City of Lawrence, KS

Community Development Advisory Committee

September 26, 2013 Minutes (City Commission Room)

MEMBERS PRESENT:		Linda Bush, Alex Delaney, James Minor, Julie Mitchell, Vern Norwood, Travis Weller, Patrick Wilbur

MEMBERS ABSENT:		Quinn Miller, Aimee Polson

STAFF PRESENT:		Danelle Dresslar, Rhonda Peterson, Kurt Schroeder

PUBLIC PRESENT:		Marcy Francisco, Marcus Tetwiler, Eric Hurtt, Marquise Paige, Emma Halling

In the absence of Chair Polson, Vice Chair Minor called the meeting to order at 5:32 p.m.

1. Introductions.

Members introduced themselves.

2. Approval of the September 12, 2013 Minutes.

Weller moved to approve the CDAC meeting minutes from September 12, 2013. The motion was seconded by Wilbur and passed 6-0.

3. Discussion of 2014 CDBG and HOME applications.

Dresslar said there had not been any changes in the application form since the committee’s previous review with the exception of dates. She attached the memorandum that goes out to all of the interested parties, and she attached an updated application that had the dates updated. She said the same budget template that went out to the neighborhood associations last year will be included as well. Dresslar said now is the time to make changes to the application if the committee wishes to do so.

Bush asked what template was discussed in a previous meeting.

Dresslar responded the performance report template was presented and altered at prior meetings.

Bush asked if there is a way to help the applicants from the neighborhood associations break responses down in the same way.

Dresslar said all of the neighborhood association applications are the same budget format. They tend to operate differently; some have other funding sources.

Delaney suggested there be a separate application for neighborhood associations.

Dresslar said that is a possibility, if the committee wishes, however the information captured in the narrative portion of the application still has relevancy to both public services and neighborhoods.

Minor asked how you would break those categories out. Perhaps general categories could be added to the application.

Dresslar suggested the budget page could be modified instead of reinventing the neighborhood association application. An itemized budget of the breakdown for their anticipated expenses could be requested. The application could give the associations a little more direction as to the information needed on the budget form.

Bush agreed.

Dresslar said she would work on revisions to the budget template.

Minor said with funds decreasing, having more detailed information would help the committee make an informed allocation to neighborhoods that have specific needs.

Dresslar said she will work on a separate budget allocation worksheet that would be sent out to the neighborhoods only. She will need feedback quickly in order to give the applicants enough time to fill them out. The applications are typically sent out around the first of October.

Delaney asked if changes to applications require a vote from the committee.

Dresslar said they have not done that in the past when an addendum or change is made. She said specific directions may need to be added to the template so the applicants can respond with information the committee needs.

Delaney would suggest having the associations include a copy of the minutes and meeting schedule for the neighborhood.

Bush said if the association is up to date on its reporting, all of that information is already available.

Weller asked if a written description could be added on the application to define the different funding types.

Dresslar said yes. Capital Improvements would only apply to infrastructure or building improvements, for instance.

Weller added that one of the dates on page 2 needs to be updated; it still reads 2012.

Dresslar said she will make that correction.

Norwood asked if a link can be sent to the applicants telling them where the Step Up to Better Housing information is.

Dresslar said yes, she can add that in the memorandum.

Norwood asked if the committee has ever received a list of applicants who missed the application deadline.

Dresslar said Habitat for Humanity missed the deadline last year. She indicated they were the only one the miss the deadline in five years. She added she can forward that information to the committee if it happens again. Dresslar said she usually goes through the applications as they are received and informs an applicant immediately if something is missing or incomplete.

Dresslar said she will send out a revised budget template that is more descriptive with the application, she will add a sentence after Capital Improvements about infrastructure and building improvements and she will add a live link to the Step Up to Better Housing information.

4. Miscellaneous/Calendar.

Dresslar introduced Kurt Schroeder, the new Assistant Director for the Development Services department. He took over Margene Swarts’s assistant director position.

Kurt Schroeder introduced himself. He said he is sitting in on the meeting to gain information on the committee and what it does. Schroeder said he worked for the City of Lawrence back in the 1980s when it was the Neighborhood Resouces department. Schroeder thanked the committee for its work.

Dresslar said because the CDAC is no longer the governing board to hear the environmental code appeals, she believes the committee will not need to meet again until the first meeting date in December. The City Manager has indicated he would like to come and speak to the committee at that time. This will also enable the committee to touch base again before the application review process starts. She added the calendar could be set at that time to start scheduling the allocations and also address the Chair and Vice Chair elections. Aimee Polson is the Chair, and her term expires; this evening is her last meeting, and she is not eligible for reappointment.

Weller asked if there would be no additional meetings until the applications are received.

Dresslar said that is correct. She said the applications will be due before that first meeting in December, so she could have a preliminary list of what has been received. She will not, however, have them all reviewed in full by that date.

