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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-10-06 TranscriptionOctober 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 1 October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session 5:43 P.M. Council Present: Bailey, Champion, Correia, Hayek, O'Donnell, Wilburn, Wright Staff: Lombardo, Helling, Dilkes, Karr, Fosse, Boothroy, Dulek, Knoche, Vanatter, Davidson, Long, C. Smith, Sweeting, Ford, Hightshoe, Demeulenaere Other: Gunn, UISG Flood Updates: Bailey/ Just for those of you in the audience, this is, even though we're in the formal setting, this is a Council work session, discussion between Council and staff. Um, we will allow public comment at the formal meeting, and Council, I'm going to suggest at the formal meeting we move up Item 9 to before the Consent Calendar. So, if I could have somebody take care of that motion when we are in the formal meeting that would be very helpful. Okay. Davidson/ Good evening, Madame Mayor and Members of the Council. Uh, what we want to do at this work session between now and 7:00 is, uh, discuss, well, basically have an update on the 2008 flood situation. Oh, I guess we're supposed to introduce ourselves. I'm Jeff Davidson, uh, Director of Planning for the City, um, I have with me, well, a number of City staff people, who as they speak we will...we will introduce, but what we want to do this evening, and we want to do the first part of this quickly because we do have some decision items for you at the end that we want to make sure we have plenty of opportunity, uh, to go through those. We want to quickly, uh, take you through the memorandum that you received from the City Manager, which, uh, outlines several things for you. The main purpose this evening is to, uh, explain and discuss, uh, a new funding program that the Governor's office has created called the Jumpstart Iowa Program, and we're excited about this program, and we're excited about the fact that we think, uh, it can assist some flood-impacted folks in our neighborhoods - Parkview Terrace, Idyllwild, uh, Taft Speedway - uh, neighborhoods and...and we're going to very, very quickly go through what those programs can be used for. Um, while we're at it, we also want to highlight, uh, some opportunities we have with supplemental CDBG funding, to basically augment the Jumpstart Iowa Program. Um, and so we will handle that as well. Um, the other thing we want to do is give the current status of the hazard mitigation grant program. This is also known as the FEMA buyout program, and basically we're going to ask you to consider a couple of decision points to allow us to proceed, uh, with...with the application process, which we have a couple of months to work on. Uh, but basically, we've gotten the go-ahead from the Department of Homeland Security at the State, to go ahead, and we want to essentially discuss with you what our best information is right now with proceeding with that program. The final thing This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 2 we want to do, um, and I will say right up front, is going to be a somewhat frustrating discussion item for us, and you, and all of the people in the audience here, and that is just give the current status of sort of our overall strategy for how to assist the neighborhoods down there and what we believe with the resources we have available, uh, is...is a prudent way to proceed, and...and essentially, there'll be no official decision making on your City Council meeting agenda this evening, with respect to that, but we just kind of want to know if you think we're heading in the right direction or not. Now, you will have an item on your formal meeting agenda about the Jumpstart Iowa Program and proceeding with that, and I believe there'll be the opportunity for input from the public at that time, as well, and I believe, Madame Mayor, we're going to accelerate, or... Bailey/ That's our intent, yes. Davidson/ ...at the beginning of the agenda. Okay, so the Jumpstart Iowa Program, as I mentioned, there are two separate programs - a homeowner assistance program and a small business assistance program. Um, and the homeowner assistance program we have, uh, almost $700,000 available to us, and the small business assistance program, we have approximately $1.5 million. The key thing here is to get this money distributed quickly, and it is, I mean, in as much as state and federal programs can be streamlined, it is a streamlined program, and we have really been hustling the last few days to get a, uh, system set up for getting information out and assistance available to people, and I'm going to have Steve elaborate on that. Long/ I'm Steve Long, the Community Development Coordinator for Iowa City. One thing you may have noticed if you came in through the lobby is we're turning the Lobby Conference Room into a flood recovery center, beginning tomorrow morning at 8:00. It will be open from 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M., Monday through Friday, and then this coming Saturday the 11th it'll be open 10:00 to 2:00. Also we'll have the web site up and running - icgov.org/recovery. And that'll be, tomorrow morning we'll have the application materials on the web site, or possibly after this meeting this evening. Um, I can tell you a little bit about the Jumpstart program. There's three different, I guess categories I'll call them, of funding opportunities, and these are set by the Iowa Finance Authority. One is interim mortgage assistance, where if a property is located on the hazard mitigation grant program buyout list, not the Notice of Interest buyout list, that the hazard mitigation grant program buyout list, which we'll get to in a minute. And that is assistance of up to $1,000 a month for 12 months to help pay for someone's mortgage expenses if they're on the buyout list. Uh, there's the downpayment assistance program which can...is open to anybody, um, whether they're on the list or not. The only qualification is if your home was destroyed or damaged beyond a reasonable repair, and what that means is if the home was damaged more than 50% of the value of the structure, and that...there's funding available up to $50,000, plus improvements if you buy energy-efficient appliances. And there's housing rehabilitation for homes that are not on the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 3 buyout list, and that's for up to $50,000, plus energy-efficiency of $10,000. And all that information, again, is...will be on the web site, um, shortly. Davidson/ We do also believe, uh, well, not believe. We know we are going to be able to augment the amount of money available with supplemental CDBG funds that we already have in hand, and in a minute we will...we will get to that, uh, we're going to kind of run through the agenda here, or the memo here in order. We will get to that, but we do believe we will have funds to augment those. Now, there's also a small business assistance program and I'm going to ask Wendy Ford from our Economic Development division to just highlight that. Ford/ Hi, I'm Wendy Ford. Uh, businesses maybe eligible for assistance if they have received disaster loan funds from either the U.S. Small Business Administration, otherwise known as the SBA, or a State or Federally chartered financial institution or other recognized entities that underwrite loans. Uh, the maximum amount of loans that would be awarded are...can be equal to 25% of the amount of the loan the business has taken out with the SBA, or other, uh, institution, up to a maximum of $50,000. These loans will be in the award...will be in the form of a loan at 0% interest, and will be forgiven if the business stays in business for a period of one year after receipt of the loans, or reopens if they've been closed due to the floods, within one year of the receipt, uh, of the loan funds, as well. The deadline for applying for, uh, the business loans is a little more forgiving, uh, we have seta 30-day window on that so that November 7th will be the close of the application period for the business Jumpstart loans. Eligible businesses may also be, uh, able to receive additional funds of up to $5,000 less any rebates for, uh, installing energy-efficient equipment that meets Office of Independent Energy Standards, as well. Um, other small points will be -landlords of commercial businesses will be eligible, so if you're a landlord and you're a landlord to a business, then you would be eligible for the, uh, small business Jumpstart program. Of particular note is that for-profit and not-for-profit businesses are also eligible, so that would include churches. One of the decision points that you will be needing to make towards the end of this meeting will be, uh, the definition...to decide the definition of small business, and staff had recommended, I'm not sure if it's clear in your packets, that 50 full-time equivalent employees or fewer, uh, be that line for, uh, small businesses. That's it. Correia/ I have a quick question. Bailey/ Do you want questions as we go or... Davidson/ Certainly questions as we go. When we get to that decision item, Wendy can come up and provide any explanation of questions at that point, but if you have something now, certainly. Correia/ You said landlords of commercial businesses are eligible, so, um, in the, I received a "frequently asked questions" on Jumpstart housing assistance from This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 4 Dave Wilson. Others received an email. So I read through that and there was a question in there about Iowa landlord, and this is again Jumpstart housing assistance, frequently asked questions, can my property qualify for the Jumpstart housing assistance, and the answer is "no" for that, but