City Council - Regular Meeting

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Welcome everyone. Welcome to the city council work session. Today is Tuesday, April 14th, 2026. And I would like to call this meeting to order. Notice is hereby given to the members of the city council and to the general public that at this work session, the city council may vote to go into executive session, which will not be open to the public for discussion in consultation with the city's attorneys for legal advice on any of the items listed on the following agenda. Can I get roll call, please? Mayor Daget, Vice Mayor, Council Me Council Member Alen,

present, Council Member Garcia, Council Member House, I'm here. Council member Matthews, Council Member Spence here. Great. And a couple of things. Um, one, we are reordering the agenda. We are going to take item seven before item six. And as you can see, we're a little um empty up here. Some of our council members are and the mayor in DC on a lobbying trip. Um so you get the two of us and our pretty faces here tonight. And I would like to have council member Spence lead us in the pledge of

allegiance. God of the United States of America and the stands one nation.

Council member House, can you do our mission statement? Thank you, Vice Mayor. The mission of the city of Flagstaff is to protect and enhance the quality of life for all. Thank you. And I'm going to pick on Council Member Spence again for our land acknowledgement. Thank you.

The Flagstaff City Council humbly acknowledges the ancestral homelands of this area's indigenous nations and original stewards. These lands still inhabited by native people border mountains sacred to indigenous peoples. We honor them, their legacies, their traditions, and their continued contributions. We celebrate their past, present, and future generations who will forever know this place as home.

Thank you. We are moving down to open call to the public. Open call to the public enables the public to address the council about an item that is not on the prepared agenda. Comments relating to items that are on the agenda will be taken at the time that item is discussed. Open call to the public appears on the agenda twice, at the beginning and at the end. The total time allotted for the first open call to the public is 30 minutes. Any additional comments will be held until the second open call to the public. If you wish to address the council in person at today's meeting, please complete a comment card and submit it to the recording clerk as soon as possible. And I do have a card from Christine Pavle. Can you come up?

Hi everyone. Um I just wanted to um give a comment about some of the exciting stuff we have going on um from the housing division for fair housing month. Um so we want to you know we want to support our um community's commitment to um ensuring fair and equitable housing for our community. And so the first is a housing resource fair that will be held Wednesday, April 29th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the downtown library. We have a number of local organizations that will provide information on things like tenant rights, fair housing protections, legal services, and other housing resources. And then the second event is a free house fair housing 101 training um Thursday, April 30th from 9:00 a.m. to noon right here in council chambers. It'll be an interactive session. It's offered in partnership with the Southwest Fair Housing Council as well as DNA People's Legal Services. We're going to cover federal, state, and local fair housing laws. There'll be real world scenarios. Um they'll talk about landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities. And it's open to anyone, housing providers, tenants, advocates, um anyone interested in learning more. And it can also offer continuing education um credits. And I'll leave some flyers on the back table for anyone who might be interested. Thank you.

Thank you, Christine. Okay, we are down to our proclamations. We have three of them tonight. We have the International Dark Sky Week, National Association for the Education of Young Children, and Water Awareness Month. So, what we're going to do is if you are here for for the proclamation, please meet us down at the front. We will read the proclamation, take a photo, and then someone, if you're here for the proclamation, will have the opportunity to say a few words. So, we are kicking it off with International Dark Sky Week. Okay. The splendor of a night sky filled with thousands of stars has for millennia inspired and connected humanity with a sense of awe and wonders shared across space and time. In 1958, Flagstaff led the world in creating the first lighting ordinance to protect the quality of our night sky, prohibiting search lights within the city limits. In 1989, Flagstaff along with the Cookanino County developed and approved the world's first outdoor

lighting codes that required both the widespread use of night friendly amber lighting and limited the amount of light that could be used per acre. On October 24th, 2001, after a proposal by the dark by the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition, the city of Flagstaff was designated as the world's first international dark sky city. 25 years later, Flagstaff has become a hub of international dark sky places in northern Arizona, including communities of Sedona, village of Oak Creek, Cottonwood, Camp Birdie, Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater, Volcano, and Wupaki, Petrahide Forest, and Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Parks. Our community has documented a greater than 90% reduction in artificial sky glow compared to other cities that have not protected their night skies. Today, the city of Flagstaff stands out as a success story and model for other communities around the world in stemming light pollution and restoring dark skies, earning the 2025 Dark Sky Place of the Year award. The Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition can continues to serve as a community voice, celebrating our starfilled skies and and success in protecting them through education and outreach. Flagstaff owes its demonstrated success in preserving its dark skies to the broad support of its residents who cherish and celebrate the sight of the Milky Way and a star-filled sky. International Dark Sky Week has been observed worldwide since 2003, drawing attention to the beauty, wonder, and inspiration that dark and starfield skies bring to all. Now therefore, I, Vice Mayor Miranda Suite, on behalf of

Mayor Becky Daget, Mayor of the City of Flagstaff, do hereby proclaim April 13th through April 20th, 2026 as International Dark Sky Week in Flagstaff. Hi everyone. Um, we have something amazingly special. Oh, I should say who I am. Uh I'm Danielle Adams, executive director of the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition. And we have uh some members of the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition Board here, uh Samantha Christensen, Kevin Schindler, and Fred Verba, as well as the city's dark sky specialist Rob FA. And uh you know we all are used to seeing stars overhead but it is not normal according to all of the other cities in the world anywhere's near our size. Um and we've done this on purpose. It's not an accident. It's not natural what we have. Well, it's natural. The stars are natural but it's not natural in the typical progression of a city. We have done specific things to protect the night sky and that protection has resulted in uh massive astroourism revenue through visitation from people

all over the world. um increase quality of life through better circadian rhythms and production of melatonin in our cells uh which reduces risks of cancer and diabetes and many other things and it also has uh resulted in increased mental health outcomes and wonder. uh study came out two years ago that found that people who live under dark skies, not a quick visit, but live under dark skies, are more likely to wonder about the universe. And that wonder leads to discovery and curiosity and all of those amazing things that we want our children to grow up with. So, thank you all, Flagstaff. Thank you, Vice Mayor, and everyone who is a part. I see Reggie back there with code compliance. Um, doing those little things like using amber lights, uh, shielding those lights, turning them off when they're not needed. Those little things allow us to have the actual Milky Way above a city of 75,000 people. The world is taking notice. Thank you so much. And uh, come celebrate with us. All week long we have events happening to celebrate International Dark Sky Week. Especially this coming Saturday is Starlight in the Square where we'll gather in Heritage Square and yes stargaze from the downtown of a city of 75,000 people. Thank you so much.

Call up anyone who's here for that. Call anyone who's here for that. Good afternoon. I am a pediatrician on the city council and I'm especially pleased therefore to read this proclamation on the week of the young child 2026. So come on down if you're interested in young children. And we welcome at least one person under 30.