Minor asked what the date of the meeting in December is.

Dresslar said the next meeting will be December 12. There should not be a need to meet prior to that as there will be no appeals to hear and no applications to review.

5. Discussion of Chair and Vice Chair Positions.

Dresslar asked the committee to start thinking about Chair and Vice Chair positions. If someone is interested in running for one of those positions, the first meeting date in December would be a good time to start those discussions. As Polson’s term as Chair has expired, there will be not a Chair in place when the board reconvenes at the next meeting. Everyone should be aware of the time commitments and scheduling involved for either of those positions.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:57 to conduct the public hearing.

6. (6:00 p.m.) Recess Meeting to Conduct Public Hearing.

Minor called the public hearing to order at 6:00.

Dresslar gave a brief overview of the public hearing. Two public hearings are required every year per the CDBG Home Guidelines. The first public hearing of the grant year is to talk about the CAPER document, which the committee received, and see if there are any questions about it. Any questions the public has would also be addressed, and any suggestions for activities would be received.

There was no public comment. No written comments were received; the CAPER had been published since the previous Thursday.

Dresslar said next year the CAPER will look substantially different because a new system was integrated this year, and the CAPER will be created using that new system. Dresslar said there are only two grantees in the entire region that have done CAPERs using the new system, the City of Lawrence being one of them.

Minor moved to close the public hearing at 6:03 p.m. Bush seconded the motion. The motion passed 7-0.

7. Reconvene Meeting.

The CDAC meeting was reconvened at 6:04 p.m.

8. Presentation from Student Group Regarding Oread Neighborhood Association.

Marcus Tetwiler introduced himself; he is the current student body President at the University of Kansas. Eric Hurtt introduced himself; he is a senior and the U.S. Government Relations Director for student safety. Marquise Paige introduced himself; he is a junior and the Development Director. Emma Halling introduced herself; she is the student body Vice President.

Tetwiler thanked the committee for allowing the student representatives to make a presentation. He introduced Marci Francisco, a current resident of the Oread neighborhood.

Francisco previously served on the CDBG advisory board and is active in her neighborhood. She was excited to meet some of the student representatives who are working on the KU community project for the Oread neighborhood. In previous years, bags were distributed in the neighborhood to welcome incoming students to Lawrence. The bags were distributed again this year, but there were some students who wanted to do more than that to get the students, residents and landlords in the neighborhood connected and talking to each other. Francisco said the student group is here this evening to present those ideas to the committee.

Tetwiler said when the students present came into their positions with the University, they really looked at the neighborhood association process and were immediately in discussion about the Oread community and the stakeholders involved. They looked at the students, homeowners and landlords, and the interest that the university has and the city’s interest in the community to make it as safe and positive experience as possible.

He said they believe the welcome bag program is a good start toward community building but feel it is just the tip of the iceberg. The presentation will address the proposal of a Block Captain program, where the Oread community is divided into 15 sections where a student participant through this program would be a liaison between the University of Kansas and the City of Lawrence to that specific part of the Oread community. That liaison would assist in organizing community efforts and offer incentives to the different stakeholders to participate in this program. They would also assist in developing face-to-face relations between homeowners and students residing in the community. They want to bridge the gap between the students who reside there for a few years and the homeowners who live long term in the neighborhood.

Marquise Paige introduced himself. He said the group feels the stakeholders should have equal representation in how the Oread community functions. A couple of the questions they had to answer are how do they get participants to the join in the Block Captain program, and how do they promote future collaboration.

Paige said a key piece to making this program a success is to create an interactive online community center. This tool would be used to help bridge the gap between students and longtime residents. It could be used to communicate an incident, to announce rental availability, to report issues to the city, to promote events or ask general questions.

Eric Hurtt said the Block Captains are the wheels of this program; without them, this program could not move forward. Roles of the Block Captains include registering neighbors in the online community center. One of the major problems in the Oread neighborhood is the lack of communication between older and younger generations. Face-to-face interactions would be encouraged by organizing neighborhood events, mediating issues and acting as a liaison to the city and the university. This would include improvement projects, addressing potholes and things of that nature.

Emma Halling said there are a few key elements to incentivize people to participate in this program. The online community center and Block Captains are tools to help build a better sense of community in the Oread neighborhood. This hinges on reciprocity and interpersonal interactions. One way to foster reciprocity is to introduce incident reports. When the neighborhood experience events of vandalism and property damage, no one is communicating to report the occurrences because most people do not know their neighbors. Introducing incident reports helps set up a common ground. This would also be helpful to the police.

Halling said general reciprocity requests would also be beneficial. If someone needed to borrow a lawn mower or painting tools, they could request it from a community member. Social events are also a key piece of the program. It is difficult to be invested in a community if the neighbors do not know each other. It will foster a sense of belonging and help build the community. Hollings also added rental listings would be beneficial and would help promote students to visit the website.