that landlords are eligible under the Jumpstart business assistance program. Ford/ The detail there is if they're a landlord of a commercial business, then they would be eligible, and they would only be eligible under the small business Jumpstart program. Correia/ But if they're a landlord of rental (both talking) residential, but that's...this, frequently asked questions says that they would be. I don't know if we have any...well, I think we probably do, but.. . Bailey/ We have some combinations. Correia/ Yeah, so that's something, I mean, I just got that. Davidson/ Yeah, and Amy, if...if we get into a situation where we have a request that falls under that, I mean, we will get clarification from the State. Correia/ But I think...I think rather than waiting for somebody to ask, I think if...we should say, we will look into it, `cause I would be worried that somebody would hear that they're not eligible, we don't even get the request, and maybe they are (mumbled) Davidson/ Yeah, we should clarify that. I have to confess I did not have time to read through.. . Dilkes/ Can I just make a point though about what you're looking at there, Amy. These...what you're looking at, I think, just came out today. Correia/ Yeah, I know. Dilkes/ And so we...we're giving you the best information we had prior to the time this came out. Correia/ No, I know. Dilkes/ There could be some conflicts, and I'm worried about starting to go through all of these. Correia/ I guess I want to make sure that we're checking into that on the up...up front. Davidson/ Yeah, and that.. . This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 5 Dilkes/ ...review these and make sure we know where we're at. Correia/ Okay. Davidson/ Yeah, and that brings up a good...good point to make very quickly here, and that, as Eleanor said, we're...it is unbelievable how quickly things have changed with this, and we get new information and, you know, we did, as Eleanor alluded to, finally have to cut off the additional information and prepare, uh, for this meeting, but I want to... Correia/ Absolutely! Davidson/ ...emphasize to everyone that we will continue to learn more and more as...as this goes through, and quite frankly with abrand-new program like Jumpstart Iowa, I think they'll be refining the program on the fly as we go through this. Some of that's already happened. Steve Long called and clarified something with them, and they said, oh yeah, well, we initially said that, but you're right, it makes more sense to do this. So, we will continue to update you as we find out better and better information. Any additional questions forme? Bailey/ I do. Um, economic loss due to the floods - so loss of business, if I...if my business or non-profit were closed for a period of time, I'm eligible if I meet these other criteria, correct? Ford/ Yes, if you have taken a loan out. So, the uses for these funds are for working capital, which is essentially the dollars you need to run your business, and can include economic injury, uh, or the energy-efficient equipment installation. Bailey/ Thanks. Ford/ The deadline again, I'll repeat, is November 7th, which is a Friday, at 5:00. Davidson/ So that's an important... Ford/ For business. Davidson/ ...an important distinction we want made. With business, November 7th deadline, but for the homeowner assistance program, it says here on the slide, uh, next week basically. We want to hear from people. We are set up to provide assistance, and folks need to get with us next week. Hayek/ Is there...does the State grant any flexibility to cities in terms of the allocation between businesses and residences? Davidson/ No, we were given an earmark for each...for each side, Matt. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 6 Hayek/ Okay. Correial And is there also a State, some State reason that we're going quickly with the housing assistance and longer... Davidson/ Uh, well, I'm not sure of the distinction, Amy, but...but clearly with the homeowner assistance, we know how dire the need is out there. We're trying to get the money out as quickly as...as possible. Dilkes/ (several talking) Those were rules established by the State. One program is run by Iowa Finance Authority, and one is run by the Department of Economic Development, so you're dealing with two different administrative entities. Bailey/ Mike, you had a question? Wright/ Yeah, is the downpayment assistance in the form of aloes-interest or no-interest loan, or is that a grant? Long/ It's aten-year forgivable loan. Wright/ Ten-year forgivable loan...forgivable on what terms? Long/ Uh, every year it's reduced 10%. If you stay in the home. Wright/ If you stay in the home. Davidson/ The...the business assistance has a much shorter, one year, isn't that right, uh, Wendy, one year and then it's forgiven. (several talking) Yeah. Any other questions? You certainly have the opportunity to bring up questions later in the presentation. Moving on then to the hazard mitigation, um, grant program, and again, I want to emphasize that this is a federal program being administered by the State, and what we are trying to give you, uh, tonight is our best read right now of this program, and it's very possible that during the public discussion portion later, you may hear things that are inconsistent with what we are, uh, telling you, or if somebody who believes otherwise than what we are telling you, and certainly we want to follow up on every possible lead of new information. It has been frustrating, I will tell you, from the same agency two different people have told us two different things. We have tried to track down what the best information is, uh, and that's what we're going to briefly present here. Um, we did, you will recall, applied 255 units, pretty much everything in our flood- impacted neighborhoods on the Notice of Interest. Um, the State has now considered the Notice of Interest from...throughout the state, and given us direction on the application for those, uh, funds, and what we now believe is that it is likely that we could receive funding for probably 30 to 45, uh, units in the Parkview Terrace and Taft Speedway neighborhoods that, uh, are in the 100-year flood plain and meet either the benefit cost analysis of 1.0 or greater, or the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 7 substantial damage waiver, and that is, hopefully everybody got this, and...and we have copies to hand out to the audience as well. That's what this depicts. And...and this was being updated until literally right before this meeting, and you will see that we even have some additional refinement to do on it. The...the properties that are in beige, we feel meet the criteria with some absoluteness in terms of being in the 100-year flood plain, and meeting the substantial damage waiver, which is at least 50% damaged...50% or greater of the market value. The one shaded in blue, we are still trying to get a handle on the...the damage waiver. Um, we do want to talk a bit about the benefit cost analysis. Crystal Smith from our Civil Engineering division, uh, is here to answer any questions you have about that. Um, our analysis is based on software given to us by FEMA. The, I'm sure many of you and many in the audience have done benefit cost analyses, and you can pretty much make `em come out however you want, depending on the inputs that you put into them. What we have done is used a set of criteria, given to us, and...and Crystal is the expert on staff, by FEMA, and...and the inputs have been very prescribed and Crystal can elaborate. You have information in your memo and...and perhaps there's no need for us to discuss it at length, but we could only make one property, 930 Park Road, from our 255 that we submitted on the Notice of Interest, only one property, 1.0 or greater, on the benefit cost analysis. Now, one...one concept that I want to leave you with, before Crystal answers any questions, is that the benefit cost analysis is not, has nothing to do with how badly a structure is damaged. It has to do with the assessment of risk in terms of needing to spend funding on a property that is going to potentially be damaged again. So it's an assessment of risk, not of damage, and we've had to explain that to a number of people who have been amazed that they haven't been able to meet the benefit cost ratio of 1.0 or greater, given how substantially damaged their home is. So, we certainly want to answer any questions you have about that, uh, are there any questions for Crystal on the benefit cost analysis? Champion/ Somebody told me an easy way to think about it...I could be wrong, but they could be wrong, is that the risk is based on if you have flood insurance, how much money is this going to cost the government over the next hundred years in the hundred year flood plain. If it's going to cost them less, then you don't get the good rating or whatever it is, but is that an easy way to explain it? Smith/ That's right, yes. Davidson/ Yeah, and you know, another kind of rule of thumb like that...that the Department of Homeland Security has, uh, the State Department of Homeland Security has told us is that, you know, if you weren't damaged in the 93 flood, then probably the risk is not high enough, uh, to meet that 1.0. Now, again, that's just sort of a generalized notion, and we have done the actual analysis. Crystal has done the actual analysis, but that's again kind of a risk assessment measure that they've told us in general. LJh, anything for Crystal then? Everybody clear on the benefit cost analysis? