not allow for a both, instead it would be either/or. Ms. Rowland asked if the City and County Building is still closed. Ms. Royall said the City and County building is open to the public,the City Council is meeting electronically still. As of right now there will not need to be someone at the anchor location if the electronic meeting adoption gets approved at the meeting. Ed Makowski asked if this can be reviewed on a month-to-month basis. Mr. Pauly said that it sounds like the Chair would be the ultimate decision basis. Ms. Best stated that this decision would have to be addressed every thirty days. Mr. Cherecwich motioned the presented motion,to adopt into the Housing Trust Fund Advisory Board bylaws the ability to hold electronic meetings in compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act in Utah Code(Code 52-4-207)if the anchor location presents substantial risk to the health or safety of those present and/or if the normal location has been ordered closed to the public for health or safety reasons. Mr. Makowski seconded;the motion passed unanimously. 3. Electronic Meeting Statement by Chair The electronic meeting statement was said at the beginning of the meeting. 4. Approval of April 7,2021 Meeting Minutes The board reviewed and approved the April 7,2021,Meeting Minutes. Mr. Cherecwich moved,Ms. Rowland seconded, approved unanimously. 5. Approval of November 18,2021 Meeting Minutes The meeting minutes were not yet completed,and the board did not review or vote on the November 18 minutes. It will be moved to the next meeting agenda. 6. Discussion and Recommendation of 22-23 HOME Applications The board reviewed the applications for the HOME funding; The Road Home TBRA,Utah Community Action(UCA)TBRA, South Valley Sanctuary(SVS)DV Survivor Housing Assistance, SLC HOME Development Fund, Community Development Corporation of Utah(CDCU)Down Payment Assistance, and NeighborWorks Affordable Home Buydown Program. Mr. Cherecwich stated that he liked the applications that assist the lower income individuals and families with kids. There were no comments on UCA's program application. Mr. Cherecwich commented on the SVS application that it is extremely important to support this specific population.Ms. Rowland asked whether these funds are targeted towards families in Salt Lake City or moving into Salt Lake City. Mr. Sellers stated that he has answers from a different application, and they told him that they work in the Salt Lake City libraries to reduce transportation issues. They go to the library locations every week for appointments. Ms. Best stated that the HOME dollars must be used inside Salt Lake City,the family can already live in the boundaries or moving into the boundaries. Mr. Pauly also stated that the rental assistance per family seemed low. The HOME Development Fund was discussed as a potential application that the funding ask can be lowered. There were no other comments. Mr. Cherecwich stated he did not like the CDCU DPA application since the affordability of homes for sale is very high in Salt Lake City. The families to be served are also for the higher AMI,Mr. Cherecwich would prefer to use the dollars for families within a lower income bracket.Mr. Pauly agreed that rental assistance has a larger impact currently but there is a generational impact to homebuyer.Ms. Rowland stated that she approved it, it did have a high amount per family but appreciated the fact that it is trying to keep homeownership alive. She also said that CDCU has created home ownership opportunities by building homes and using this assistance to move families in. Mr. Pauly also stated that historically 80% AMI was a family that could afford a home but with home prices going up it is less likely, and the families do need assistance. Mr. Cuthbertson added that CDCU did not spend all of their funding last year,he approved them,but they were lower on his list. Mr.Makowski also approved this application;he also compared the beneficiaries to the dollars asked for and he questioned the CDCU application impact based on dollars per family served. Mr. Pauly summarized that this application may be approved with some cuts in funding but will look at that later. Mr. Pauly started the discussion on NeighborWorks application. He said that there didn't seem to be any checks on the target demographic. The median home prices are higher than what is in the grant application. The number of the outcome and the $100,000 gap did not match up in their budget. Mr. Cherecwich agreed with Mr. Pauly. Mr. Cuthbertson agreed and stated that he also noticed the discrepancy of three families,but the budget did not line up with that outcome. He did not see it as effective as the other options. Mr. Cherecwich stated the first come first serve method seems ripe with fraud. Mr. Pauly agreed and said that it could allow for those connected to easily receive the assistance. The board decided to not fund the NeighborWorks Affordable Home Buydown Program. Ms. Rowland pointed out that there is other rental assistance in the community and that home ownership is important as well. Mr. Pauly said that was a good point and added that the HOME Development Fund is there to build affordable rentals. If that isn't continued there would be no affordable rental units for the assistance. Ms. Rowland asked about cost per unit on the HOME Development Fund. Ms. Best said she doesn't have that number off the top of her head but that the HOME Development Fund is moving more toward rehabilitation and preservation of affordable housing. The Federal HOME requirements has a maximum cap that can be used for each unit,that's where the number of households served comes from but there is potential to serve more households. Mr. Pauly said there is potential to cut CDCU and the HOME Development Fund,however,there are long term benefits to home ownership compared to rental assistance. Ms. Rowland pointed out the past award amounts and asked if they could do something like that. Mr. Makowski mentioned that The Road Home receives funding from many sources and may be able to have other assistance fill the gap if their request is lowered. Mr. Pauly asked to fund The Road Home, CDCU, and UCA at last years amounts and SVS at their full ask. They lowered the HOME Development Fund to $393,831. Any increase in funding would go to the HOME Development Fund. Mr. Makowski asked if the HOME Development Fund can take that much of a cut. Ms. Best stated that any funding would be put out into the Development application for developers in the community,it is not reducing any administrative costs for the City. Mr. Cherecwich motioned to approve NeighborWorks at$0,The Road Home at$200,000,Utah Community Action at$167,669, South Valley Sanctuary at$138,500, SLC HOME Development Fund at $393,831,and CDCU at$200,000. If the award is greater the excess will be given to the HOME Development Fund, if the award is less,it would be reduced from the HOME Development Fund.Mr. Makowski seconded,unanimously approved. 7. Discussion and Recommendation of 22-23 HOPWA Applications The board reviewed the applications for HOPWA funding; UCA HOPWA,Housing Connect HOPWA Rental Assistance,Utah Aids Foundation HOPWA Supportive Services, and Utah Aids Foundation Mental Health Services. Mr. Pauly asked about previous spend down. Housing Connect and UCA did not spend down their full award from 20-21.Mr. Sellers stated that Housing Connect reached out to get permission to not spend down their full ask since they would only house families for one year and essentially remove people from their homes, since the funding for certain families will not continue. Ms. Rowland stated that her understanding of the HOPWA program is that the agencies take on individuals and families, essentially, forever,how would that impact those currently being served and those on the waitlist?Would that impact those that already have rental assistance committed to them?Mr. Sellers stated there is a sixty-person waitlist for Housing Connect HOPWA vouchers,which the Utah Aids Foundation administers. Ms. Rowland moved that all applications get fully funded for the 22-23 fiscal year,however, in the event that there is not enough funding it will be awarded in the following manner;UCA at$125,000, Housing Connect at$480,000,Utah Aids Foundation at$45,000, and Utah Aids Foundation at$50,000. If there is additional funding to split the funding between UCA and Housing connect until fully funded.Mr. Cherecwich seconded,unanimously approved. 8. Other Business There was no other business from staff. The meeting was adjourned at 1:01pm. HTF Board Chair This document along with the digital recording constitute the official minutes of the Housing Trust Fund Advisory Board meeting held December 1,2021.