Hurtt reiterated the importance of this program. He said the group is here to request funding for the Block Captain program. There are a lot of large visionary ideas with this program, and the group feels in the future it can expand to be successful. One idea is employment. The Oread neighborhood has a lot of professionals living in it. The online community could help by listing internships and temporary jobs that need to be filled.

Adopt a House/Student is another proposed aspect of community building. An example of this would be students helping out an elderly couple by shoveling the snow on their driveway and sidewalk. Students could also mentor other people in the neighborhood who may need a tutor or something similar.

Tetwiler said they feel the language used to describe student’s needs to be more positive; hearing about “unruly college students” in the newspaper does not promote a sense of community. Having face-to-face interactions among residents and students in the Oread neighborhood would help change the perception of both students and homeowners alike.

Tetwiler added the concept of a Block Captain, someone whom other people know and trust, will help promote the overall program. Residents are more likely to reach out to a person they know rather than a general municipal staff member to report and help solve problems. The Block Captains would be housed under the Student Safety Advisory Committee through the University of Kansas; this committee has worked on neighborhood projects in the past. Funding for these Block Captains will enable them begin an initial outreach effort to grow and develop the interactive online campaign. Block Captains will help the community presence be felt throughout the year and not just that one time when goody bags are distributed.

Wilbur said he thinks all of the ideas presented are great. He asked if the group is currently working with the Oread neighborhood association on this program, and would it be joint funding for the neighborhood association.

Francisco said this program is a real opportunity to ask these students to get involved the neighborhood association and introduce them to the CDBG process. She said the students were, in particular, asking to build a relationship with the neighborhood and the city. The CDAC provides that relationship for a lot of neighborhoods. She feels the Oread neighborhood qualifies for those funds in many ways, because of the number of students that live in the neighborhood. Francisco said she had hoped because no funds were spent by Oread last year that those funds could be redirected, but she understands those funds went into the Capital Improvement budget.

Francisco said the current Oread board members are not the ones who submitted the application in 2013. The members of the old board submitted the application but did not share it with the rest of the interested parties in the community. Francisco said she now has taken the role of Treasurer. She is hoping the neighborhood sets up elections for the board this fall, and that the CDAC will be interested in funding this program should the new board still be supportive of the Block Captain project. Francisco said another opportunity for them is to write a grant for the coming year. This would allow them to outline a program and begin to set it up next year when the new students are arriving.

Norwood said she likes the concept of this program, which brings neighborhoods back to the way they used to be in the past, with a sense of community. Norwood said she does not quite follow how the funding will work going through the Oread.

Francisco said the current board has had difficulty with communication. The Oread has a dysfunctional board at the moment. As a longtime resident, Francisco wants to get the neighborhood association started again. She said the have an Oread residents association that includes some of the longtime residents who have been involved in the ONA.

Francisco said they would like to come to the CDAC with a request for funding, providing a new neighborhood association board has been elected. They would like to redirect the funding from the neighborhood association to fund the Block Captain program rather than funding a coordinator. Francisco said they are presenting the information today so the committee has time to think about the request in advance.

Norwood asked if this program would encompass all of the projects Oread is planning.

Francisco said this program involves many of the things a neighborhood association would do. Oread would also have to follow whatever rules there are for CDBG funding. She said it will be challenging because of the funding. Notification to residents will also be difficult because Oread is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods.

Bush said she remembers having discussions at prior meetings regarding how rigid the committee should and should not be on dictating how the neighborhoods are spending their money. She recalls the committee would decide the amount to be allocated based on each neighborhood’s budget, but the committee would not interfere with how the funds are spent. She added she appreciates the presentation to give them an idea of what the plans might be for the Oread neighborhood.

Bush said a lot of the things proposed, which are great ideas, already exist in the city; shoveling the sidewalks for neighbors, interactive maps showing police calls and similar things. She said she hopes money and effort are not being spent on duplicating things that are already available. She said it is important to stress to the community members they are not just residents of Oread; they are also residents of the city. Some of the services that were talked about could be offered from other neighborhoods as well, not just in Oread.

Tetwiler said both points are well received, but the group envisions this as a one stop shop to be made available for the community. He said he is aware of the police interactive map, and the group has spoken to the police regarding this proposal as well; he said it is likely not many students are aware of this resource. Tetwiler added they would not be duplicating efforts; they would be conglomerating them into one offering. They look at the project as an incubator for city development. Approximately 90% of the population in the Oread are students; if the program is introduced here it can be developed and possibly utilized in other communities, but for now the idea is to keep it small. They have done research and have not found another one stop shop in place like the one being proposed. The need is fairly unique due to the demographics of the community, which is why they feel the Oread is a good place to start.