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 8 Bailey/ Any questions? Wright/ When will the data on the blue homes be available? Smith/ Um, I hope to have it available by Friday afternoon. Wright/ Thank you. Correia/ Can I ask this question? So on the map, along the Iowa River, so we have the blue, we have the yellow, and then there's one white. Is that because they're not voluntary? Smith/ Um, that is because they don't qualify by either not meeting the substantial damage, which is the 50%, or not being in the 100-year flood plain. Um, that particular house, 825, is not in the 100-year flood plain. (noise on mic) Correia/ Because it's a bit closer to the street? I mean.. . Smith/ Um, based on the lowest adjacent grade, which is the ground right next to the house, um, if the lowest adjacent grade is not lower than the 100-year flood plain, then the house is not considered in the 100-year flood plain. Correia/ Okay. Davidson/ You'll notice that in the Taft Speedway neighborhood, 105 there also kind of stands out, and again, Crystal, was it not in the 100-year flood plain? Smith/ Um, no that was actually, it did not receive substantial damage. I believe the damage amount was around 30%. Davidson/ Now, in a minute here we're going to sort of have some discussion of the overall strategy, and clearly these houses that stand out as exceptions are ones that we're going to have to consider very carefully, and we're not going to decide it tonight, but...but in terms of the overall strategy of putting areas that are bought out back into park land or some type of open space, uh, clearly those houses that for some reason do not meet the criteria, are ones that we're going to have to think through in terms of what we do. Correia/ So I should assume just because when we had earlier maps that the colors meant voluntary, not... Davidson/ That's not on here. Correia/ So this is anything that's in white is not in the flood plain. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 9 Davidson/ Well, it's either didn't either...(both talking)...substantial damage waiver, or not in the 100-year flood plain, right. Correia/ ...and substantial is the 50%. Davidson/ Greater than market value, yes. Correia/ Okay. Davidson/ Um, excuse me. Uh, as Amy alluded to, there is nothing on here, very deliberately, about whether or not people are interested in a buyout. The buyout program is strictly voluntary. The HMGP buyout program. Nobody will be forced against their will to...to accept the buyout. And you recall the map where overwhelmingly people were interested in buyouts, but there were exceptions, and there were exceptions in the most highest flood risk, hazard areas, and again, we will have to work through that, and that's why unfortunately the buyout program takes so long to implement, is because we have to negotiate and work through those folks and allow people to make good decisions, and there is a trend, we are told, that the longer...the more distance there is from the flood event, the fewer people want to be bought out. That immediately after the event is when you have the maximum number of people, and so again, we will have to deal with that dynamic as we develop the overall strategy for what we're going to do in this area. Any other questions for Crystal about the BC analysis? Bailey/ Thanks, Crystal. Hayek/ Is there, uh, I mean, I'm sure we've gone at the analyses and...and the formula and the software as many angles as we can think of. I mean, are we...is there any doubt in anybody's mind that these are being applied properly, that we should get a second opinion, so to speak, are we confident that we've done that? Smith/ I'm very confident. I started with the lowest level, which would be the 930 Park Road, and they are actually at a... at an elevation where they will receive flooding at the ten-year flood event, um, no other home was at that level, and in fact the next lowest home was at the 50-year flood event. Um, they did not reach the 1.0 level, um, so we started at the lowest elevations we could find, and then worked our way up from there. Davidson/ And again, not to be a broken record, Matt, but this is software that FEMA has given us for making this analysis. Hayek/ (mumbled) Davidson/ Thank you, Crystal. Um... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 10 Wilburn/ Any expectation that there's going to be software, one version 1.1 coming out, or we just don't know? Davidson/ We'll be ready to jump into action, Ross, if that's the case, but they've not indicated that. So, again, you'll have some decision points here in a minute regarding the HMGP program, and us moving forward with it. Again, no official action but basically so that we can do what we need to do, in terms of applying...basically our application list will be those structures, whether the people have indicated they're interested in a buyout or not, that are both in the 100-year flood plain or the floodway, and meet the substantial damage waiver. Um, and...and as I say, the State has indicated to us that that is the reasonable set of criteria that we should use, and Tracy, uh, Hightshoe's most recent information is that we stand a very good chance of having all the properties that meet that criteria, that we would apply for, receive funding. And...and as I stated a second ago, the longer we go on, there are people that drop out statewide, and so have, the probability of getting funded even gets better, the longer we go on. The local hazard mitigation plan, just very quickly, uh, this is something that was required for FEMA assistance. After Hurricane Katrina these became mandatory on a national level. We're in the process of getting ours done. We will apply for a waiver, uh, there's a chance that...that ours might be finished and approved by the time we actually make buyouts, but if it's not, we'll request a waiver and the State has indicated that there are a lot of people statewide that are in the same boat as us, and we're not anticipating that being a problem. Uh, supplemental CDBG funds then. We want to briefly go through, Steve, you want to come up again? Wilburn/ I'm sorry, before we go there, in terms of some of the surveying, uh, that needs to be completed. Um, are we doing that in-house? Are we contracting... Davidson/ We're contracting out for that. And again, we hope to resolve all those blue areas very shortly, hopefully by Friday, have that information updated. But, I guess what we're...what we're going to ask you in the decision making part of the meeting is that, if...if those blue areas turn to beige that they would be included in the program, because they would meet both sets of criteria. Okay. Um, we are fortunate to have supplemental CDBG funds. Supplemental to the entitlement amount that we receive annually. Um, and we have some of those in hand already, right, Steve? Long/ We know we're going to receive $1.2 million. We're hopeful it'll be in the next couple of weeks. I just received word today from the Deputy Director of Iowa Department of Economic Development that, uh, they're still working out the details, some of the administrative details, but um, we're confident in the next couple weeks we'll have access to those funds, but in the meantime, we'll be using the same application that we're using for Jumpstart for CDBG. So it'll be a seamless process. There are some differences, we're not sure of all the differences yet, but one that we know for sure is Jumpstart does not have any income guidelines. CDBG funds, normally they're 80% or below median income, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 11 and they have waived that, as we can use up to 100% of the median income, which for a family of four is approximately $72,000. So we're going to, the Department of Economic Development has basically said we'll be using those funds for the same three categories -the mortgage assistance, downpayment, and house rehab. In addition, they've set aside $20 million to use for the city's match for the buyout program, and we'll get into that a little bit later. Um, part of the...okay. One, yeah...one...something we need to talk about is the guidelines that are set up for both programs, the Jumpstart program and the CDBG program, and it's, I guess it'd be called the preference system. It's the system we currently have in place for existing housing rehab program, and what we do is, we weight...I guess it's kind of a weighting system, and we look at... so when all the applications come in, we will look at whether a household is elderly, and that's someone who is 62 years or older; a person has a disability; uh, a large household, which is greater than five; a medium household of three to four; and a single head of household; and there are typically...they are assigned points and it's a way for us, as a community, for the past 15 plus years that's what we have said as a community that we value or give some sort of preference to persons in those categories. So, if, uh, if we get to a point where we have a tie, again, we have limited amount of funding at this point. If we get where we have a tie, then we can use income as a secondary preference. So the lower the income, the higher the preference. Davidson/ Any questions for Steve? This is going to be a specific decision point for you, when we get to that portion of the meeting. Champion/ And that will be for... Davidson/ ...specific criteria. Champion/ I'm sorry. Steve, that would be for the Jumpstart money? Because CDBG is already income related, right? Long/ We'll be using these preference, or weighting factors for both programs. Champion/ Okay. Long/ Again, we'll be discussing this at length later. Davidson/ The final thing we wanted to just briefly speak about is the overall strategy for these areas, and I think you can see it sort of coming together, and it's coming together, not necessarily as we would like it to come together, but...but more mandated by the amount of resources that we have available at this time, and we want to emphasize that the