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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 01282003 - C49 Contra ryiie , Casty TO- BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ..: County FROM: Dennis M. Barry, AICP co Community Development Director DATE- FEBRUARY 4, 2003 SUBJECT, FY 2001/02 COMMUNITY PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT LETTER FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD) FOR THE COUNTY'S 1 , HOME, ESG AND HOPWA PROGRAMS SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATIONS(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION ACCEPT the FY 2001/02 Community Performance Assessment letter from UD for the County's Community Development Block Grant ( B ), Hone Investment Partnership Act (HOME), Emergency Shelter Grant (E G) and Housing Opportunities for persons with AID (HWA) programs. FISCAL IMPACT Not applicable. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: �X�YES IGNA` URE— '.' ,&-'RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR ECO ENDATION 0 IIIA"` EE --APPROVE �� OTHER SIGNATURE(S); ACTION OFB VOCE OF SIJIII I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A UNANIMOUS (A 1 `NO.NLE, TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF A. AYES.— NOES- ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE ABSENT. S ` I - MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN, Source. Bob Calkins, CDBG Program Manager (925) 335-1260 OrIg. Dept. Community Development JOIN SWEETEN, CLERK OF cc. County Administrator THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR .i By 17 DEPUTY BACKGROUND /REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS The County's FY 2001102 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER)contains information on project/program performance and success in meeting the five-year goals as described in the County's FY 2000/04 Consolidated Plan. The County submitted the CAPER to the U,S. Department of Housing &Urban Development(HUD)on September 30, 2002. HUD evaluated the CAPER and provided the County written comments. HUD has determined the County: * Has the continuing capacity to implement andadminister its CDBG, HOME, ESG and HOPWA programs. * Has consistently maintained a good partnership with the other entitlement cities within the County, a variety of non-profit organizations, and other private and for- profit organizations to achieve its goals. * Is well on its way to achieving its affordable housing goals as stated in the Consolidated Plan. * Continued to take steps to provide services that reduce the incidence of homelessness and alleviate the needs of the homeless. * Exceeded all of its annual economic development goals to expand economic opportunities for low-income residents and provide assistance to micro-enterprises. * Remained on track for meetings its goals of increasing handicapped accessibility, improving the infrastructure and identifying and addressing physical barriers to public facilities. Provided funding to non-profit organizations that served a total of .5, 64 low income persons during the year Is expected to meet the timeliness expenditure of funds standard established by HUD, P� €arok u.S.oepar°tmant of Ho€sh ag and Urban Dwvelopment „a yo x -allfornla stae Office Cormr:"9uHty Planning and Development Olvislon 450 Go;den Gate Avenue Sari California 34102-3448 Mr. John oia Chairperson, Beard of Supervisors Contra Costa County 651 pine Street Martinez, CA 94.553-0095 Dear?ear. Gioia: SUB JTEC : Contra Costa County, California Annual Cornwnunity Performance assessment Program Year 2001 Our office has completed the review of the County's Program Year(PY) 2€ 01 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER). Based upon this review, our office has drafted an assessment of the County's perform a.nce as it relates to the Consolidated Plan, the PY 2001 Annual fiction Flan (AAP), and other pertinent information and events that may have occurred during PY 2011. This evaluation is deme to assess the management of funds made available under programs administered by Ham, compliance with theCounty's Consolidated Flan and AAP, the extent to which the County is preserving and developing decent, affordable housing, creating a suitable living environment, and expanding economic opportunities, principally for low- and mode-rate-income persons. The County continued to snake progress utilizing its HUD resources to address priority needs and carry out the programs described in the Consolidated Plan. The Consolidated Plan/AAP complies with the requirements of the lousing and Community Development Act and other applicable lays,and regu.ations. Based on our review of the CAPER and other available Is 53i.mc t tryst, we hava deter-mined ti$ tau County iactx3's eW CL}zx t'3'ins capac.,i f`i*i'ii. is:.z ent and ad ra nister its Community Development Block Grant(CDBb),HOME I-nvestinent Partnership Program(HOME), and Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG)programs in