Welcome. Whereas all of Arizona's children deserved access to quality early care and education. Whereas quality child care programs build children's lifelong learning skills during the critical years from birth to age five. And whereas early care and education teachers and child care providers are essential workforce that help Arizona's parents get to work and school. And whereas funding quality child care is a smart investment that improves family well-being, strengthens communities, and grows our state's prosperity. And whereas first things first, Arizona's Association for the Education of Young Children, the Southern Arizona Association for Education of Young Children and other community organizations in conjunction with the National Association for the Education of Young Children all are celebrating the 55th anniversary of the week of the young child. And whereas these organizations are working to improve equitable early childhood opportunities that provide a strong start for children in Flagstaff. And finally, whereas public policies that support early care and education for Arizona's youngest learners help our families, communities, and the economy thrive. Now therefore, I, David Spence, on behalf of Mayor Beck Becky Daget, the mayor of city of Flagstaff,

do hereby proclaim the week of April 11th through 17th, 2026 as the week, the NYAK week of the young child, 2026, and encourage all citizens to support and invest in early care and education in our community. Justice. Good after c good afternoon council members and all. Uh thank you for recognizing the week of the young child and for the opportunity to be here today. My name is Sean Sumilis and I serve northern Arizona as government affairs for First Things First, Arizona's early childhood agency. I'm also a proud mom and like many families here in Flagstaff, I know that raising children takes support, connection, and access to resources. The early years, birth to five, are a time of rapid brain development that lays the foundation for lifelong success. Here in Flagstaff, roughly 4,000 young children are in those critical early years. That's 4,000 future students, workers, and community members right here, right now. When children have access to quality early learning and supportive environments, they enter school ready. they are more likely to graduate and they contribute to a stronger local economy. In a community like Flagstaff, we know that housing affordability and workforce stabil stability are ongoing priorities.

But there is a third piece that is deeply connected to both. Access to affordable, reliable child care. When a child When child care is out of reach, parents can't fully participate in the workforce. Students, including those at NAU, struggle to stay enrolled or complete their education, and employers face ongoing staffing challenges. Child care is not separate from these issues. It is directly connected to how families work, live, and stay in this community. First Things First was created by Arizona Voters to support families during these early years. Those investments have helped expand access to child care and preschool, provide developmental screenings, and connect families to support systems. These are smart preventative invest in investments. In fact, every $1 invested in early childhood can yield up to a $16 return to the community. But we are at a critical point. The funding that supports First Things First, continues to decline as the tobacco tax, our primary funding source, no longer reflects today's market. This past legislative session, we work to sta to stabilize that funding. While we didn't cross the finish line this year, we built strong momentum across Arizona, and we are preparing to come back strong next session. I want to thank this council for their leadership and for the work you are already doing to support housing and workforce stability in Flagstaff. And as these conversations continue, I encourage continued rec recognition of early childhood and child care as a key part of that foundation. Your voice in supporting sustainable early childhood funding can make a meaningful difference for families here in Flagstaff. Because when we invest in young children, we are investing in a stronger, more sustainable future for this community. Thank you.

I just wanted to say a quick

Hi, I'm Pearl Santana. I'm the regional specialist for First Things First. I just want to acknowledge um our advocates on the um stage today, community partners, First Things First Council members. Um we have Rebecca Searsen who um directs a child care um early learning and development center at NAU. Um so just such a great team um direct service providers and thank you for standing with me. Um, I just wanted to give a shout out to them, but everybody in the community who's showing up for children and families and in all the ways that we do, you know, if you're a direct service provider, if you're a parent who's balancing work and family, or if you are an advocate, um, going out and speaking up for children and families, it makes such a difference. It's so important. And so, today is a celebration. This week is a celebration of week of a young child, but I feel like it is uh our shared commitment um to standing with children and families and making sure that every child um has the opportunity to thrive. So, thank you for being here. Thank you to all of our partners for being here and standing alongside us. Can I get all of my water people up here, please?

Thank you. Thank you. Hi. Is coming back in? No, she control yet.

All right. The state of Arizona declared April as water awareness month in 2008. The city of Flagstaff is a nationally recognized leader in utility water management and water conservation and continues to achieve efficient water use through initiatives such as residential and commercial water use consultations, rebate programs for commercial and residential customers and high efficiency fixture retrofits. Flagstaff water customers can take actions to reduce their water consumption through the replacement of conventional fixtures with water efficient EPA water sense labeled fixtures as well as outdoor efficiency measures such as low water landscapes. Water is essential to all life and water use efficiency is a core value of the city of Flagstaff and the broader Flagstaff community. The 8th annual water Arizona water professionals appreciation week begins April 27th, 2026 and aims to recognize water professionals essential roles in ensuring clean and and sustainable water for our community. Now therefore, I, Vice Mayor, on behalf of Mayor Becky Dakett, mayor of the city of Flagstaff, do hereby proclaim the month of April as water awareness month. I'll leave that for

you're attorney. We need water to make mud. Thank you. Uh my name is Tamar Laws. I'm the city of Flagstaff water conservation program manager. Uh all these folks here are amazing team members for the water services division that ensure that uh you know we have safe drinking water that we can clean waste water that we keep the storm water systems operating well that we meet all of our you know regulations. So really proud of the team. Um our team does a lot of outreach during this month during water awareness month. So you can find us at the Earth Day celebration this Saturday that our sustainability division hosts at Bushmaster Park from 11:00 to 2 will be tableabling. And there's also a rainwater harvesting workshop if you want to attend that. Um we'll also be at the CCC Earth Day event that's happening on the 21st from 11 to 2. Um the city does drop off days uh also hosted by sustainability where people can bring items that need to be dropped off like hazardous materials and we also hand out kits during that time for people to do their own home water checkups. Um we'll be at the full steam ahead uh STEM event at for Tutill on the 25th and on that day um there's also a water appreciation bowling event that we can send some information out to about to the council. So um you know water is our lives every day but we're excited to celebrate water awareness month in April. Thank you.

Okay. Okay, we are moving down to item seven As a reminder, we flip-flopped six and seven. And Christine, take it away.

Thanks so much, Vice Mayor. Um, my name is Christine Pavick. I'm the housing and grants administrator for the city of Flagstaff housing division. Um, I'm very excited to welcome Eric Chadam from Civotas LLC. They are the consultant we've partnered with to help develop our consolidated plan. He's just going to present about our consolidated plan. Um, and he's available for questions at the end as well. Thanks so much.

