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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-07-12 Government Operations Committee Minutes Government Operations Committee July 12, 2011 Minutes Council Members: Blanchette, Gratwick, Longo, Bronson, Palmer Staff: Farrar, McNeil, Bradley, Willette Other: Dennis Marble, Bangor Area Homeless Shelter John Rubino, V.P., Husson College 1. Proposed Transit Agreement between BAT Community Connector and Husson University Joe McNeil, Bus Superintendent, explained that the proposed agreement is similar to the agreement between the University of Maine and EMCC (Hogan Road.) Some studies have been done and a contract developed that is mutually agreeable to both parties and allowing for changes along the way if necessary. McNeil’s looking to begin with this fall semester and a representative from Husson College John Rubino, Vice President was in attendance to answer any questions. Gratwick asked how McNeil arrived at the figure of $10,000. Was it based on number of rides? Is there any way to be sure that it will be fair to the City and to Husson? Joe McNeil responded to Gratwick stating they ran surveys at certain times of the year to track how many people were traveling to Husson and how many were getting dropped off at Husson. Also factored into it was a usage for passengers navigating beyond the borders of Husson. The City of Bangor will not be affected by this, and it will be a great marketing tool for Husson. Palmer commented that Husson has been a part of the Bangor community since 1898. He applauds this decision to move forward with this agreement. Responding to Blanchette, Rubino said that the student government brought this idea to the administration. Husson thought that it was exciting and moving in the right direction and wants to offer this as an opportunity to our students, faculty and staff to ride the bus. Palmer made a comment that he would like to see more of this type of agreement with the BAT service in downtown Bangor. Blanchette added that it may be a way of encouraging folks to change their way of transportation. McNeil recommended the proposed agreement move to full Council. Longo moved staff recommendation on Item 1. The motion was seconded and approved. 2. Update on Homeless Initiative and Strategic Plan Rosie Bradley (Community and Economic Development) began with an update on the Homeless Initiative Project. The City pulled together a group of service and housing providers along with health and community service and community development leaders to look at creating a local plan to end homelessness in Bangor. Currently there is a State of Maine plan, a Federal plan and the City would like to add a local plan. The group has done some data collection reviewing such things as duplication of services, available resources, and possible gaps or barriers involved. One of the first goals is housing for the homeless. It is extremely important for the homeless to have an address as a start in changing their lives. Permanent housing will help them to become stable, and hopefully obtain employment. The group will also meet with landlords. Bangor has a lot of sub standard housing and GA vouchers that pay for some of those. They are trying to come up with an opportunity to improve that. They are working with case managers to continue the support services once they do get placed, and are also looking at moving Park Woods to an asset for the city, rather than a liability to the city. Gratwick questioned why Park Woods is currently considered a liability rather than an asset? Bradley answered that she feels the issue is that it should become self-sustaining with some improvement in place. There is not a lot of overhead and she would like to see management adjustments made as far as rents, screening of applicants, and great transitional planning with case managers. Gratwick mentioned that the problem is not just housing, but there’s another realm that is brought into that. There are people with mental and physical illnesses or substance abuse, etc. What are role models, best practices, are there other cities that have done this well? Bradley replied: “We’re shooting for no homeless people”. Of course, there will be that component of folks with issues such as mental illness, etc. Part of our research gathering is looking at models across the country where they have similar programs. The group is still in the working stages and have more information to gather. Longo asked how many people in Bangor are homeless. In a year’s time, how many people change their lives vs. those that stay in that same situation? Who are the stakeholders and what are their roles? Shawn Yardley responded that in Bangor on any given night, the shelters are full. In Portland, they are overloaded to the point where they set up cots side by side to fit all those in need. We are trying to look at it comprehensively. The other problem is that we compete for Federal Grants with places like Los Angeles where they have 24,000 people every night in L.A. homeless shelters, and a total of 54,000 in the county surrounding Los Angeles. There are limited federal dollars and competing with those kinds of places makes it difficult. In Maine, Bangor is competing with Portland which has 250-300 people a night in shelters. The money may go where the biggest problem is. Bradley said we need to look at things like; is the current housing stock in Bangor being used to its maximum? Are we subsidizing sub standard housing with some of our policies? When Maine Care policies change, that often changes the needs of the individuals. We are doing everything we can to get as much funding as possible. Dennis Marble, Bangor Area Homeless Shelter, said that on average in Bangor on a given year, they shelter approximately 2,500 people overnight. Another 3,000 utilize shelters during the day or in crisis services, phone calls, questions, etc. Bangor has a lot of transients and it’s not just Bangor residents. We need to try to design different programs at different levels around the needs of the various types of situations around housing and services offered. Are we maximizing what we do locally? We can’t mandate what services we receive, but if we do the groundwork here we can advocate as a community showing our work efforts and what is needed from grants. Palmer encouraged a separate workshop on just this topic of homelessness in Bangor. He mentioned boats on shore as a housing option….. just something to explore as they’ve done in New Orleans. #3. Skate Park Recreation Plans and Discussion of Required Funding Tracy Willette, Parks and Rec. Director, said that progress is moving forward with the new arena and requested that $55,000. (estimate) be used to move the current skate park to create a new skate park across from city owned land on Maine Avenue. The current plan is to take apart the pieces that we have and relocate them to the new site. There are permitting issues that need to be resolved, but staff is currently working on those. We want to move as quickly as we can to relocate the skate park to get it up and going again. In addition, we are working with a group of adults and youth who use the park and would like to include some concrete events at some point at the new site. We would like to move forward awaiting approval of pending funds. Palmer expressed his support of the relocation. He also wanted to make clear that this new site will be a permanent site that should be zoned as a public park. Bronson stated that he is unclear and not familiar with the City’s Improvement Reserve. Bob Farrar, Asst. City Manager, responded that the improvement reserve has existed for many years as a fund for capital improvement items such as this. Money goes into that account from a couple of sources. Council appropriated some funds from this year’s budget into that account. Part of the PERC credit that the City receives each year gets appropriated into that account to help fund the capital needs of Bangor. As needed, it is appropriated out of the account for particular projects. Responding to Longo, Willette explained that the estimate included only creating an asphalt pad of approximately 15,000 square feet. This is the same size as the pad we currently have. Going forward, there will be an opportunity to apply for grants to expand the park such as adding concrete areas. Palmer made a motion to move to staff recommendation for the funding of the project. Bronson seconded. Blanchette called it a vote. Farrar noted that an appropriation Resolve will be prepared for the City Council Agenda Meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m.