a timely manner. In PY 2001, the County's allocation of CDBG,HOME,ESG, and HOPWA funds totaled 7.6 million. The County expended approximately X13.2 million in CDBG`', HOME, ESG, and OPWA funds,program income, and unexpended prior year funds, to carry out 78 projects. Additionally, approximately$12L5 million was leveraged from a variety of Federal, States local and private resources to carry out activities such as housing, economic development., infrastructure improvem-ents and public services that benefited low-and moderate-income persons in the County. The activities funded were fond to be consistent with the goals and objectives contained in the Consolidated plan. also, the County'_has consistently`naint ined a good partnership with the Entitlement cities within the County, a variety of nein-profit organizations, and other private and. for-profit organizations to achieve its goals. Z. Affordable Housing Even though high construction costs and the lack of land continue to make constructing affordable housing difficult, the County was able to increase/preserve the supply of affordable housing throughout the County during the year. Projects completed during the year, funded with CDBG, HOME and other resources, resulted in the acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction of 395 affordable housing units. Projects completed included Crockett Senior Mousing for very- low income seniors, Caldera dace in Concord for very low-income disabled adults, and two family projects, the Pinecrest apartments in Antioch and Camara Circle in Concord, which provided 274 new units of affordable rental :housing. Additionally, for rehabilitation of single-family homes, CDBG and HOME funds in the amount of$1.6 million were expended to carry out three different programs that provided zerollow-interest loans and small grants for owner-occupied housing. The rehabilitation ioaiis grants enabled low-income homeowners to make emergency repairs, connect to sewer and/or water services, and to brie substandard homes up to local safety codes. In PY 2001, the County completed and/or funded projects totaling 971,000 to carry out four first-time homeownership programs. These programs allowed first-tinge homeowners to purchase homes in Parkway Estates I in Forth Richmond, Ellis street Town Homes in Concord, the Pinole First-s ixne homebuyer Program, and Herb White flay"A" in Pittsburg. a total of 109 low- and moderate-income persons were provided with rehabilitation or first-time homebuyer assistance. As a result of tie County's efforts to provide affordable housing,the County has already exceeded its five-year goal (Program Years 2€100-2004) to provide 480 new units of senior rental housing. To date 544 units have been cornpleted/underway. The five-year goal to provide 1,295 new units of multi-family rental housing has almost been met. To date 1,222 units have"Deere completed/underway. Finally, the County's five-year goal of providing owner-occupied rehabilitation assistance and homeownership opportunities for 380 units is almost met at 227 units to elate. With these accomplishes and those projects underway/soon to be underway, the County will exceed all of its affordable housing goals for renter and ho_neowner .nits before the end sof the current five-year Consolidated Plan period. The only five-year housing goal the County may not meet is providing 150 more units of special needs housing (i.e., housing for persons with physical disabilities or housing for persons with 1 /AIDS). To date, 32 units have been completed/underway. With three yews remaining under the County's Consolidated Plan and initiatives underway, the County is well on its way to achieving its affordable housing goals. We commend the County for its efforts to increase and maintain the supply of affordable horsing. Continuum of Care In recognition of the on-going need to provide housing and services for the homeless or those at-risk of being homeless, the County carried out projects consistent with itsContinuum of Care Homeless Flan. CDBG funds were expended to carry out pra`ects that provided emergency and transitional housing with supportive services. For example, the Fast County Horneless shelter in Antioch was provided CDBG funds in the amount of$10,000 to maintain the 20-bed shelter for 3 homeless mentally disabled adults. Also, shelter Inc. was allocated$587,000 for the constr=uction of the East County Transitional Center in Antioch. This facility was completed during the year and increased the supply of transitional housing for homeless households with children by prov'din g 20 new apartments. Also, several public service activities were funded wvit"r CDBG funds that ass istedlprevented homeless. Some of the projects funded included a 4-hour homeless hotline and programs that provided referrals, food, clothing, personal items,household goods, housing counseling, and assistance in finding and maintaining housing. Additionally, over$4.7 millions in Continuun of Care Homeless