Thank you, Christine. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Um, again, uh, we're doing the five-year consolidated plan, which is a stipulation of receiving your CDBG funds each year. City's been receiving these funds for many years at this point. Uh, the program itself is, uh, starting its 52nd year nationally. Um, so this is not necessarily anything new. Uh but essentially what the consolidated plan process entails uh is it requires local jurisdictions and states that receive these funds to take a pause on your programming and re-evaluate the needs of the community, your residents, um the housing market, etc. Um and we've been working with Christine and the housing staff uh for about six or seven months at this point uh to conduct this assessment. Um and just going to hit some highlights here. the full version of the consolidated plan, several hundred pages uh of details and data uh are available on the city's website for comment and we'll we'll share that at the end of the presentation. U but there's five major components of the consolidated plan. The first being the needs assessment but looks at the needs of the population or the people here in Flagstaff and then the second major section is the housing market analysis which obviously is the housing stock. Uh the Civotas team largely conducted those uh with feedback from staff and support from local stakeholders. And then with that and feedback from the public uh and our stakeholders and meeting with a variety of departments here in the sta uh city, we identify the five-year strategic plan. And this is the the key section, if you will, of the consolidated plan. This establishes the city's priorities and goals for the next five years using those CDBG funds. Then every year, and you're probably accustomed to seeing this uh plan presented to you in this format each year, you have the annual action plan, which is what Christine will be presenting second, which is kind of why we flipped that logical order here. The

final section is the citizen participation. I'm going to hit some highlights of the efforts that we've done so far to uh gain community feedback and then we're going to as as I mentioned, there's a public comment period uh following tonight's session. Our CDBG allocation for this year is essentially the same as it's been for the last several years at 681,196. Uh for those that might not be aware, this is a formula process largely uh driven by population, but there's some other housing and poverty statistics that are part of this formula. But these are not funds that the city applies for. We can't do anything to get more. We can't do anything to get less. Uh thankfully uh it's just part of the federal budget and as an entitlement community uh we receive these funds. HUD accepts these plans. Um HUD doesn't quite frankly get to weigh in on the priorities and strategies that the city uh comes up with and and they don't really get to weigh in on what you decide to fund as long as they're eligible and you've gone through the appropriate processes. So some data highlights here and for those of you in council, I'm sure you're very well uh aware of these numbers. uh want to point out just draw your attention to to the data highlight at the bottom. Um uh we are required as part of this template very structured template from HUD that we're required to use. We're using um the 2023 American community survey data which is a subset of the 10-year uh census. Um and we're using what they call five-year estimates. So we compared over the last decade um and and then using the 2023 census information from ACS. So I know that feels a little bit dated but that is when we prepared the plan that was the most recent uh available data. What we're really looking at is trends and again for the next five years what do we expect these trends to continue to be for the city and projecting those needs over the next five years. So population over the last decade has grown by almost

15%. As was previously mentioned, you're well over 75,000 now. But I'd like to point out though, if you're just looking at large trends, the total number of households is increased by almost 21%. Uh simple uh u math there says that the household size is shrinking. Um and and so planning ahead for the proper mix of housing and development uh for the appropriate household size. And this is a trend we're seeing all around the country. Uh certainly during COVID there were were multigenerationals coming back into households. So we saw for a few years households were temporarily expanding but we're quickly going back to uh declining househ household size. Median incomes over the last decade have increased by almost 37%. Uh median income at 68,000 now. Um just a reminder median means half the households make more half the households make less. HUD does not use average income on purpose. Uh so we're trying to find that middle of the road. Half make more, half make less. And then most of our programs are designated for households that make 80% of that median or less. While CDBG often focuses on extremely low income and potentially those experiencing homelessness, uh it's not strictly a poverty-driven program, but we still do look at those rates. Uh you can see the city of Flagstaff uh over the last decade has has made some pretty good improvements. Uh poverty rate has dropped below 20%. Uh lags behind the state a little bit. Uh but the state is also making improvements. So this is uh good statewide. You can see at the bottom left of the screen here the what the median income might be for each household size. So households applying to for assistance or applying to participate in programs funded through CDBG uh would need to make at or below these incomes and again

it's based on 80% of the area median income. HUD typically up updates these numbers every year but you could see for example a household of four here in Flagstaff area could make as much as 87,000 and still be eligible for participation in most of our programs. The map on the right hand side shows areas and in that darkest shade, sort of a purple shade where more than 51% of the households in those uh neighborhoods are considered to be low to moderate income. Again, meaning that they make 80% of the median income or less. These are areas where the city might be able to uh make improvements to parks, community centers, or other public facilities that benefit the entire area. And HUD requires that again the primary beneficiaries be low to moderate income households. That's not to say that the balance of the city is not eligible for for those types of investments. Um but that's one of the ways that we qualify is as having the areas at 51% or greater. The next few slides are about the housing statistics from the housing market analysis. Um again using uh ACS data. So, this is not intended to uh be a real estate uh performance. Uh this is not to suggest that if folks were out trying to buy a house or looking for a apartment to rent this afternoon that they would see these numbers necessarily, but over the last decade, median home value has increased by 90%. I just want to again show you at the bottom of that screen, median income only increased by 37%. So, uh, it's definitely lagging behind housing cost and median contract rents have gone up by 53% in that same time frame. Those trends are obviously continuing. If we looked at that and had, you know, real estate live data as of today, we would see that uh, home values and home rents have continued to increase while median incomes have have uh, only slightly

increased over the last two years. The map on the right hand side shows uh, home values. The darkest shaded areas, I know this is fine print on the on even on the big screen, but those darkest shaded areas almost approaching like a navy blue almost black color are where houses uh the median value is over 650,000. You compare that to the previous slides of the low-inccome areas and you can certainly see different um uh home values and median incomes are uh where they're dispersed throughout the city. the lowest shaded area that we can come to and this I think this is really to the point uh the lowest median value where there were significant number of houses to actually come up with a statistical number is still hits 499,000 or less. So that's sort of that u light gray color uh right below uh the purple heart trail. So right in sort of in the middle of the city you could see some of those very light gray. Again still the medium values there are approaching 500,000. the the bar graph on the uh bottom left is the age of housing. We certainly look at housing stock and the age of housing to potentially uh assess the need for housing rehab programs. Uh I know the city has a wide variety of uh energy efficiency programs, uh water improvement programs, etc. to help homeowners and property owners improve their housing. Um and so you can kind of uh see the age of housing and this helps us sort of predict the quantity of houses that might need things like lead abatement and asbestous uh abatement uh but things also of older uh plumbing and and older code where homes were built and and wouldn't meet today's code standards. So that's helps us design housing rehab programs. The next two slides are really uh the biggest uh factors if you will from the housing market analysis. Um, HUD refers to households being costbururden. If you pay more than 30% of your house uh

