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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-05-05 Community and Economic Development Committee Minutes� � - -� ' CO�ILiNITY & ECONOMIC D$VELOPMENT COMMITTEE Wednesday, May 5, 1993 �3II�E� :• �MHSR.S 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. . � � + � " �' Z �< 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. � � Before application for MSHA funds can be made a housing alliance in �:.: `� 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. � ` 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 •