AGENDA CAPTION:
Title
Receive a Staff presentation and hold discussion on the formation of a Community Development Block Grant - Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Advisory Committee; and provide direction to Staff.
Body
Meeting date: September 15, 2020
Department: Planning and Development Services
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Fiscal Note:
Prior Council Action: On March 3, 2020, City Council approved Resolution 2020-49R adopting the CDBG-MIT Action Plan, which provides for the allocation of $24,012,000 in grant funds from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
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Background Information:
As a next step after approval of the CDBG-MIT Action Plan, federal regulations (84 FR 45838) require the City to create a Citizen Advisory Committee in order to:
1) provide increased transparency in the implementation of CDBG-MIT funds,
2) solicit and respond to public comment and input regarding the grantee’s mitigation activities, and
3) serve as an on-going public forum to continuously inform the grantee’s CDBG-MIT projects and programs.
This committee must be made up of citizens, not elected officials, and shall hold an open meeting at least twice annually.
Staff proposes forming a committee of five members of the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) for this purpose. Since the P&Z reviews the City’s Capital Improvements Program, its members are already knowledgeable of infrastructure project selection processes and the contexts within which individual projects are selected. Furthermore, they are familiar with receiving public input on projects.
The charges for this committee will be the following:
1) Transparency: Advise staff on best means of keeping the public informed about progress on the projects, especially those most affected by the scope of each project.
2) Input: Consider and discuss the actual and perceived impacts of the projects on neighborhoods.
3) Forum: In the context of the projects that have been selected for CDBG-MIT funds, consider whether something has been missed that should be considered in their implementation.
At the September 15, 2020 City Council meeting, staff will ask for City Council’s direction on the proposed structure for the CDBG-MIT Advisory Committee. While staff is presenting the option of using members of P&Z, we are open to input and guidance from the City Council on the formation of this committee. The agenda item for the meeting on September 15, 2020 will only be to receive direction from the City Council. Formal action on the creation of the committee will be at a later date.
The following is an excerpt from Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 169 / Friday, August 30, 2019 / Notices relating to the creation of the committee:
V.A.3.c. Availability and accessibility of the action plan and the use of citizen advisory groups. The grantee must make the action plan, any substantial amendments, and all performance reports available to the public on its website and on request. In addition, the grantee must make these documents available in a form accessible to persons with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency. During the term of the grant, the grantee will provide citizens, affected local governments, and other interested parties with reasonable and timely access to information and records relating to the action plan and to the grantee’s use of grant funds.
Following approval of the action plan, each grantee shall form one or more citizen advisory committees that shall meet in an open forum not less than twice annually in order to provide increased transparency in the implementation of CDBG-MIT funds, to solicit and respond to public comment and input regarding the grantee’s mitigation activities and to serve as an on-going public forum to continuously inform the grantee’s CDBG-MIT projects and programs. The grantee may also choose to form one or more of these committees as part of its process for preparing the initial CDBG-MIT action plan submission to HUD.
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