Diversity & Community Relations Committee - Regular Meeting

Thank you so much. So we have a lot of exciting updates and anticipated timelines and opportunities for the community coming up with CDBG. This is an exciting year because our consolidated plan, which is our five year plan running from 2025 to 2029, is being drafted at the same time as our program year 2025 annual action plan. So this will be submitted as one document to HUD, a five year plan along with the first year set of actions. I'm Jacqueline Lozada, program manager, and I am using Usona Consultants as the consultants for drafting this plan.

Just a very general quick overview, the five year plan of the consolidated from 2025 to 2029 prioritizes the plans of actions based on the needs of a city on a broader spectrum, and it's a guided course that each individual year of the annual action plans must meet those objectives and priorities along the way. So if the five year consolidated plan is our general course and path, the annual action plan is a stepping stone along for each year. So the annual action plan currently drafted for program year 2025 will be submitted along with the larger consolidated plan. This will be the summary of actions, activities, resources, and approved projects for which our application cycle will be opening in a few short weeks, and it will be the approved projects for this upcoming program year of 2025 beginning October 1. It will be the summary of the priority needs and objectives that are met in that specific year.

So how do you use this both the consolidated action plan to hold us as a grantee accountable for our funding decisions and how we use that funding to specifically meet the needs of the community. The updates for the consolidated plan. We are currently in the midst of our outreach led by Usona development. We have consulted with the county, the township, multiple neighborhood council meetings, local non for profit consultations. We've currently hosted 28 consultations, and by the end of this week, it'll be 30.

We the outreach that we do have is collected from, again, just local nonprofits. If there's any neighborhood council meetings that we have not yet reached out to or may not yet be aware of, please feel free to share the information with me. I'm happy to continue scheduling those consults along the way throughout this drafting period. The public survey is available in both English and Spanish. Anybody from the local community can access them on our website.

We do have it as a current banner on our website, and it will be up on the banner through the entire drafting period as well. They we also encourage all of the communities to join in on the neighborhood council meetings, and we'll be hosting a public hearing as well for these plans. The preliminary data that has been collected, and this is an invitation to reprioritize these goals depending on the consultation outcomes and the community input. But on the broader spectrum, the prioritized goals have been to improve the neighborhood infrastructure and facilities, to improve public services, to improve condition of housing stock, eliminate blighted conditions, and increase economic opportunities. From this draft is a living document, and the consultations will continue through May.

Oh, I'm sorry. June. They will continue through June through the rest of the drafting period. The updates to the application cycle for which I am very excited for, I have taken a lot of the feedback from the committee, from the council level, as well as our community to discuss how this process can be improved along the way from prior years. So this year, I am hosting an educational networking workshop next week on March 26 at 2PM.

All of our local nonprofits have been notified. We've had a press release done. This year is the first time that we have digitized this application. In the past, we've got a lot of feedback that the application process was very difficult. They're limited to a number of characters in the previous PDF that they would have to download.

So I've been working very hard with IT to digitize this application. They've done an amazing job with it. And I'm also including along with this year's digitized application and the notice of funding opportunity. I'm also including a step by step recording of the application process, walking every single individual that's interested in applying in how to do the application literally step by step. I'll be recording each slide along the way.

I am urging them to reach out to me one on ones, technical assistance available, my office hours. I am more than happy to guide them through this process as much as I am allowed to. The scoring and reviewing process has also been updated. I have made this a very accountable and transparent process, especially in consideration of previous years. I have updated the scoring rubric in a few different ways.

I have included a copy of the new scoring rubric with you today. So the previous years, the scoring rubric was five pages. Some of them which did not pertain to the project that was being applied for in the first place. So it was very confusing for the agencies applying to know what we were truly grading their application off of. So this year, I have updated the scoring rubric to be a one page scoring rubric for each service provided.

So if somebody's applying for public service, there's one scoring rubric for them. If somebody's applying for economic development, it'll be the second rubric. And anybody applying for infrastructure projects, which is rare but it is eligible, there's a specific scoring rubric for them. So they no longer have to flip through and be confused among the five pages which of the different project qualities we're looking specific service. One item that has been updated for this year is within if you're looking at the top page of the public service application, within the middle column

I see it.

Yeah. Within the middle column, there is a funding need. So in prior years, the agencies would have to demonstrate a specific financial capacity, and they would just be graded on whether they had a large financial capacity, a moderate financial capacity, or a minimal financial capacity. This year, I have updated them to be based on the organization's specific funding request in the first place. We didn't think that it was very equitable for an organization asking for $5,000 to be held to the same financial standards and capacity of an organization asking for 200,000.

