HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-05-05 Community and Economic Development Committee Minutes�
� - -� ' CO�ILiNITY & ECONOMIC D$VELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Wednesday, May 5, 1993
�3II�E�
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PR$3ENTs Councilor Charles Sullivan, Chair
Councilor Wm. Shubert
. OR'IiERS
PRESENTs Councilor pon Soucy
Councilor Pat Blanchette
: Councilor lrsarshall Frankel
� Edward A. Barrett, City Manaqer
. Renneth R. Gibb, Director of Community & Economic Dev.
_ Rodney G. McKay, Community Developanent Director
T.J. Martzial, C.D. Housing Resources Coordinator
, Bob Ziegelaar, Airport Manager
AGENDA ITEM �1 - Community Development FY '93 Grant Application
The Proposed Statement of Community Development Ob�ectives and
Projected Use of Funds for the FY 93 budget was introduced by Ken
Gibb. Rod McKay then proceeded to explain the various activities to be
funded. Total funds for all activities involved are $1,430,000
consisting of a HUD CDBG Entitlement grant of $1,144,000 as well as �
accumulated program income from loan repayments, option fees and other
activities estimated to total $286,000 tfirough June 30, 1994. Two
areas where funding has been increased in the FY '93 budget are 1)
Residential Property Rehabilitation - a 53$ increase over lnst year's
� budqet ($595,839 funded of which $20,000 will be used to reimburse Code
Enforcement for inspection and enforcement services) ; 2) Public
Improvements - a substantial increase due to the "Americans With
. Disabilities Act" requirements ($33,729 funded) .
Two Public Aearings are required to be held in order to give local
citizens the opportunity to present their comments andlor concerns on
the proposed use of these funds . The first hearing will be held by
this Committee at its May 19, 1993 meeting and the second hearing will
be held at the May 24th City Council meeting.
AGENDA ITEM �k2 - Housing Alliance
T.J. Martzial, Housing Resources Coordinator for the Comnaunity
Development Division, presented this� item. Inquiries have been
received by T.J. from various Bangor organizations asking if there was
a regional housing alliance in the Bangor area. Whereby there is not
one, T.J. and Stan Moses (Asst. C.D. Director) decided to form one.
They received instructions frora MSHA (Maine State Housing Authority) on
how to form the alliance and then proceeded to send out letters to
local orqanizations to see what the interest w�ould be. At this point
in time, there have been 3 meetinqs held with representatives from
� interested area organizations; the alliance is in an inforiaal state and
they have not yet formed any by-laws, set term limits or anything of
this nature.
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�< MSHA has about $500,000 available for this proqram. This money, in
;:� the form of a grant or loan, can be acquired to fund a variety of
'" thinqs such as rehab of sinqle family homes, assistance for shelters
t: for the homeless, removal of structures that are not cost effective to
:ti» repai=, creation of recreational and park areas, etc.
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� Before application for MSHA funds can be made a housing alliance in
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`� Banqor hae to be formed; then an area has to be designated a "housinq
;� opp�rtunity zone" . Application for MSHA funds would have to be done by
� the City. The deadline for applications is June 17th.
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` A motion was made by Councilor pon Soucy to recommend approval of
� this item and that it be forwarded to the City Council for their review
and approval. Seconded and so voted.
_: AGENDA ITEM #3 - Bangor-Brewer Penobscot Bridge Replacement Advisory
� Committee
Discussion took place with respect to potential "slots" for the
forming of an advisory committee which will deal with considering
alternatives and/or other proposal(s) that would balance out the
competing interests in this bridge project. The various "slots"
; suggested were 1 City Councilor, 1 Planning Board member, 1 City Staff
_ representative (preferrably the City Engineer) , 3 members from the
downtown area, and 2 citizens at-large. Ken Gibb suggested that maybe
a story could be put in the BDN asking for interested people to fill
the slots for the downtown and at-large positions and that by the next
: . C & ED Committee meeting perhaps nomination of individuals could be
made to fill these positions.
Staff asked for Committee's feelings on how many people they felt -
would be sufficient for an advisory committee. Councilor Soucy stated
that 7-9 people should be sufficient. There was no objection to this
number by any other Committee members . The C & ED Committee will be
asked to meet with the advisory committee in the future as part of the
publi.c process.
AGENDA ITEM #4 - Disposal of Air Force Housing
Senator Cohen's office has scheduled a meeting with area
organizations ori May 20th at Eastern Maine Development Corporation to
_ discuss the options to dispose of 114 Air Force Housing Units in New
Capehart. Officials of federal agencies have also been invited. The
process for disposing of these units is very complicated with federal
stipulations that the first priority would be to offer these properties
to qroups that provide shelter and services to the homeless.
_ Discussion followed among Committee members and Staff with respect
to all the possible situations that have to be considered if it goes in
the direction of homeless housing versus private sector first-time home
buyers . It was agreed that after the May 20th meetinq there would be a
clearer understanding of what procedure/action the City should take.
� The meeting adjourned at 6:00 PM
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