household income towards your housing cost, you're considered to be severely costburden if you pay more than 50% of your income towards housing cost. Currently, your current homeowners here in Flagstaff, one in five are considered cost burden. And of that, 10% uh of the all current homeowners uh pay between 30 and 50. and almost 10% pay more than half of their income towards their housing cost. This is not uh a negative statement at all about these households. Uh but it's it's worth noting that households that are paying more than 50% of their income towards housing costs and certainly homeowners, they're certainly going to be financially constrained. Any hiccup in their income uh or any unexpected medical expenses, car repairs, home repairs, etc. really cause a financial strain. And then these households potentially are at risk of foreclosure. They're tapping into their savings and investments uh to make these repairs or adjustments. Um and then ultimately they uh find themselves relying on public assistance in times of crisis. Um and so the the lack of affordable housing really does impact our our social programs. Um and then to the larger aspect of the local economy, these households that are paying this type of in uh uh portion of their income towards housing are not able to go out into the community and recreate, shop, go out to eat, etc. because they can't simply can't afford it. Uh so again, the lack of affordable housing really does have an impact, a rippling impact through the local economy. It's significantly worse when we look at the next slide with renters. Uh almost 57% of all of your current renters are considered cost burden. 31% of your current renters pay more than half of their income towards housing cost. We saw during COVID the extreme need for rental assistance, food assistance, utility assistance. Millions and millions of dollars were spent

throughout Arizona and around the country uh helping homeowners or I'm sorry, renters uh stay stably housed during those those uh times. Um certainly these households are extreme risk of eviction and instability um and and really have quite frankly no shot at becoming homeowners anytime soon when you're paying that kind of income towards rent. Uh the map on the right hand side of the screen u the darkest shaded areas here show uh communities or neighborhoods here in Flagstaff where more than 80% of your renters are considered cost burden. I know those are uh a little less uh populated areas, those big census tracks out to the east, but you can see right here in the downtown core, there's several census tracks. Uh that next shaded u blue is between 60 and 80. And the lowest shade here is is where only one in five. So we've got lots of areas where more than one in five render households are cost burden. Again, 31% citywide are considered severely costburden. So, now to some of the highlights of our community input. We had u multiple online surveys uh that the community were able to take. Um so, I'm going to hit some of the highlights from the public survey that was geared towards residents. We also hosted it here in council chambers. uh several stakeholder sessions and uh representative of nonprofits and affordable homebuilders and and other uh interested parties and they take a second uh survey directed towards their organizations. The outcomes from the public uh survey segue right back to the previous several slides, but affordable housing being the top need and then you could see on the right hand side how that breaks down to new affordable rental and home ownership housing. Let point out though, unfortunately, the CDBG regs don't allow us to put in uh funding directly for the

new construction of housing with with one exception. Um the if we have an organization that's uh certified as a community-based development organization, we can use that for affordable housing, new construction. And um you do have one CBDO here in Flagstaff, which is fairly rare. I don't know if many others in Arizona or throughout the country, but uh Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona is a certified CBDO. Uh but groups that we're maybe uh familiar with like Habitat for Humanity, building new houses, we can help support them with CDBG through land acquisition or uh utility improvement, site improvement. We can't actually give them funds to to help them build vertically. We can help on the uh uh down payment assistance and and um other uh housing assistance. um but not with that vertical construction. The second biggest need was public services. And again, caveat here, not to be uh just naysayer to the CDBG program, but the regs limit us on public services to only 15% of our allocation. So when you look at 680,000, 15% just doesn't add up to a lot of public services. Uh but overwhelming mental health, homeless services, fair housing services, and um to uh Council Member Spence, uh the the next bullet was uh childcare and youth uh youth programming. U and then public facilities uh continuing to improve uh the variety of public uh facilities, community centers, parks, and open spaces uh were were all highly responded to. So given that data and again that's just a very high level snapshot that the full report has significantly more details about uh the housing stock and community profile and and the feedback. Uh but we've established these four priority needs and then the related goals. Again these priorities and goals would guide your funding decisions in the subsequent

five annual action plans. So number one preserve and develop affordable housing. So that would include housing rehab and efficiency improvement programs and development when we can and how we can. Then improve public facilities and infrastructure, provide for public services for low to moderate income households and individuals and special needs population which would include uh those experiencing homelessness. And then effective program administration. Uh hopefully number four seems obvious. HUD likes to see that our plan we allocate all of our funds to a particular goal. So um the city can use up to 20% of our allocation each year for administrative expenses. So we need a goal that those funds will go to. So of course we intend to administer the program effectively. So uh the next steps of course Christine is the is next up on your agenda to present uh more details about the specific annual action plan and the funding recommendations for this year. Uh but we're currently in our comment period uh that's running uh through May. Um, and then I believe following the the comment period, the plan will be presented back to council for a full approval. We'll submit to HUD uh ideally by June 2nd and then your program year once HUD accepts the plan and releases your 2026 allocation begins on July 1st. For members of the public that might be interested, you can see the uh link on the right hand side of your screen that where the plan is published. Um, Christine's contact information, both mailing and physical address, phone number, and email address, uh, are available here as well for anyone that would like to provide comment during the comment period. And with that, Vice Mayor, um, happy to turn it over for any kind of questions.

Thank you. I appreciate the presentation. Um, council, do we have any questions or comments? I am not seeing any. So you did a nice thorough job. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Okay, we are moving to item six. Welcome back.

Thank you. Thanks so much, Eric, for a great presentation. Um, and so as he said, I am here to talk about the annual action plan and our funding recommendations for this coming year. So, he just provided a great overview of the program as a whole, and I just want to briefly touch on a few key pieces um that will be important for you to consider um as we make our funding decisions. I want to do a quick overview of the process and then finally review the um actual funding recommendations for the coming program year. So, in addition to our consolidated plan, each year we submit our annual action plan. This outlines how we'll use um this year's entitlement funding and how those funded uh projects and activities will align with and support the goals that we've identified in that consolidated plan. Each fall, we also submit what's called our caper. It's the consolidated annual performance and evaluation report. It looks back at what we actually did do with the funding. It outlines our accomplishments um and inval evaluates whether or not we've met our goals and if we didn't, why didn't we? Um and occasionally we also submit amendments to our annual action plan. If we were to receive um for example COVID relief funds, we amended our annual action plan in order to incorporate those funds. So it's really important to know that CDBG the CDBG program has two major funding caps which Eric mentioned. We are only allowed to spend 20% of our funds on administration. And so that's program coordination, staff salaries, and indirect cost. indirect pays for things like our legal services, IT, our grants and contracts assistance. And then we're allowed to use 15% of our funds for public services. And so that includes um social service programs. It includes employment and education services, child care, uh shelter operations, and such. Additionally, HUD has what we call the timely expenditure requirements. And so we call this our