amount of resources that we have is in a state of flux, and that we are hoping to be able to do more than we can do at this time. The City Manager and I talked extensively about exactly how to put this to you, and we both agreed that we wanted to give you information this evening about what This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 12 we have available now to help people. And not over speculate about what we might have, because it's just speculation, basically. Uh, there is a bill sitting on the President's desk that potentially we hear could bring $5 billion to the Midwest and hopefully Iowa would get a big chunk of that, and hopefully we would get a substantial chunk of that, and that will allow us to start considering some things, that we are researching currently. I think it's apparent to everyone that the overall strategy here is to buyout what we can buyout, and return to open space, through the hazard mitigation grant program, and then protect the rest of these neighborhoods, and return them to viable neighborhood status. And there are people who are interested in continuing to reside in these neighborhoods, if an additional level of protection can be offered to them, so that they do rehabilitate and we, as you've heard, help to help people rehabilitate their homes, that we can then afford an additional level of protection and these, again, be viable neighborhoods. That is the overall strategy. Now, what we have available to us now is unfortunately the more lower end type things -elevating somebody's furnace out of the basement to a less riskier place in the home. We can afford to do that kinds of things now, and individual homeowners maybe able to afford to do that without our assistance. If we get substantial amounts of federal money for things like floodwalls and levees and those sorts of things, Rick and Ron and...and their staff and consultants are researching how we might implement those. We can't tell you exactly how we would do it now, because until we know exactly what's going to get bought out and that pattern sort of emerges, um, and...and you can see it kind of emerging here, in that there might clearly be a logical area that could be returned to open space and added to City Park. I mean, it sort of emerges from this, but we are going to have to work around those people who do not want to be bought out, and may not be eligible to be bought out. Um, so, we will keep you apprised, obviously, when we have additional resources available, if we can start considering those higher dollar items, and building a strategy for really substantial protection for these neighborhoods, we absolutely hope to do that. We absolutely hope to do that, and of course, in the case of the Idyllwild neighborhood, it'll be the entire neighborhood, because it does not look like HMGP funds are available to that neighborhood, with the information that we have now. LTh, with that, oh, we just briefly administrative expenses, we are going to be hiring a flood recovery coordinator. I noticed in the paper today that Cedar Rapids had hired an individual. We have a portion of the...the CDBG funds that we can use, and then the Jumpstart funds, as well, I guess at a small percentage that we can use for that purpose. Um, so we are proceeding, um, to do that. At this point then, we're ready to, uh, the City Manager's going to take you through the decision items...are there any further questions... Bailey/ Any questions before we move on to the decision items? Hayek/ Let the public know that...that, uh, we had an opportunity today to get in front of people who can make decisions, um, that effect us greatly, um, our City Manager and I went to Cedar Rapids today and we had alongside, um, leaders of Coralville, uh, an in-depth conversation with Senators Harkin, Grassley, and Loebsack, with This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 13 their staff people around us, and um, laid out for them, um, how important funds that we have locked in or about to lock in, uh, how important those are to this community, and the need for more such funding, and you mentioned a bill on the President's desk, uh, Senator Grassley and Harkin talked about January 1 being an opportunity for, uh, even further additional supplemental CDBG allocations and it's anyone's guess as to what's going to happen, but uh, they're aware of, uh, the funding that we've received so far and they're aware of the gaps that that creates. And I even talked to them, we...Michael talked to them about, uh, the...the likely buyout scenario, based on the memo we got last week and the very difficult position it puts this community in, and so it's important for people to understand that that message is going directly to those individuals. Bailey/ Thank you, Matt. Hayek/ For whatever that's worth. Lombardo/ Well, as Jeff and Steve indicated, there are some decisions that we need guidance on from you all to be able to further refine our approach to structuring these programs, but then also as additional funding becomes available, we're able to use as kind of a framework for...for structuring our overall response long-term, and the first one really is, um, we've done extensive work with this software and really believe that we have good handle on the likely candidates for buyouts. What we need to know from your perspective if you agree with our approach that, uh, it'll be limited to those properties that either meet the benefit cost threshold or receive a BCA waiver, and that's important for a lot of reasons, um, you know, folks are still hopeful that a buyout is somehow plausible or possible. And based on our...our use of the software and what we really know about the program to date, we believe that the houses that are highlighted on that map really are the only ones that will qualify. Correia/ So, the decision from the State is objective rather than subjective. You're saying that that they have said.. . Davidson/ It is objective, Amy, to the degree that they basically said you gotta meet those two criteria. Correia/ Well that's what I mean. So they're not...they're not going to...you don't anticipate a scenario where they're going to, down the road say, well, we'll sweep some others in without using this objective criteria. Davidson/ If at some point they change that criteria, because they have extra funds available when they go to the end of using those criteria, we would be ready to jump into action. We have a good handle on what the status is of these, uh, properties, and so we would be ready to do that if they gave us direction. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 14 Lombardo/ The likely, uh, thing that would happen is they'd have some long-term evaluation of the program and make changes for subsequent disasters down the road. Um, to our understanding and what they're working on, there's no one considering changing how the hazard mitigation grant program works at this time. Wilburn/ Well, and having that software now at this point certainly is better information that we had when FEMA was here and- that was all very, very (several talking) Lombardo/ And...and I'll share with you, too, um, after staff went to training, they took the properties and, as Crystal indicated, went through a process. We even, just out of curiosity, tried to...to imagine what would it actually take to get properties to score above a 1.0, and we did things like lower the, uh, elevation by, you know, four or five feet, which is of course not the case, but even then, uh, the majority...the vast majority of the properties did not score above the 1.0. And so, you know, even...even within certain, uh, thresholds, if they change the program they're still not going to score, uh, above that 1.0 in this case. Bailey/ Other comments on this question...questions? Correia/ Well, and the, based on the other information that we have about the Jumpstart Iowa, folks that are...homes that are on the buyout, part of the buyout application, would not be eligible for Jumpstart, is that.. . Lombardo/ Or the, uh, the housing reconstruction and rehabilitation part of it, correct. Correia/ So that's a compelling reason to me, as well as the objective criteria. Lombardo/ Maybe...(several talking)... Bailey/ Do we concur that those are the only, um, properties that should be listed on this? Champion/ Well, I think the only ones we're going to get funding for at this point in time. Wright/ Yeah. Bailey/ Okay. Champion/ I just want to ask a follow up question to that. So if somebody has, excuse me, if somebody has their house listed for a possible buyout, and they don't meet this criteria, do they have to drop out of the buyout program to get other assistance, like we have assistance? Davidson/ Right. We will not...the Notice of Interest is over. Champion/ Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 15 Davidson/ At this point, it is evaluating the properties we are going to make application to the program to in the next couple of months. Champion/ All right. Bailey/ So we're at the stage... Champion/ My question is.. . Bailey/ ...the application stage, fundamentally. Champion/ ...we're at the application stage, but people who are not going to meet this criteria, and a lot of them know they're not going to meet the criteria, should drop out of the buyout, if they want other funding sources? Davidson/ The HMGP buyout program, well, I mean, that's what you're being asked to decide right now. Correia/ Well, they're not in it yet. Now we're deciding who's going to go in it. Lombardo/ Ultimately, it's Council's decision about what to include on the application, and so we're structuring this dialog to help you make decisions about what you feel should be included on the application. Dilkes/ I think one way to look at it is the, really, the