So we have scaled the amount to be based on their specific request and whether or not them as an agency can handle that capacity on their own. The second very exciting update that is for this year, and the third category for impact and time, the needs assessment is given priority basis to the impact it will make on the organization itself, including if it's a grassroots local or limited sources of funding. Yeah. So we're looking to impact not just community and the public services they provide, but also the organization itself. If any organization is fully eligible and meets all of our capacity requirements by HUD, they will have a leveraged points among this rubric if they are a grassroots organization with other limited sources of funding.

So very excited that we were able to update those into the scoring rubric for this year. And I feel like it will make a very large impact not just to the organizations that are applying, but for the individuals that have requested these changes. The I've decided that the there will be a pre review of the application prior to its scoring process where I will review the entire packet that is submitted, and I will let the organization know if number of documents are missing. They will have the opportunity to submit those documents prior to the scoring process. In the past, if they had missed a single attachment or upload, they were basically all but disqualified from the scoring, or they would be graded at a very low number.

So I wanted to give them the opportunity to make sure that all of their documents were submitted along with this application. And the last and final update is I have created a two step scoring and review process where I will ask you as a committee if it's possible to have another meeting next month to review the applications that came in, any work that were ineligible and the reasons why they didn't be eligibility. So that way you have your constituents come back asking why one organization may not have been funded, you have the, you know, the exact regulations and outlines and basic requirements on what may have or may have not met the CDPG. The application cycle, just a reminder of eligibility, they must meet one of the national objectives to either benefit low moderate income persons or areas, meet an urgent need, or aid in the prevention of elimination of slum or blight. Eligible activities do include public service, which is capped at 15% of our funding allocation, public facilities or capital improvements, micro enterprise infrastructure, and CVBG admin, which is capped at 20%.

The estimated allocation for this year is similar to last year. Congress did pass that the same budget for CDBG will be granted as prior year. It is just a matter of doing the formula to see how much of if that budget has changed. If other cities or counties were added to the formula, it may adjust on there slightly, but it is estimated that we will receive almost identical to the same amount as last year, which was 919,000. The full appropriations are anticipated by mid March, but they are announced the full formulas are announced within sixty days.

Again, just another reminder that our public services are for low to moderate income residents and households. So I think there's a lot of question as to what qualifies as a low to moderate income household. A basic family of three can make up to $80,000 and still qualify. Family of five can make up to 96,000. So it is scaled based on household size, and those amounts are updated annually by HUD.

And the public facilities must fall within low to moderate income areas or serve the qualifying populations of low moderate income clients. The anticipated timeline that's drafted for this application cycle this year, March 26 next week, I'll be hosting the educational networking event. All nonprofits are welcome to attend. We already have RSVPs for, I believe, 35 attendees. Oh, wow.

Yes. Very exciting. March 31, we are anticipating that the notice of funding opportunity, the application cycle will open, and applications can begin to be submitted online. I will also be accepting packets in person as well and be scanning them into online if anybody doesn't have computer access or not comfortable with submitting online. And April 28, anticipating that the application cycle will close.

I am working with our communications department to get our press release prepared for that NOFO. April 29 through May 9 will be the review and scoring process. Mid to late May, project selection and recommendations to counsel, and the draft of the consolidated plan as well as the annual action plan presented to both committee and counsel. June, we'll be hosting the thirty day public comment period and our public hearing mid June. And July, it's anticipated that we'll be able to submit to HUD.

Based on this timeline, we're actually going to be about two to three weeks ahead of time, ahead of schedule. So if anything does need to be pushed back or if anything is held up at a committee or council level, there's time to adjust and still get both documents submitted to hot on time. And that is the flyer for our nonprofit educational networking event. So if there's any questions, I am happy to answer them.

Thank you for this. Nice nice and clear.

Yes. I'm not sure if you've seen prior year year rubric, but it was it was a five page, and only two or three of those pages would pertain to what they were applying to. So it was kind of it wasn't very known exactly what we were looking for when it came to scoring. So I wanted a very transparent process and for them to understand exactly what it is that we're grading those applications on.

Say, like, we're bringing this formula. You know, there's it's been there's there's a system to it. Right? It's not just an arbitrary decision. We're not favoring one organization over another.

Correct. That, and I think that it's also important. In prior years, I believe the departments or the division just came with their recommendations, and there was never any transparency as to all organizations that did apply and the reason why they may or may not have been granted in the first place. So I I would feel as though this is a very, you know, accountable procedure procedure to be able to come to the committee and say, these are all of the applications we have received, and this is the reason why this number of them were eligible, and this is what we're going to be scoring and reviewing on.