1.5 test. And it really just holds us accountable for spending our funds in a timely manner. We're not allowed to bank or save any of our funds up. So we are not allowed to have more than one and a half times our current year's allocation in the bank and unspent. Um so even if we've said what we're going to do with those funds, that doesn't matter. We have to have actually spent down those funds in order to meet um this requirement. And so um if we consider last year's allocation, um this would only allow our balance to be about $880,000. So you can imagine how one or two delays in a large construction project can um really put us in a challenging position. And so that's why we prioritize projects that are truly shovel ready. Um and we um make sure we're funding organizations that are effectively able to expend their funds on a timely manner. So I want to talk a little bit about how the annual allocation is distributed to the community. Um each year the city conducts an open proposal process. It allows local nonprofit agencies to apply for these CDBG funds. Public participation is required throughout the process. We have public meetings, a public comment period, and then ultimately we ask council to approve the submission of the annual action plan. So for this program year, the process began um for the for the annual action plan on January 29th with a public meeting. This meeting invited local nonprofit organizations to come and learn about how to apply for funds, what's eligible. Um, they were able to ask questions. They're also able to schedule technical assistance meetings one-on-one with me to make sure that they have a good understanding of the federal regulations and other requirements. So, after that meeting, we released what we call our notice of funding availability or our NOA. Um, this is an application. organizations are able to present their proposal in this application that was due at the end of February and then we had a community ranking committee um

read and score these proposals and so they score it based on how well the application response aligns with um the weighted criteria in that NOA. We then meet and we discuss each proposal in detail and then all the final scores are averaged. The ranking committee includes um both city staff as well as community members including um subject matter experts, nonpro folks who've worked in the nonprofit sector. Um we also have housing commission sta um members as well as a member of the housing authority board. We always try to make sure that one of our representatives um is from a low and moderate income household or lives in one of our low moderate income neighborhoods. Um, one component of the scoring includes alignment with council's priorities, which are set every two years. So, some addition additional criteria that we consider is whether or not the project supports the city of Flagstaff's 10-year housing plan goals. Um, it's not a requirement for projects or programs to um impact this goal, but we do award additional points. We also award additional points for projects that meet um city council's set priorities. And so this last um year and this year that includes housing, both rental and home ownership, addressing homelessness, neighborhood revitalization, and workforce job training. So projects that aligned with those priorities receive an additional 10 points. Um and then we also consider a lot of different um risk assessments when we are determining whether or not a program or an organization is a um good use of CDBG funds. And so we consider not just our consolidated plan objectives and council priorities, but also how many beneficiaries are going to be served. Um what are our community needs? What is the cost effectiveness of the program? Are we leveraging other funds? So, does an organization have funding from the

state or from private sources that they're able to leverage those funds and have a larger impact if they can combine CDBG funds? We also greatly consider organizational and federal grant experience. Um, there are a lot of regulations that come with CDBG funds and we want to make sure this organ the organizations that we fund and partner with are able to abide by those. And so here's an o an outline of the public participation opportunities we've had so far. Um Eric mentioned that in the fall we had a number of stakeholder meetings to develop the consolidated plan. We also had a meeting in partnership with a League of Neighborhoods at the Market of Dreams in order to um provide information to the community about what the CDBG program can fund, but also take in public comment about um what kind of things they'd like to see funded um especially in their own neighborhoods um especially um some of our target low-income neighborhoods. We had that public meeting about the NOA and then we had a public hearing where we reviewed submitted proposals. we presented to the housing commission um uh in late March and they did uh approve a recommendation for the funding recommendations that you're about to see a recommendation for approval. We're presenting to you tonight um and then we will be back May 19th to request um a resolution approving submission of the con plan and the annual action plan. All right, so let's talk about the funding that we have available for this year. We recently received our um entitlement allocation amount from HUD on April 3rd. This year our allocation is a little over $681,000. We're able to combine this with other funding. And so this year it includes deobligated funds of $154,000. So last year we allocated $280,000 to um park improvements in target neighborhoods. We have done um we're working on playground improvements in

Brandon Homes area and so these funds we would like to roll over into this year um as opposed to looking for housing um playgrounds that could be replaced. We think it would be better used to roll those funds over into um projects for uh this year. And then we also have program income. So program income um is funds that are loans paid back to the city. So, when we've done down payment assistance loans or rehab loans to local homeowners, when they sell their home, um they pay back that loan to the city. And so, our program income is $46,000 for um that we're able to use in next year's allocation. And so, if we look at what we're allowed to use for administration and indirect, it's a little over $146,000. We have $109,000 for public services and that leaves a little over $625,000 for um that housing and public improvements category. The proposals that we received for the housing and public improvements category this year were all internal proposals. Um we received a request for $500,000 from Pros for the Ponderosa Park Reconstruction. This would leverage about the same amount of funds um from capital improvements. We've also received two requests from the sustainability office. One is for improvements at the Murdoch um resilience hub. This includes HVAC, kitchen equipment um and battery backup. And then we've also received a request to um install ADA ramps at the Thorp Mogon office. Um this is allowable as a removal of architectural barriers for our um public services category. It was quite competitive this year. We received um a lot of requests. Sadly, we only have that $19,000 available. Um so, Boys and Girls Club of Flagstaff requested funds for child care

scholarships for children from low and moderate income households. Cookanino County Health and Human Services requested funds for their senior nutrition program, their meals on wheels program. Flagstaff Shelter Services requested funds for operations at the newly opened lantern. That's transitional housing. Northland Family Health Center requested funds to hire a case manager for their DV shelter clients. Teros Health requested funds for their crisis to recovery navigation and stabilization. This is case management for folks for up to believe it's 60 to 90 days after that first crisis contact that they have. And then Tinkertopia requested funds for the programming they provide at the Siler Homes location. Siler Homes is one of our public housing developments. So, our funding recommendations this year are to fully fund all of the internal requests that were um were made. We have enough funding this year to provide full funding for every one of those, which is really exciting. Um we've received these requests from these departments with um extensive outlines of whether or not the project is shovel ready, if they're able to leverage other funds, will they be looking for other funds? And they're all shovel ready. they've got quotes um and they're they're ready to spend these funds as soon as they're available. And then we are recommending that we um max out our admin and indirect category. We round down just a little bit just to make sure we're under that 20%. The funding recommendations for the public services category are that we um we split the funds essentially between the top scoring applications. And so that's Flagstaff Shelter Services and Northland Family Health Center. I want to point out that none of these um programs were bad. It was just that the application process awards extra points to housing related projects. And so um through that process, they scored the highest. And while we're not able to