funds, and approximately $1.4 million in County General fund and.FEMA resources were allocated to rnaintain the existing inventory of timere*ncy and transitional housing and support services for the homeless. For exarnple,Rubicon. Programs received$304,279 in Continuum of Care Homeless fundi to provide supportive services for homeless adults living with mental health or MAIDS disabilities at the perm, anent housing complex, the Idaho Apartments. The Housing Authority of Contra Costa County received $2.3 million in Continuum of Care Homeless renewal funds which provided tenant-based rental assistance for 172 units of supportive permanent housing for 1.24 homeless individuals and. 84 families. The County also received$138,000 in ESG funds that helped support the County's emergency shelters, such as the Rollie?`sullen Center for battered women, and F,EACH Plus that provided rental assistance along with supportive services to homeless families and individuals. PWA funds in the arnou st of$448,562 were utilized to provide housing advocacy services,case management and supportive services. Also,HOPWA and CDBG funds in the mount of$1,680,000 were allocated to Mercy Housing and Contra Costa Interfaith Transitional Housing to support the development of the Garden lark Apartments, which will. provide an additional 21 units of transitional housing for horrme'ess persons,including six units for persons with 1HBAIDS. In conclusion:, utilizing HUD Bands and other resources, the County and its non,-profit partners continue to take steps to provide services that reduced the incidence of horne'essness and alleviated the needs of the homeless. Economic Development In terms of economic development accomplishments during the year, $686,499 in CDBG funds were utilized to leverage$1.2 million in tate/local funds and private resources to carry out econor c development project's to assist micro-enterprises, increase opportunities for low-income persons that lead to self-sufficiency, such as home healthcare and childcare providers, and training and job placement. Projects included provision:of training to s 13 lower-incorne persons to become childcare providers. Ten individuals started home day care businesses; and 67 persons became licensed as childcare providers. Another project was funded to enroll and train persons in the healthcare field.. As a result, 55 of the 67 personas enrolled were placed in positions in the healthcare field.. Training and placement programs that targeted very lova-incom. e persons and Cal ORS4s clients resulted in 78 persons placed,in permanent full-time jobs. 4 Technical assistance was provided to increase the number of .icro-enterprises owned and operated by low-income persons, and to sustain existing micro-enterprises. As a result, 15 new businesses got shed; four businesses showed an increase in sale, and five businesses were able to expand. Additionally, technical assistance andloans were made to five srnall businesses to stimulate economic growth, For example, a design fibra received a loan for$15,000 and a recording studio received a loan for$13,000. All of these efforts resulted in ,he creation of 24 jobs. The County exceeded all of its annual economic development goals to expand economic opportunities for low-income residents and provide assistance to micro-enterprises. We appreciate thf, County's efforts in this area. Public Facilities Improvements During the year,the County had 23 CDBG-funded infrastructure/public facility irnprovernent projects open. Five new projects were funded during the, year; the remaining 1 were funded from previous years. Of these, seven projects were completed and one was cancelled. Many of the remaining projects, such as ADA improvernents, will begin or be completed.in 2002. The ADA projects consist of 172 curb cuts for handicapped accessibility in the cities of San Pablo, Martinez,El Cerrito, Oakley, and Norah Richmond. Additionally, two public facility iinprove ent, projects are open that will increase accessibility to restrooma and a meeting rooms at a senior center and at a library. Another project,North Richnnond Enhancement and Circulation, will pro-note corp unity revitalization and improve traffic and safety for motorists and pedestrians through streetsene iprove:�nents. In spite of delays,the County remains on track for meeting Sts goals t of increasing handicapped accessibility,improving tine infrastrracture in North P chrnond, and identifying and addressing physical barriers to public facilities. Fair Housing/Public Services The County continued to fund fair housing counseling,tenant/landlord counseling, and legal services activities. CABG f€nnds in the amount of�'75'y€0 were allocated to Housing Rights,Inc. and Bay Area Legal Aid to provide fair housing counseling and legal services, such as fair housing investigations,education and outreach,public service announcements, and flier distribution. The County Consortium also updated and completed its Analysis of Impediments (AI), and