Francisco said one challenge the neighborhood has is the turnover, which most neighborhoods don’t experience. Every fall new residents come in who are not familiar with the community, and their focus is the campus not the neighborhood. She sees advantages to having the students find out about their community that has a strong connection to the campus.

Minor said he was curious about the manageability of the project over time. He asked what happens when the key people who drive the program are no longer in the community. Future students may not have the same conviction as the ones who started the program. Overall, Minor thinks the program is a very good idea. If the concept proves to work well, it could be utilized in other parts of the city as well.

Weller asked who will pick the Block Captains.

Tetwiler said the Student Safety Advisory Committee would have the role of choosing Block Captains. There are campus police officers, city representatives, students, faculty and staff who sit on the committee. They feel it represents a fair diversity of the different stakeholders.

Francisco said she believes the positions would be similar to a coordinator, in that the openings would need to be advertised.

Dresslar said that is correct. She reminded everyone the Public Service funds cannot be rolled over to the next year because of the regulatory caps. Any unspent money stays within the city, but it cannot be used for Public Service.

Delaney asked if the group knows what the Block Captains will be paid.

Tetwiler said that will depend on the availability of funds.

Delaney said he thinks it is a great idea. He had some suggestions for things that the group might want to consider adding to the presentation. Make sure that everyone knows you have a contact in the police department with whom the group is working. Turnover of the student population is a big issue that will need to be addressed. He added it is a good sign there is representation here from the neighborhood itself with Francisco in attendance, and that the residents recognize there is a problem and are working to fix it. He added any collaboration with the city of Lawrence and KU is a good thing.

Delaney said the Oread neighborhood is high in density as far as voter registration is concerned, but the neighborhood has never broken 5% in the last several elections. With such a high population of students in the community, it is important to get the students civically engaged and voting. Another important issue to address is to have students follow through when they say they are going to do something. Delaney said he has had experience in the past with a group of students who were going to do some volunteer work. They never showed up and did not call. If the student association is going to support this program, they need to follow through and do it. The worst thing the group could do from a resident’s standpoint is having the group commit to doing something and not following through.

Mitchell asked about the renters in the neighborhood who are not students, and if they will be somehow included in this program.

Francisco said notices have to be sent to all residents about Oread neighborhood association activities. The ONA may be limited to one notice this year due to funding.

Minor asked if this presentation has been made to the Oread neighborhood association as a whole, or if this is the first time it’s been proposed anywhere.

Francisco replied they have tried to have meetings with the neighborhood association. The Secretary has told them everyone hasn’t been notified of a meeting, and they don’t have the money to spend to send out notices. She added there is an opportunity now to have their annual meeting either in October or November, hold elections and present the idea to the residents at that time. Francisco said she has reached out to various members in the community and the organizations within it to talk about the possibility of this program. She would like to move forward with ONA and regroup as a neighborhood organization.

Dresslar said there is less direction of the funding that goes to the neighborhood associations. From a staff point of view, there needs to be an agreement with the neighborhood association that funds are going to be spent in a certain way even though the application stated something else. Perhaps it would need to be in the form of an addendum to the sub grantee agreement, because right now it reads “Operating and Coordinator Costs”. It is still within the scope of neighborhood operations, but it needs to be able to stand up to scrutiny in the event of an audit.

Minor asked if Block Captains would replace the coordinator.

Dresslar said it sounds like the coordinator may oversee the Block Captains.

Minor said a percentage of students to long-term residents should be established and maintained for the members of the association and the program.

Delaney added that would help add to the longevity of the program.

Mitchell asked what decision needs to be made on this proposal tonight.

Dresslar responded no decisions need to be made; it was just an educational presentation.

All the committee members said they are pleased and excited about the proposed program and thanked the group for making its presentation.

Francisco said she appreciates the committee’s time.

9. Public Comment.

There was no public comment.

10. Adjourn.

Minor moved to adjourn the September 26, 2013 meeting of the CDAC at 6:49 p.m. Delaney seconded the motion. The motion passed 6-0.

Attendance Record

Members

Jan 10

Jan 24

Feb 14

Feb 28

Mar 14

Mar 28

Apr 11

May 23

Jun 13

July 11

July 26

Aug 8

Aug 22

Sept 12

Sept 26

Oct 10

Oct 24

Nov 14

Dec 14

Deron Belt

Linda Bush

Alex

Delaney

Eric Hethcoat

Quinn Miller

Julie Mitchell

Vern Norwood

Aimee Polson

E**

David Teixeira

Patrick Wilbur

James Minor

Travis Weller

E Excused Absence

U Unexcused Absence

X Meeting Cancelled – Weather Conditions

- Meeting Cancelled – Committee Vote/No Business

* First meeting after appointment

** Last Meeting Prior to expired term

^ Last Meeting