fully fund, it is great that we can leverage other funds and fund two organizations. So this slide shows all of the recommendations. Um, and I just kind of wanted to share some of the impacts that will come from these funded projects. Um, so as far as the public services, approximately 300 individuals experiencing homelessness um will receive overnight shelter and then 90 individuals um through domestic violence shelter case management will receive um case management services. These services really improve outcomes as far as regaining um permanent housing. And then for the public improvement side, the Ponderosa Park reconstruction in Sun Sunnyside will benefit over 4,000 households. And then resilience improvements at the Murdoch Center in Southside neighborhood will serve approximately 2,600 households. ADA accessibility improvements benefit residents citywide. Um, and all of these projects align with the goals of the consolidated plan, including improving public facilities and infrastructure. Um together these investments really support CDBG's primary objective which is creating a suitable living environment um while addressing critical community needs across Flagstaff. And then those public service funds um tie to uh addressing homelessness which was a city council priority. And so um next steps are that we are just kind of seeking um direction from you council as to um how you'd like to see the CDBG funding used if you have any questions about our recommendations. We'll have a final public meeting April 30th to take in any last public comment about the con plan and the annual action plan and then we'll be back May 19th requesting that resolution from you um to approve submission to HUD. It's important to know that even though we're making these funding recommendations today, these funds aren't available for expenditure until usually November or December. So, um a lot of times it's really exciting,

but with you know, federal funding and regulations comes a waiting game sometimes. So, I'll leave this screen up for you and I'm available to take questions. I also have Ross Schaefer, executive director of Flagstaff Shelter Services online and Shayen Seward, um, executive director of Northland Family Health Center. We have representatives from sustainability and pros in the room as well, so if you have questions for them. Thanks. Thank you. Great presentation and information. Uh, council, I'm going to start with you. Do you have any questions or comments? Council member Spence. Um,

thank you, Vice Mayor. Um, on the cap that is placed, the 20% cap for administration, uh, you've indicated that you're budgeting. Um, I think you said 146,000. uh take that times five, you get um 720,000. So are you sure this 146,000 budgeted for administration, are you sure that's under the cap for uh this application?

That's a great question. And so um it's kind of tricky, but the way that it works is that we're able to use what we estimate our next year's program income to be in order to calculate that amount. And then our great finance department does a really good job of making sure that we only draw from that um category as we expend other funds. That way we never go over that 20%. Thanks for catching that.

Thank you. I'm reassured that uh this our city government has this under control and I think the fact that you've been administering this uh CDBG grant for uh how many years? myself, six years, but I think the organization maybe 30 years. Does that sound right, Justina? Yeah. And in in 30 years, have we ever had the federal government say uh uh you didn't pay enough attention?

Um only once we did become untimely after we received a surplus of funds from um COVID relief. So, we were in a hurry. We spent all of our COVID relief funds um which are still allowable for um organizations to have banked, but that caused us to underspend our annual entitlement. And so we did get behind a little bit, but I'm very proud to say that we um are far ahead with timely expenditure this year and we'll absolutely be passing that 1.5 test. Thank you. I I appreciate that and it looks very um complete and comprehensive. Thank you. Thank you. We do have Council Member Alen. Go ahead.

Yes. Hi. Good afternoon, everyone. Um, I'm really okay with all of this. I'm just weighing in to say that uh I've had some recent conversations, and I know they're late to the table, but they hope to get in the queue um for further conversations around this. the uh literacy center in Flagstaff is uh has this on their radar now and I'd like to make sure that we're um sort of including them and any conversations we have again down the road about this and um uh I'll be bringing this up again at the budget retreat as well. Um, so some more internal conversations that need to happen, but just a heads up, put on your radar, the literacy center as a target for some of this funding down the road.

Absolutely. Yeah, I will reach out to them and make sure that they're involved in technical assistance and potentially um evaluating their programs and seeing if they can request funds the future. Thank you. Thank you so much, Council Member House.

Thank you. Thank you, Christine. always appreciate this presentation and I know how much work goes into not only administering this program but also providing the technical assistance that you do for um anyone who's who's interested or looking to um apply under this program and just knowing the history of our community's program. Um, as you mentioned, only having that one year of of falling out of timeliness compliance. Um, that's, I think, really something to call out and and celebrate um for the work that you all have done to keep this program moving smoothly. Um, I also had uh questions or or comments similar to council member Alen about um programs like the literacy center. Um, also wanted to just call forward the um the comments that were made in the prior conversation about um the community needs and and noting the um the need for behavioral health, mental health supports and noting the um the programming that was um now I'm forgetting which which agency it was, but um thank you so much uh Teros um their program for crisis to recovery navigation. Um I am just I realize how difficult it is particularly under um programming like public services that have that that cap um to navigate, you know, between really strong programs. and and nobody wants to have to pick and choose between programs like these. Um, and as you

said, a program scoring slightly lower or or higher does not mean that it's a judgment of the merit of that program. Just um that's that's where they happen to fall in the scoring matrix. Um, I just wanted to call forward that um that request from Teros and uh try and figure out what we can do to to be supportive of that type of programming in the future. Um, I support the the allocations that are being brought forward by um the scoring and the committee and and all the work that's gone into this so far. I just wanted to call that forward and um and just note that for uh for the future um because I I believe that was a new request. I don't know that we've seen that before. Um and certainly would like to be able to support programming like that in the future. My question for you Christine is um is there any flexibility in what's considered public services versus um the other category for this funding? Are those strictly regulated? Um, or is there flexibility in what's determined to be falling into one category or the other?

That is such a great question and we do try to um maximize that flexibility the best that we can, but it is very difficult. And so, for example, anytime we're paying for operations or for salaries for service delivery, that's pretty pretty solidly under public services. Now, we could potentially use funds to purchase um I'm trying to think like a like a firet truck that serves a low-income neighborhood. And so, the way I'm thinking about that is I know Teros has a vehicle. They drive around town. If they were to concentrate their services in one area, perhaps we could use the funds to buy a vehicle. It's potentially risky. It would be something we would need to really dig into the regulations and and make sure that we've covered all our bases. But when it comes to paying a person who's providing services, it is very strict unfortunately.

Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Absolutely. And I will just add um you know, if there was like a need for physical changes at um a public facility or construction, you know, we funded Flagstaff Shelter Services in Northland Family Health Center in the past for improvements at various locations where they provide shelter. That's another great way to use funds and it sometimes is a need um for organizations that then maybe frees up funds for operations. But we do also have to be very careful about supplanting other funding. And so once we start kind of trying to be flexible, we have to start being really careful if that makes sense.

It does. Thank you so much. And I I wanted to just verify are you said Northland and uh Flagstaff Shelter Services are both on um are they going to make comment on their requests? Only if you have questions for them. Okay. Thank you again. Thank you.