ones that are in yellow and maybe potentially the ones that are in blue if they change to yellow, they're the only ones that are going to meet the criteria set anyway, so it's...it's really, we just want you to understand that that's the situation and to tell us that you want us to follow.. . Bailey/ This is our application. This is not an application of property owners (both talking) in our application. So, on our application, um, are these the only properties we should include? Wilburn/ There's two other ways that I'm looking at. One, like I said, we've got, having the software that FEMA's going to use to make the determinations, uh, it's no different whether we're running the numbers of they're running the numbers. The software's going to put out, this is the result, which is different than, again, when we had FEMA here the first month. The second...yes, the second, um, the second thing that comes to mind for me, uh, there was concern put out there about, uh, not creating false hope and that type of things. Again, this is the result that's going to show up based on the software that FEMA's going to use. Um, a parallel for me is, um, if we were applying for a grant under any other program, and they give us the scoring criteria, and we go through and, uh, self-evaluate for ourselves to see how likely we're going to...that's another piece to me that says this is the one, this is, uh, this is where we're going to get money, if we're given money, um, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 16 to use, and secondly in terms of that concern about false hope, that, uh, this...making the decision to, um, limit it to those that meet the benefit cost threshold, or receiving the BCA waiver, that this gives...this is the opportunity, the signal to, uh, folks who don't meet that, that you know this...under this it's not going to happen, um, and so, um, I guess it's that reality moment for them. Wright/ I agree with that, and I...I think at least we do have some other opportunities for folks who don't meet the hazard mitigation grant ratio, or the benefit cost analysis waiver. But we do have other assistance (mumbled) Lombardo/ An important distinction too is at the point of filling out the NOI, we had reason to believe, and strong hope quite frankly, that more would score above a 1.0 and that by coupling the houses that do not score, we would be able to...to perhaps buyout a much broader range of homes, but with one qualifying for the BC...the benefit cost analysis, there literally is no way to couple that with any others to make this score any differently, or come out any differently. Wilburn/ In that case, it's also helpful to know that you ran, um, some different scenarios, uh, increasing distances, that type of thing, just to see that, you know, that's not going to make a substantial difference (mumbled) Davidson/ One of the things to add, just because you see, some of you seem to be alluding to it, is you have a later decision point, we still hope to be able to buy out some additional properties, but not with HMGP funds. We hope to be able to get additional allocations of CDBG that would allow us...some of those fill in the gaps so we can actually get a parcel of property that could be added to City Park. So it's not out of the question that somebody might still be able to get bought out, but not with HMGP funds. Wilburn/ But by us also, those other potential sources of providing update, um likely, less likely that that may occur, it still provides more information to the public that here's a decision making point for me. Bailey/ Well, and we are also indicating... Wilburn/ ...whether I want, excuse me for interrupting, uh, Madame Mayor, whether or not I want to wait and see if something else might open, but if...for folks that have been looking at this. So...I'm done. Go ahead. Bailey/ Well, I just want to point out to Council that we are also indicating that we...these go in the grant application, but these go back to flood plain uses. I mean, if this becomes open space, it doesn't become flood mitigation, right? Lombardo/ Right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 17 Bailey/ So we have to be also very clear that that's what we're putting on this application, because that's the only option...that's the only use for this area. Lombardo/ And to further complicate this, let me emphasize, even though we are, um, recommending that certain properties be put on the application for hazard mitigation grant funds, depending on what additional funding becomes available and an overall strategy if we are faced with trying to protect a neighborhood through other, you know, mitigation measures, we may come back to you at a later date and say based on, you know, and how we may put a footprint in to preserve a neighborhood through either flood walls or other barriers, um, that we recommend buying out certain homes with funding other than the hazard mitigation grant program. So this...right now, it's still volatile. We don't know about the additional levels of funding. We don't know about, uh, a specific strategy for additional mitigation, but based on...if this was the only thing we were to do, then certainly we'd be recommending that we at least buy out the homes that we can with the hazard mitigation grant funds. Bailey/ Go ahead, Matt. Hayek/ Yeah, Jeff, um, is there any provision in this program that accounts for those random houses along this line that don't meet the threshold.. . Davidson/ I think you heard John Wageman when we were up at the Library that night say it's our...our application, our program. They expect us to develop the overall strategy for how to deal with the neighborhood, but as the Mayor just said, the bottom line is that anything that gets HMGP funds is returned to open space, that would be allowed to be inundated by a future flood event. Hayek/ What I'm saying is, there's a strange outcome to this approach, when it results in several homes on the east side of Normandy qualifying, and several homes along the river not, and I think I know the answer, but I'm asking - is there anything in this federal program that corrects for that? Or are we... Dilkes/ No, and if you think about it, it could result in an even...it could be even stranger when we get to the end of it, because it's completely voluntary. I mean, we can get to closing and someone could say no. So... Bailey/ So, I'm going to try to keep us moving along. Are we, um, do we concur, however, despite the difficulties and the challenges, that we're going to step into these challenges with these that meet the benefit cost threshold or received the BCA waiver and put those on the application? Champion/ Yes. Wright/ Yes. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 18 Bailey/ Looks like yes. Let's go to two. Lombardo/ Um, this...as we've discussed many times, is strictly voluntary, this being the hazard mitigation grant program, and um, certainly we may run into an instance where houses that are on the...the application may opt, or indicate even in advance that they do not want hazard mitigation grant funds at this time. Our recommendation, Iguess, is that we have a longer term strategy in mind and are recommending that we include them, uh do you agree that they should be included so that down the road, five, ten, whatever the number of years are, if they decide that they are ready to be purchased through this program that we would at least be in a position to give that consideration, or um, do you think that they should come off the application, based on the current owner's, uh, desire not to participate? Champion/ You mean owners that would qualify, but don't want to be bought out? Is that what you're saying? Lombardo/ Correct. Champion/ Yeah, I would keep them on the list. Wright/ Yeah, I think it would be a mistake to take those houses off. Bailey/Amy? Correia/ Well, the only thing is is that if we keep them on, then they're precluded from utilizing or applying for the Jumpstart Iowa funds. Lombardo/ Correct. Correia/ So we're limiting their ability to repair or rehab or whatever their home. Champion/ Amy, the other side of that question is, it's back to that, um, risk. I mean, do we want to put $50,000 into a house that is in the 100-year flood plain that qualifies for a buyout? Are we willing to give them $50,000? So that it can flood again? Correia/ Well... Champion/Or do we want to put that $50,000 in a house that's outside of that circle so they can get rehabbed, and maybe stay rehabbed. I mean, I think that's the question we have to answer. Correia/ I understand, I mean, I understand that, but if...if, I mean, I think we're going to be discussing the requirements for having flood insurance on any home that we invest money in, so I'm not, I mean, I would have to have a conversation about This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 19 whether than protects the City's investment in that piece of property, um, but I'm not for sure what benefit it is to the individual, or to the neighborhood if they don't want to be bought out. They never, it's only speculation whether down the road they might want to be bought out. Champion/ Well, the next owner might, but they also probably have flood insurance already. I think most of these houses had flood insurance. Correia/ Well, that's not the....I guess my question is, I'm not sure if I would agree that we should put some, a piece of property...I mean, I understand why you might want to, but given the current reality that it would preclude them, either we have an exception that we allow them to use it because they're not voluntarily on the list, I mean, we can do that with CDBG money or not, we can't? Lombardo/ I think the question is, is it our intention to return what we can to the flood plain