Do you go back to the slide that just has the the timeline?

So that application cycle, they will have four full weeks to complete the application. The networking event happens prior to the cycle opening, so I hope to answer a lot of the questions prior to the application being opened in the first place. And then, of course, you know, the technical assistance and one on ones can be scheduled anytime throughout those four weeks to follow-up on any questions that they may have additional.

Do you have Do anticipations of how many applications people will think will get this time around?

Is it expected to be similar to years before? Or

I I would hope to have more. I would really hope to have a very competitive application cycle this year. I believe last year, we received 14 applications. Mhmm. So I truly hope if I'm doing my job correctly and I'm getting the word out correctly, we'll have a lot more interest this year. And a lot more people feeling as though they have the resources and tools to apply correctly.

What the what the expectations would be. You know, projects are ready to begin with detailed line item budget, contractor estimates, scaling, you know, would be the short term impact,

points for minority owned nonprofits, or is that illegal?

So although it's not illegal and although it is being used or has been used previously on, like, a county level for the scoring applications. It has been suggested through HUD and through technical assistance to avoid doing anything that may be considered diversity, equity, and inclusion.

I wanted to make okay. That's that's what I was wondering. We should call this meeting something else, so we'll get a cup too. Maybe we'll get a cup too. Thank you. Of course.

Good. Good.

I'm very happy you made a lot of the changes and suggestions we asked for, including the training and technical assistance. I'm very happy with this.

All all three of us share this or networks far and wide.

I'm doing it now, is that it? Yeah.

I'm doing

it now. Passing it now.

I've doing it. Thank you. Yeah.

In that way, you know, it's it's been brought up to us before. Oh, well, I didn't know about this. I didn't know if this existed. I know it was out there. You know, I would've applied. So we wanna make sure that nobody can come to us sometime in August, September and say, well, I wanted to apply because Yeah. We got the word out. We did our our due diligence. Diligence.

Yes. Absolutely. So

Okay. Then I think there's no no action required on on this item at the moment. So the only actionable item on our agenda would be

I'm Correct. Sorry. I don't wanna interrupt, but they do have it on the agenda for tonight if you're suggesting that the presentation go to council or council. But if not, I'm not sure if that means it. Yeah. I'd say so. Or suggestion.

Yeah. I it's it's both, but we'll we'll we'll call it in just for for Okay. Cluster. So I'll make the recommendation to bring the consolidated plan for 2025 through 2029 and program year 2025 annual action plan of CBG bots to be brought to the full council with our committee's recommendation for approval. So Motion and seconded.

All in favor?

Aye. Good. Chairman, can

I go back? So when this process is over, back back at the top here at what was the number? The TMP eighty three forty seven. So when we have the finalists, that's when we'll, you know, come back to council, right, to approve the funding. Right?

So there will be recommendations given to committee and council on the applications that meet all of the eligibility that and that have scored. Last year, it was based on the amount of funding that we had, the average amount of scores. The applications are graded by three different staff members, and then the scores are averaged to make it as unbiased as possible.

Yeah. And then it'll come back counsel

for full. Yeah. For full.

So we'll get notice sometime in May from where where we're at. Correct. And then put it will be bought to us for a vote of approval, I think, thirty thirty days days of of the the common common period. Period. So

Right. And it won't just be the draft of the project selected for this year. It will be the draft of the consolidated plan as well with the five years of priority objectives and needs of

the committee. And if there's extra funding not used for administration, we could potentially

We could potentially reallocate that. Reallocate that. Right.

Got

it. And this year, I historically, the city has taken the full capacity of 20%, and it has gone unused, and then they reallocate it later. I would love to see what public service projects come in Right. And see if it's possible to fund the full 15% cap and take less out of the admin if possible. But, again We

we reallocated something. We did here a few months ago or

Yeah. I believe last month. We have reallocated for an ADA transition Yes. For the Route 66 Greenway Mhmm. As well as the last of the COVID dollars were given to the fire department to fund their PPE and their decontamination solution.

Okay. Just for for the sake of accurate recordings of the minutes, these citizens be heard on agenda items once, twice, seeing none, we will on new or old business, not for final action. Good. Good. I will open up the floor for public comments. Once or twice. Seeing none, public comment is closed. Do we have a motion to adjourn? So moved. Second. Motion and second to adjourn. All in favor?

Aye. Aye. Alright. Thank you. Then we'll

see you

back soon.

I might have

to hear earlier. Bye bye.