Thank you. And I'll just add a couple of comments. Um this is a great presentation and you did a very nice job walking us through. So thank you. Um I I was working with Mobile Haven and I believe they came to you with um what do you technical assistance and they gave such good feedback and I just wanted to make sure that you heard that from me. They you were I don't know who helped them but whoever it was they were very helpful walked them through the steps. I don't believe they applied this year, but are learning what they can and cannot do and how to do it. And I I just really want to thank you and the team for spending that time. Um it would be so easy to just say, "Yeah, apply on your own your own will, but having that extra help I think is very beneficial and thank you.

Thank you. I know that the community appreciates it." So, we do have a couple of commenters and the first one is Sam Woff and I'm sorry if I'm saying your last name wrong. Oh. Oh, all right.

Thank you for letting me speak today. Uh, I'm just here just to make again a comment on the CDBG funds. And while all the proposed funding opportunities are great, I believe that we desperately need some greater funding and security for community gardens. Uh across the city, a lot of gardens are being sheltered, excuse me, shuttered or in danger of being closed. So we have Southside Community Garden, which is slated to be closed for affordable housing. Isabel was moved to a location with significantly smaller plots that are actually shaded out so it provides a less ideal growing area and then Bonito is going to become a staging area for the Army Corps of Engineers where you'll potentially have uh issues with compaction or if there's any kind of like spillage of liquids contamination that could have lasting impacts with the soil and even privately run gardens uh such as Cotton Coloulton Community garden are losing funding and also have their future in doubt. So because of this I am asking the city to consider providing funding to make up for these lost locations and consider citing these gardens in areas that are not slated for future development. Uh if the city wants to make good on its commitments to sustainability and increase community connection and resilience, I believe this is a great way to spend that funding. And I wholeheartedly believe that we should support initiatives that allow people to survive in our community, but we also shouldn't enact these at the expense of initiatives that promote a thriving community, such as community gardens. So, I would really like to ask you to consider using that HUD funding for

these community gardens and support places that allow our community to root and grow. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Ryan Gordon.

Hello, my name is Ryan Gordon and I'm an educator here in Flagstaff. I actually teach gardening and I'm here to kind of reiterate the fact that Sam did. As an educator, I know very much so the importance of education, not just for our lead kind of roles like math and science, as important as those are, but I believe that gardening is also not just a way for us to become stewards of our land, but also to learn a lot of valuable life skills. Um I learned a lot of what I did in community gardens. A lot of my mentors started in community gardens. So I believe that if we are looking at into housing and urban development that necess we don't necessarily need to have an allocated space for a community garden. But understanding that there are ways to create edible landscapes and be able to weave this into our society without having an specifically allocated space that is being, you know, contended for by multiple amazing programs. I whispered to Sam earlier, I don't even know if I want to take funding from these programs, you know, and I believe that if the city of Flagstaff wants to honor not only their sustainability goals and, you know, their pledges that they have set time and time again, but also our food action plan, um, then we have a lot of ways to look at this and I believe that looking at, you know, community orchards, community gardens, even just small plots and, you little things that kind of increase this awareness and this community engagement. It will and I am not a mathemat mathematician but I could say that it would have a higher dollar return kind of like we were talking about earlier with that proclamation of early child development where you know they were turning 16fold on the dollar where that

is such incredible news and I don't have unfortunately any data to provide to you guys on how much you know educating people on stewarding the land would provide but I can almost guarantee that it wouldn't be a onetoone ratio of return that we would see a lot better community cohesion. We would see a lot more engagement. We would see a lot more opportunity for growth and also building new age leaders throughout these programs. Um, and I could rant on this forever, but I'll just take my time here. Thank you guys. Thank you. Christine, can I ask you a question?

Can you provide us the information again? the best and easiest way to contact you to gain information on things like community gardens and

Yeah, absolutely. So, um here's my email and my phone number. If you sign up for our mailing list, you will receive notifications when we have these public meetings. Um which is a great way to come and kind of communicate these these um especially these resident identified community needs and and desires. Um, and then I'm also able to help connect folks um with the internal departments that may may cover those things. So, I know some of our gardens are run internally and requests for those kinds of things need to come through the internal department if they're not coming through a an um a nonprofit of some sort. And so similar to mobile haven, how I was able to meet with them, explain the process and then um link them with folks in capital improvements, link them with folks in planning so that those requests could come from the internal departments in the future. So best way to get a hold of me, I'm glad to meet with um the public or u make sure that folks are getting notifications about those public meetings.

That's great. I love that graphic. Thank you, Council Member Spence.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Um, I see our two commenters on the topic of community gardens have uh left the council chambers, but I would like to see us uh take their comments to heart and uh perhaps and I'm not sure where in city government this kind of uh comprehensive planning would take place. perhaps sustainability, um perhaps housing, uh perhaps some other uh department within the city. But I would like to see a um a comprehensive plan on community gardens. Um uh we have um a project out um next to the public works uh facility on Route 66 um where there is the opportunity for um community garden and uh food production. So I it's my intent to um bring this up as a a discussion item to see where is the comprehensive planning for something like the topic of community gardens and local food production. Um uh I'm not sure where this will will will uh take us but um certainly our commenters have made a good point that the existing community gardens have been uh inadvertently or uh due to beyond anybody's control where we're trying to build affordable housing. Uh it just happens that there were community gardens on those locations. So, we we need to take a look a fresh

look at this. Thank you. Thank you. And I do see that Nicole is walking up. We'd love to hear from you.

Good afternoon, Vice Mayor, Council Member Spence, and Council Members online. Nicole Antonopoulos, sustainability director, and I greatly appreciate the public comments. A few things I'd be happy to quickly update the council on. I don't want to get off too up off topic and and get scolded by Sterling. However, we um do have plans uh regarding the Bonito Garden um relocation when the Rio Flag project comes forward and we are working very closely with pros to identify relocation plots. So, we are in full swing of preparing for that. Additionally, we have been working with Superyard Farms. We have a new community garden out at Mallister Ranch. This is also an area that is in the process of the IDS, so internal development review for permitting for our second urban agricultural site. Our first urban agricultural site is actually just south of our offices at Thorp. And we have been working very closely for years with the housing staff to focus on projects that will allow for us to keep the gardening um spots both at Isabelle and Southside. So obviously those properties were purchased first and foremost for housing. Um so we greatly appreciate the collaboration with our our housing teams to help us identify and preserve the work that's been done by our gardening community. In addition, just one final comment. Um, it we have been working on a food action plan that does essentially create a vision for the next 10 to 20 years of local foods agricultural yield in the flag the Flagstaff region. Um, it does not get down to the spec specificity of identifying new gardens, but our staff are always looking for

opportunities for collaboration, and I'd be happy to follow up with additional information via email. Thank you. Thank you, Nicole. We do have a question from Council Member House.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I actually have two questions and uh if Nicole can come back up. Just I wanted to uh clarify, am I remembering correctly that the um the garden installation at the Murdoch Center included fruit trees or is that something that we've been talking about just uh in general of of where that sort of development could happen? Council member House, I will have to see if anyone on my team knows specifically at this moment. I don't have that information in my head. Excellent. Come on. Sam Wy is here to help me out.