here so that we're mitigating future loss, and...if that's the strategy, and that's certainly the strategy that we're recommending, then...then we do have to make a very difficult decision about keeping them on the application, so that...and maybe there's future conversations with the homeowners, uh, as funding became...comes available, uh, to work through this and get them to participate, but ultimately, um, you know, we can't have it both ways. Bailey/ Well, and that's why I made the point earlier, that this has to be returned to flood plain, because what we are actually stepping into, through these decisions, is we are stepping into a vision or a plan for down here that we see, that we know that some of these houses aren't necessarily on...interested in buyouts at this time. So we are suggesting that, um, that we're making a decision that this is the better choice for this neighborhood, in the long run, and we are making that decision if we include, um, these addresses on...on the, um, application, and I believe that we should, and I don't take that decision lightly whatsoever, but, um, I believe that we should. Champion/ It's a long term decision, it really is along-term decision, and we make a lot of decisions that are going to affect people 50 years from now, and this is, and a lot of decisions only affect people right now, but this is an important decision `cause it is going to affect the town forever. And I have no problem supporting that as criteria. Bailey/ Matt? Hayek/ From an engineering perspective, I mean, if you're going to buy out an area with, uh, with the idea being to implement some protective measures in that purchased or bought out area, you can't...the fewer homes that, I mean, if you have a bunch of homes stuck in this line along the river, uh, that aren't part of those protective measures, it defeats the purpose. So our goal should be to do as much as we can. There are certain limitations, certainly, but we should minimize those, I think. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 20 Otherwise it doesn't make sense to pursue a mass buyout of this area, geographically. Bailey/ Okay. And if we want to, from my perspective, if we want to, and I do want to, um, see a viable neighborhood down here. I think this is a great neighborhood. We have some challenges with the proximity of the river and I think we need to address those, but also, just looking at returning this to flood plain will in the long run, I think, help protect this area. Ross, do you have any comments about this? So, on two, Amy, did you have any further... Correia/ Um, I think I'm the lone. It feels like the lone dissenting (mumbled) No, I mean, I understand that we need to, that it's important to look at the whole community, and the good for the whole community, but at the same time, um, I mean, our decision does impact then individuals, in the meantime, and so I feel like there must be some middle ground that if we have folks that are not voluntarily on the buyout, but maybe down the road in an intervening five, six years, this is going to continue to be a, may continue to be a hardship, is there...I would be open... Bailey/ Did you talk about a middle road for this? I mean, I'm certain that you talked about this. Lombardo/ You know, we spent three days and a total of seven or eight hours, uh, strategizing, thinking how could we make this work in the most flexible way, and I'll be candid. You know, we either have to find ways to open up space, and if we are faced with having to protect the rest of the neighborhood, we have to take a pretty strong stance about what we're able to acquire through the hazard mitigation grant program and CDBG funding to create room to be able to do that, and so while I understand there are people, four homes mind you -only four - on the river side, that have suggested that they do not want to be bought out, uh, that certainly could stand as an impediment to protecting over a hundred additional homes and so we did weigh this. We took this into strong consideration, and yes, this is a very strong statement, but...but faced with what...future decisions we may have for this neighborhood, we felt it's the only compelling, uh, recommendation that we could make. Correia/ Well, that's not, I guess, I'm not saying that I don't...I'm not saying that I don't think they should stay voluntarily, as long as if they're not willing to be bought out at this time, that if they are in need of funds, like other homes that aren't on the buyout list for rehabilitation, that...and I don't know if we utilize other City funds, our grip program, or whatever it's called, that they meet those income eligibility guidelines, you know, those are and have a different type of loan term. We'd get our investment back if we ended up buying them out. That's all I'm... saying. Champion/ That might be another discussion. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 21 Wilburn/ I want to try and see if I can get a different nuance on what you're trying to say. If someone...if someone's included and they say, no, I don't want to be bought out, that ends their...they're not bought out, um but we included them on the list. Um, if we, um, logistically when the next flood happens, do we...um, are there other steps, do we want to, um, keep open for them -sources of funding - to mitigate what assistance we the city will have to provide, uh, in terms of going out, recovery help, assistance, that type of thing. Is that what you're getting at? Correia/ No, I'm not getting at that. I'm getting at right at this moment in time folks are in homes that need help so that they can...they're back up to livable condition, and so if we have these Jumpstart housing funds and CDBG funds that only those not on the voluntary, or not on the HMGP list, application, can apply for, if we are including those homes that aren't wanting to be bought out, then we're saying they can't apply for these other funds to help rehabilitate their homes. So I guess my interest is to, if we are going to keep them on the list, if there are any other ways that the city can assist them in loading them money through, maybe it's through grip or whatever other housing rehab program we have. Davidson/ Tracy has just pointed out, Amy, that CDBG funds can't be used in the 100- year flood plain. Correia/ Okay. Fine. Hayek/ Maybe we're ready to move on, but I can...I think I can add one more thing to...your concerns, I mean, I don't think there is a middle ground on this issue. If you're looking at buying a geographic area out with a view towards implementing some protective measures, um, and you're looking at the fact that the majority of this neighborhood does not qualify for a buyout and needs to be protected as best we can, um, I think we have to pursue as many buyouts as we can, so that we can protect the rest of that neighborhood. That's how I... Wilburn/ And L ..it's a hard decision (several talking) Bailey/ I don't think anybody takes this decision lightly. I think it's a very hard decision, but I think...I think there is a majority who would...who says yes to this question too. Wilburn/ It's that longer term... Bailey/ Longer term vision that we have to look at. Okay. Michael? Lombardo/ I have a question to staff really with, unless things have changed so much on a daily basis I want to make sure, um, that question number three almost becomes, um, a non-issue because if they are on the application then they would not qualify This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 22 for Jumpstart rehabilitation funding, and so no need to really discuss that further, correct? Davidson/ Excuse me, I don't have the right slide up. There it is. Bailey/ So no need to discuss this further? Dilkes/ The answer to number three is yes, as well. Bailey/ Okay, so we're on to number four. Lombardo/ Uh, based on...on the map that you have before you, and uh, based on additional work that needs to be done, there may be a number of homes, um, albeit finite, but some that do not qualify for the hazard mitigation grant program, and our expectations are that we would...we would pursue funding through supplemental CDBG funds to...to connect the dots, if you will, and allow us to, um, acquire the additional properties, uh, albeit...whether it be for flood mitigation measures or to return to flood plain. That'll evolve as we understand how much more funding is coming our way. Champion/ So if we have a house standing in the middle, and they want to be bought out but they didn't really qualify with the...yes, I see. Okay. I agree. Wilburn/ It's another source of...it's identifiable, another source of funding, that we can use to achieve the broader goal of mitigating future (several talking) Lombardo/ And...you know, conceivably if there are hundreds of millions of dollars made available, I mean, certainly you can, at a later date knowing that, decide to purchase, uh, a great number of homes, but right now we're basing this on what information we have before us. Bailey/ Okay. Seems that we all concur on that one, as well. Lombardo/ Steve, and we've made some recommendation for how to...how to fill these buckets, certain percentage and certain, uh, for rehab, 10%...80% for rehab, 10% for mortgage assistance, and 10% for downpayment assistance. Um, we want to put that question before you and...and ask if there are other ways of allocating that you feel are...are better suited or more appropriate, and we'd be happy to entertain that dialog if...if you need additional questions answered to be able to do so. Champion/ Can you just explain the downpayment assistance to me again? Who qualifies for that? Long/ Anyone can qualify for downpayment assistance. It's purely on...they look at the home. If the home was damaged or beyond reasonable repair or destroyed. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 23 Champion/ But then they'd be in the buyout program. Wouldn't they be in the buyout program? Long/ That's the preference, but it's not the rule. Champion/ Oh, okay. So if they have a lot of destruction, but they don't qualify for this...this, whatever number it is out there, then they can apply for downpayment assistance. Is that what you're saying? Long/ Yes. Champion/ Okay. Correia/ So the preference for the downpayment assistance is for those applying on the housing mitigation grant program? Long/ That's the State's preference, but it's not the rule. It's open to anybody. Correia/ Okay. And... Long/ This 80-10-10 is also flexible. Correia/ And then, the interim mortgage assistance, that's only for those on the, because I didn't understand that when I was reading it. Lombardo/ Just for the ones on the buyout list. Correia/ Just for those on the buyout list. Long/ According to the State right now, yes. Correia/ According to the State, okay. Bailey/ Other questions for Steve? Correial And then the rehab are for those not on the buyout list? Long/ Yes. Bailey/ And, are those percentages, do we agree with those percentages? Champion/ They're flexible though. Correia/ It's hard to know when we don't have the application number, so, because they're flexible and we're talking about the weighing of points later. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 24 Lombardo/ Fair to say, Steve, that this is a starting point that if...if the needs reflect or warrant a change, we would probably come back and make some adjustment to that. Bailey/ I'm certain you based this upon some sense of what's out there, but.. . Long/ We assumed there'd be about 10% bought out. It looks like a little more than that now, but... Bailey/ Okay. Correia/ Because I have another question about the downpayment assistance since it's for those on the buyout list. So you said earlier it's a forgivable loan, but those folks will be getting bought out eventually, if they, if it's approved, so they'll be...you don't, they don't pay back because they received the value of the home that they lost. Lombardo/ No. This is strictly to help them pay their mortgages and... and uh, if they get a buyout, there's no payback to this program. Correia/ Not the mortgage assistance one, I mean the downpayment assistance. Long/ That's attached to the new home. Correia/ Okay. Bailey/ If they get bought out, they can also have downpayment assistance to go get a new home. They have the buyout money, and the downpayment assistance (mumbled) Correia/ Seems to me it's the folks that don't have the buyout money who have a home that maybe it's substantially damaged and they're not going to get the value of their home, they're trying to get a new home, that are going to need the downpayment assistance. Long/ That's what the State set up. I'm not... Correia/ I mean, I guess when I was reading it, I was assuming that those were the folks that we would be assisting with downpayment assistance, and in some cases, even interim mortgage assistance, because they're trying to fix up their house. Bailey/ These are State... Long/ Unfortunately they're State set up.. . This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 25 Lombardo/ From our...from our visit to Washington D.C. in July to this date, every chance that I, and I know the Mayor the same, get to advocate for funding to come directly to Iowa City, as a lump sum, uh, an amount without restrictions for us to model and fashion a program, we urge that, and I won't say that we're rebuffed, but it is clear that that's not likely to happen, and so we have to operate within the parameters. Correia/ And so we can't, I mean, the Jumpstart Iowa funds are Iowa funds, so there's no way to...advocate with the Governor, the head of... Bailey/ This isn't, yeah, this clearly isn't our decision point, at this point, but there's certainly advocacy that needs to continue. I mean, I think you're right. Long/ The number of phone calls, and I receive a lot of phone calls, most people here probably. (laughter) Um, the mortgage assistance is a huge need right now, and the way it's set up, it's just for people on the buyouts, so if there's a way that...talk to any legislators, I urge you to do that. Correia/ The CDBG dollars, the same? Long/ Yes, as of right now. Correia/ Because the State decided that? Long/ The Iowa Department of Economic Development. Correia/ Right, but is it coming through their...they have this housing task force, I mean, they must be receiving some of the calls you're receiving, and so pulling out these recommendations? Long/ I refer... Bailey/ Yes. Correia/ I hope the media's paying attention to get that out in the media. Bailey/ So you need to be calling people in Des Moines, as well as people in Iowa City. Okay, so our decision point really are the percentages. Unfortunately we cannot determine the use. Correia/ Right, but like you said, the percentages are flexible so this is really...I mean.. . Wright/ As long as there's flexibility... Bailey/ A target. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 26 Correia/ Yeah, it's a target, but I think we need to see what applications we get in, and... Dilkes/ We've got a week to get applications. You've got aweek-long period for applications. We have to have some plan going into it. If that changes, if we.. . Correia/ Do we have to have percentages? Long/ Yes. Correia/ We have to. Long/ But they're just targets. They're not... Bailey/ Yeah, I think these targets look good. I mean, you know...and then, do you also need us to answer the rehab program limit... Lombardo/ Actually we get to that later. It's...I think there's a cut and paste issue there, but um, why don't we just work down the sheet you have before you. Bailey/ All right. Lombardo/ Um, one of the recommendations we're making is that, uh, any property owner that receives Jumpstart or CDBG funding, um, that we require in the future to have, uh, flood insurance. Champion/ Absolutely! (several responding) Davidson/ We did want to clarify that this would be for the homeowner program. The business program, since it's just aone-year forgivable loan, and we basically at the end of a year wouldn't have any basis for requiring it after that, since it would have been forgiven, so it will be for the homeowner program only. Bailey/ I have a question that we won't get to tonight, but I just want to put out there, um, as we move forward with some kind of plan for our neighborhood, can we also require houses in a particular neighborhood, if we do flood mitigation in that area, spend City dollars to also, do we have the legal right to require in a particular area or neighborhood, to require flood insurance, if we are spending City dollars for mitigation measures, and I don't know if you have the answer, but I would like to put that out there for consideration. Lombardo/ I don't know that I have an answer for that. Eleanor? Bailey/ It seems like it's a legal... Long/ I don't have an answer for that, but I...I just want to clarify, are you...flood insurance for anybody who receives Jumpstart or CDBG funds, regardless if 100- This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 27 year or 500-year flood plain? I just wanted to clarify that. (several responding) Okay. Bailey/ Are we...I didn't hear seven yes's. Hayek/ I support that, but I wanted to follow up on the business end. We can't...that's not an available requirement that we can... Bailey/ We're not considering that requirement? Davidson/ Once the loan is forgiven, there's no City interest then in the property. Lombardo/ We could do it for the period of a year, but then (several talking) Correia/ There's City interest if there's a flood the next year. Bailey/ That's, I mean, that's my point about areas too. Hayek/ I guess my concern is that if you combine the Jumpstart and CDBG allocations, and compare those to homes and those to businesses, the~business community actually gets more money in Iowa City... Davidson/ Correct. Hayek/ ...and residences are far and away the biggest area of impact in our community. Correia/ How did that happen? Lombardo/ One of the questions I have that I want to follow up on, and we've not been able to do that yet, is if the, on the business assistance program if it's not fully utilized, can we redirect that funding. My understanding is right now the answer is no, but we're going to push hard and try and get better answers. Davidson/ Then again, those forgiveness provisions, the terms were handed to us. Bailey/ Okay. So we concur about carrying flood insurance on residences, um, that receive Jumpstart or CDBG, and...okay. Lombardo/ If you...if you want to have that requirement for businesses, for that first year.. . Correia/ I think for the year that our money's in there. Don't you think? Bailey/ Yes. I'll agree. (several responding) Champion/ Well, I think anybody (mumbled) after this anyway. (several talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 28 Bailey/ I think you'd be, well...