continued to work to eliminate the impediments identified in the updated Al. These included a lack of affordable housing, discrirrdnation in renting, and potential problems in local planning depa tments concerning understanding and irnplennenting fair housing laws. To address the latter impediment,Bay area .,egal Aid was awarded a contract to update the Fair Housing Desk Manual for the local Contra Costa County planning agency staff and others concerned with fair housing and land issues. To carry out public service activities, $748,181 in CDBG funds and approxirrn Lely$6.2 .million in other Federal, State/local, and private resources were awarded to 35 non profit agencies to assist low-income youth,seniors, farmflies, and others with special needs. These activities included care and counseling for victims of physical and sexual abuse,educational and health 5 programs, food provision services, and homeless and crisis counseling. TheCounty's goal was to serve a minimum of 75 percent very low- acrd low-irrcorne persons during the year. An average of 95 percent of the total persons served were very low- and low-income. A total of 25,564 persons were provided services during the year. North ` ch and Neighborhood hood Revitalization Strategy Area (NR.SA.) ID approved the INR.SA on August 18, 1996. The TN SA completed its sixth year and is still roving forward in carrying out activities to create opportunities for economic self-sufficiency, improving comnxercialareas, struts; transportation, and housing for residents within the NRSA, We understand that the majority of the originally identified projects have been completed and that an updated plan identifvng new benchmarks and goals should be completed by the end of this calendar year. Once the new plan is approved and completed, please submit a copy to this office. Some examples of activities that were fended specifically for the."RSA were the North Richmond Farmer's Market, Van, the forth Richmond Transportation and.Enhance ent project, and the Verde School project. luny of the public service activities were also available to the residents w'thin the?NSA, such as the Self-Sufficiency through lbicensed.Family Horne Daycare Project, Conflict Resolution Par:el Program, and the After School Outreach Performing Arts Program. The County R,edevelo-,nment Agency(RA)partnered with the Housing Authority to prepare and submit an application for the Youthbuild Program. The application was approved and the RA. was awarded$400,000 in the FY 2001 funding round, The R.A.will carry out the program that is designed as an education and employment program for economically disadvantaged youth in the MRSA. Doing the year, a program manager and other staff were hired, and a budget and operational procedures were developed. Timeliness The Departrhent places a high priority on the timely expenditure of funds,because it insures that needed housing and services are being made available to diose in reed. A grantee has failed to meet the timeliness standard if 60 days prior to the end of the current program. year, the balance in the grantee's ine of credit exceeds 1.5 times the anneal grant amount. According to newly established policy, i f the County does not meet the 1,5 criteria, future grants may be reduced, The County met this criteria as of May 1, 2€02, having .1.2.1 times its annul grant in its lure of credit. As of November 5, 2002, the County has in its lure of credit. 1.77 times its annual grant arnount. Based on conversations with County staff, we are assured that the County will meet the 1.5 criteria by May 1, 2€1031. Participating jurisdictions also have to meet the requirements for cornm:tting and expending,HO-, funds in a t,rrxely rnar�ner. wring the year, we reviewed information regarding the Consortium's 2€00 grant to ensure that the 24-month commitment requirement had been met; the 15 percent CHDO set-aside requirement had been met; and that 1€0 percent of the Consortium's 1997 grant was expended within five years, as required. The Consortium successfully carried out the commitment, disbursement, and reservation.requi ernents era accordance with the HOS regul:tions. 6 A review of-xpenditures for the ESG Program revealed that the County completely expended its 2000 funds within the 24--mmonth require-ment. For your infortnation, as Of November 5, 2002, 72 percent of the County's 2001 SSG funds have been expended. The County has until July 20, 2003, to expend 100-percent off its 2001 ESG funds. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the Country to assist it in achieving its affordable housing and community development goals, 1f you have questions or need assistance, please call me, on (415)436-6597, or Cathy Thrash, Community Planning and Development Representative, or, (415)436-8005n Sincerely, Steven B. Sachs Director, Community Planning and Development Division cc: John. Sweeten, County Admirdstrator Ms. Kara Douglas,Housing Program Manager Mr. Robert Calkins, CDB G Program Manager