Thank you. Hi, Council Member House. Hi, Council. Um, from my understanding, um, fruit trees, the only fruit trees that were planned and that have been planted at the Murdoch Center are along the north side of the building, and that was done as part of Pros's upgrades to the to the park space a couple summers ago. Yeah, but there were fruit trees planted along the the north side of the building there. Yeah,

thank you so much, Sam. And then if I may add, council member house, uh there was a project at Bushmaster Park that was funded through neighborhood sustainability grants and then partnership with pros and some other volunteers throughout the community to put fruit trees at Bushmaster Park. So I just want to make sure that I mention that just in case that comes up.

Thank you so much. Um my other question is actually for the applicants that are online. So Nicole, I'm done with you. Um, I wanted to one of the the comments that was made talked about the importance of of ensuring that people within our community are not just surviving but also thriving. And I wanted to give the uh two applicants um who are online with the shelter services and Northland um if they would like to reflect on that at all in terms of the work that they do um and the the additional partnerships that they have within the community. I think that's just a a really important point um in terms of how those programs in particular and all of them under um CDBG funding opportunities are um are able to move community members from um simply surviving to actually being able to thrive in and as part of our community. So that's a fairly broad question. Um, but just wanted to give both Ross and um, was it Shelene who's on for Northland uh, the opportunity to reflect on that.

Sure. Um, thank you, Council Member House. This is Ross Schaefer. I'm the executive director with Flagstaff Shelter Services. Uh, really appreciate the opportunity to be here virtually with you all today. I wanted to be in person, but I'm a little bit under the weather, so appreciate your grace on that. Um, I appreciate you you bringing that up because I think it's a really important component. Um, the work that the CDBG application would be supporting at our new hotel to housing project called the lantern um I think is exactly what you're talking about, right? um the folks that have moved into the lantern, 103 individuals experiencing homelessness that are senior citizens, medically vulnerable, really the most um at risk folks in our community. And really moving into the to the lantern, you probably would describe as someone who is surviving um from, you know, just basic kind of the way that you would look at the basic needs to survive. Um, I can tell you right now, I would be thrilled to have members of council and the community in general come and see what's happening at the lantern. So many folks celebrated with us when we opened in November, but I can tell you that it is, you know, middle of April and we have served hundreds of people at this point in time. Um, and have really seen folks that, um, I've known for years in the shelter, unfortunately, um, now really truly look like they are thriving. um they're showered, they're um getting the medical needs uh their medical needs addressed. Some are moving into permanent housing. Um they're eating, they're seeing, you know, doctors and therapists and everything you can sort of think of that really fundamentally makes um someone a thriving member of our community. So, um I'm confident that

the support council would be putting behind the CDB pro CDBG project would be um really contributing to, you know, helping citizens in our community get to a place where they really feel like they are thriving themselves. And uh so I'm excited about that. Thank you for the opportunity to share.

Yes. Thank you everybody and thank you um Ross for sharing about Flagstaff Shelter Services. I'm Shelene Stewart, the executive director at Northland Family Health Center. Um, this proposal is for domestic violence shelter case manager position. Um, you know, around the area of the our need is that some of our um larger grant funding um has declined over the the past um year and with potential future, you know, anticipation of it continuing decline. And case management is just such a vital part of victims of domestic violence who are needing emergency shelters. So, they are currently going through unsafe situations. We're not a long-term transitional. We are an emergency shelter to provide um safety as quickly as possible. And they often, you know, are entering as as victims and um are leaving as survivors with um a whole uh toolbox of tools to help them as they uh tr transition out of um violent and unsafe situations. Um what we find is about 95% of our shelter clients report income levels at or below the federal poverty level and it's um especially difficult to then secure um housing um transition to safe housing long-term and permanent housing but also with aspects of domestic violence power control. They may not have been allowed to work um to transport themselves places to seek child care to have their own bank account, um manage or learn to manage their own finances. And our case management position is just crucial to helping um people enter secure safety, have basic needs met, and then be able to safely transition to their own um permanent housing out of shelter.

Thank you both so much. I appreciate that. Thank you. Anyone else online or in person with comments, questions? Thank you again. This was a great presentation and I appreciate all of the work that the team's done. Thank you for all the awesome feedback as well. All right, we are moving down to announcements and updates from um would a motion to endorse the allocations be appropriate at this meeting? No, we're not doing that at this meeting.

Thank you. So, moving down to announcements and updates to from council and city manager. And I'm going to start with Council Member Alen. Thank you very much. I don't have much to update you guys with except to say I hope the trip to DC is going well for our delegation. And I wanted to wish Cara a very happy milestone 40th birthday today. But I don't think there's only two people in the room. Please don't try to sing to her. I'm gonna take that advice. Um, Council Member House,

thank you very much, uh, Vice Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Alen. I have I was going to say I haven't really been sharing the milestone, but um I guess I have I I did a fun um Facebook cover to note exactly how old I'm turning this this year. Um, but uh I have nothing as far as to from. I did just want to acknowledge and thank uh Council Member Spence for the enthusiasm to move forward with the CDBG process. This is it's always an exciting conversation and look forward to next steps with that. So, thank you. Thank you, Council Member Spence.

Um nothing this evening.

Okay. I have a couple of things. Um let's see. Friday, I'm going to be going to Chino Valley to the NAMWA board meeting. It's the Northern Arizona Municipal Water User Association, and I'm looking forward to that. We'll be talking about data centers. Um, Friday night, I'll be at Lowel uh doing a reception for folks coming in from Taiwan. Saturday I will be joining those I hope everyone in the room at Heritage Square for Starlight in the Square. It is one of my favorite events. What I love is that it's all candle lit. There's a piano player and you get to look through telescopes at amazing stars and and beautifulness out there. So, it's great. Um, Flagstaff Shelter Services is celebrating their 20th anniversary and I will be there for that as well. Um, sorry I'm I'm busy this week. Um, Sunday there's the community social pow-ow at the Flagstaff High School. And Monday I'll be traveling to Phoenix. I am attending the ARTAC meeting and meeting with um some folks at the capital talking about our Route 66 um uh construction hopefully with Metro Plan. I don't know what I'm trying to say, but so it should be a great day. And with that, that is all I have. Uh Heidi, anything from you?

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I just wanted to remind everybody that we are doing a challenge with the county for NA giving day which is on May 1st, but you don't have to wait to donate. And if you donate early, there is plenty of goodies in my office upstairs at city hall that we can um give you. And we are also doing more raffles. So if you have a desire to donate, we would appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. And with that, I am going to adjourn the meeting. Thanks everyone.