(both talking)...memories, distance, space. A difficult year, you (mumbled) Lombardo/ Staff spoke earlier about some of the eligibility criteria that we use for allocating CDBG funds, and...and lacking in an overabundance of money, uh, we're recommending that similar guidelines be used for the Jumpstart program so that we...we can stretch the dollar, so to speak, um, and we would like to know if you, uh, agree with that, or if you have other guidelines that you believe would be more appropriate. Correia/ You mean the income eligibility guidelines? Bailey/ Elderly, disabled, large households, that one. Correia/ Oh, you're talking about the weighting. Oh, okay. I mean, given that there's a finite amount of resources at this time, I mean, it makes sense to use a weighted system, and one that we've used. Lombardo/ I'll be candid. You know, barring a lottery system, we really haven't been able to think of any other way to approach this, to be able to rank and direct funding. Correia/ I don't think we want to do first, you know, date of application and I don't think we want to do a lottery either, so... Bailey/ Well, and we've used this for quite some time, and I mean, it's something...so, do we agree? Wilburn/ I think the caveat is given the finite resources, yeah. Hayek/ And I think, I mean, I would like to be able to capture homes that aren't, applicants who aren't served by the CDBG requirements. On the other hand, if we've got two pools of money that we're essentially combining for the same purpose to have two separate standards could create a lot of havoc. Bailey/ Yes, I agree. Simpler, because it's such a quick turnaround. Okay. Lombardo/ I think eight is largely answered, but we'll throw it out there anyway, and it's, our recommendations for the guidelines for the small business assistance program, um, we haven't discussed any additional guidelines that may come to bear, but they've been put before you, if you think there are other business related criteria that you want to add on, we should discuss that now. Bailey/ I thought those looked good. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 29 Champion/ I have one more...one more question before...if a household qualifies for $50,000 rehab money and a possible other $10,000 if they use high-energy appliances or whatever that criteria is, and they had flood insurance, is that deducted from that $50,000 or probably, okay, and flood insurance probably covers more than $50,000 if a house is really damaged. Bailey/ Tracy, did you... Champion/ Can you answer that, Tracy? Hightshoe/ The program's set up that there can't be a duplication of benefits. So for the homeowner rehab, if you had $100,000 in damages, you would take out what they got, um, through flood insurance or through any other government type assistance, and then that limit would apply. So hypothetically if the damage was $100,000, they got $20,000 in FEMA or some type of housing assistance, then they could go up to that $50,000 or $60,000 through this program. Champion/ Okay. Hightshoe/ I believe that's what we were trying to clarify with the eligible activity. If we can limit the rehab assistance to winterizing it, major mechanicals, in the theory that way we could assist more people. Lombardo/ That's question number ten, we get into the specifics of that a little bit more. Davidson/ Did you concur with that, the uses for the... Lombardo/ We haven't discussed that yet. Correia/ Question number ten? Lombardo/ Um, question number nine is our definition for small business, and um, I think this is what we used for the small business flood assistance program when we set it up. The $75,000 initially, and uh, we're...essentially asking if 50 and under is, um, FTE's if that...if that's sufficient? Ford/ For the first flood recovery program of $75,000, we used $25,000. Bailey/ Well, and I just have a general question. Is...that basically going to address our, most of the business needs in Iowa City? Ford/ Yes. Bailey/ Okay. That's... Ford/ Of those who were flooded and likely took out SBA or other loans. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 30 Bailey/ That's what I'm interested in doing, so that seems like a criteria...50. Okay. Lombardo/ And lastly, uh, along the lines of what Tracy had indicated, um, few dollars chasing a far greater problem, and...and one of the ways we can benefit a greater number of people is to limit it to, uh, weatherproofing and the exterior shell, uh, siding, sheeting, windows, doors, you can read the list, electrical, um, and some winterization. Um, and Steve is here to answer questions further about that, but we're trying to at least stretch the benefit if we can. Long/ I think I would also like to add, I don't know if...elevating the basic systems out of the flood plains as well, like elevating a furnace up, in addition to this. Bailey/ That's great. Long/ And some of the, I think basic electrical and plumbing too is, maybe should be added on there. Champion/ Elevated. Bailey/ Elevated. Long/ Just...yeah, to get the central services going again, basically the basic central services. Champion/ If people started doing this to their flood damaged home, could they be reimbursed for it? Long/ Yes you can. Champion/ Okay, great. Bailey/ Good. Champion/ Then I agree it's a good program. Long/ All of these expenses are reimbursable. Hayek/ Does it make sense to tie their hands in any way, with respect to how they use their funds? Bailey/ We're trying to make the money go farther by doing this. Lombardo/ Otherwise it's...if they qualify then it would be the $50,000 plus $10,000 for, um, low-e appliances, $60,000 would be able to assist may 11 homes, 10 or 11. And...and it's... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 31 Bailey/ ...make it go farther I guess. Lombardo/ We do know additional funding is coming to Iowa City, uh, we're told in about two months, and so there will be additional strategies as we know, um, what funding is available that we'll be bringing forward, but right now this is based on just the limited pool that we have. Wilburn/ Are these federal, state...other, these other... Lombardo/ $27 billion that was appropriated by Congress, and that's the... Wilburn/ I didn't know that that was the one you were referring to. Long/ There are other options, I might add. We do have the CDBG allocation coming up again this winter. You could allocate some of those funds to go to rehab. Uh, we do have extra...we have funds sitting in the Economic Development pool. I mean, you can ask us to investigate those. Bailey/ Are you going to... Correia/ Our current grip program? Long/ Our current rehab program, but we'll talk about that. Keep that in mind. Bailey/ Did you have what you need? Lombardo/ I believe so. Staff, is there anything else that came up today that we haven't had time to get on a list? Thank you. Bailey/ Thank you. I know all of you worked very, very hard on this and it's been quite a scramble and thank you all so...so much, and I know that the next week will be very busy for all of you, as well. Champion/ It's a good start...it's a start. Wright/ A start, and truly thank you all very much. It's phenomenal. Bailey/ Okay, let's quickly move through the rest of our work session agenda. Council Appointments: Bailey/ I don't think we have any. Agenda Items: This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 32 ITEM 9. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST TO AGREEMENTS WITH THE STATE FOR JUMPSTART IOWA HOUSING ASSISTANCE AND SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. Bailey/ As I mentioned before, let's move item 9 up. There are many people here who are interested in speaking to flood issues. I'll entertain some broad latitude to speaking to item 9, but I would, during the formal meeting... Karr/ You need to do that by motion, when we get to that point. Bailey/ ...we'll need a motion to do that at the meeting, so heads up on that. Any other agenda items that people needed a quick... Long/ Excuse me. Bailey/ I just want to double check. Dilkes/ Mayor. Long/ Excuse me. Bailey/ Steve. Long/ Just need one more clarification. Because this program starts in a few hours (laughter) and a lot of it's dependent on the list of buyout properties. I just want to be clear when you, are we specific enough, when you talk about...are you talking about the properties that are, I'll just say blue or gold, or all. Lombardo/ All of the yellow and blue, uh, anything that, based on that we believe qualifies thus far is going to be included. Long/ Okay. Correia/ Well, blue's only included if it... Dilkes/ So all of the yellow and any blues that turn to yellow. Davidson/ That turn to yellow, right, exactly. Long/ So, okay. We'll know that by Friday, okay. Bailey/ Thanks. Champion/ What do you have to add to yellow to make blue? Green. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008. October 6, 2008 Special City Council Work Session Page 33 Information Packet: Bailey/ Okay. Um, any...informationpacket items from the September 25th or the most recent...I think we really slammed through the most recent packet. Invitations: Bailey/ Okay. I do have, um, we'll skip Council Time, and we'll skip discussion of pending discussion items, since we discussed that last time. I do have a couple of invitations I just want to know if people are available to cover these, um, at the Community Mental Health Center is celebrating it's um, celebrating 40 years. This program is Thursday at 5:00. Will somebody be able to represent Council at this? Champion/ (mumbled) Bailey/ Okay, all right. So it would be good if we had representation, and the Realtors have invited us to be at a special meeting, um, Wednesday from 11:30 to 1:00. I won't be available. O'Donnell/ Where's that at? Bailey/ It's, uh, Quality Inn, Highlander Conference, and it's a meeting of realtors, members, and partners (mumbled) future in media. As you know the Realtors have been a real partner in our, um, housing authority programs, and so it would be great to have representation, and I indicated that I couldn't attend, but I would ask if there were Members of Council who could attend. Lombardo/ My understanding is that they have a (mumbled) speaker coming. O'Donnell/ Which is... Bailey/ Okay, so if anybody needs to, uh, make good with the City Manager. (several talking) Okay. All right. Um, we will start the formal meeting at 7:15. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special work session meeting of October 6, 2008.