Hello, I would like to call to order the Tuesday, May 12th, 2020 6 HRA Board meeting. First item on the agenda is the approval of the agenda. Are there any edits or changes? All right, hearing none, may I have a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. Moved by Commissioner Hookeim. Seconded by Commissioner Robertson. All in favor? I. I. Motion passes 6-0. We have two consent items um for and the first is the March 10th, 2026 concurrent meeting minutes with uh a city council, port authority, several other groups, um and the minutes for the March 10th HRA meeting. Um would anyone like to pull an item for discussion? Okay. >> Pull them both. Pardon? Yeah, they're under consent items, so we're going to vote to approve them both. Unless you want to pull an item. Just just for a second. I'm sorry. Okay. Okay. So, um hearing none, I need a motion to approve the consent items. So motion by >> Commissioner Robertson and second by Commissioner Doblinger. All in favor? I. Motion passes. With staining. Oh, motion passes 5-0. Um now we are on to organizational business and I'll turn that over to Ms. Ebe. Okay. All right. Are both of these Okay, good. Um Bryce, if you want to come on up. So, I have the very exciting item 4.1 in front of us tonight, which is to introduce a couple of new HRA staff members. So, this is Bryce Turney, program specialist one for the HRA. Bryce started with the city on March 23rd. Hard to believe it's been a month and a half. Um Bryce grew up in Northwest Ohio and graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Master of Public Administration. He has taught English in Japan, worked in student services at Texas A&M, and homelessness services in San Francisco. In his spare time, Bryce plays Dungeons & Dragons. So, welcome, Bryce. Thank you. Yes. That is it. That is all we have to say for this analyst. You're welcome to say something if you'd like. You don't have to. I'm okay. Okay. >> [laughter] >> All right. And next, I've got Sharon. All right. Welcome to Sharon Roberson. Sharon is a Program Specialist 1, also, for the HRA. First day was March 2nd. Uh she was born and raised in Minneapolis and brings 7 and 1/2 years of experience as a property manager for tax credit and income-based units. In these roles, she worked closely with single, elderly, and disabled adults, as well as families who needed housing assistance. On a personal note, Sharon loves to cook with her family. Welcome to Sharon. Thank you. I'm excited to join the team and grow with the agency. Thank you. Okay. And then, we've got Breanne. All right. This is Breanne Phillips. Uh Breanne is the new Office Support Specialist for the HRA. Originally from Iowa, uh Breanne brings experience previously working for PPL and the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, MPHA. A little about Breanne is that she enjoys cooking, reading, and traveling with her mom. Welcome, Breanne. Hi, everyone. Thank you. And you'll see uh Breanne will be acting as secretary for future board member board meetings. So, she is uh getting accustomed to that role tonight. And that is it for item 4.1. Thank you. Um now, we have new business. So, item 5.1, approval of term sheet for Lyndale Apartments. May we have the staff report. Okay. Wait, where's my clicker? Hello. Good evening. My name is Alan Thorpe. I am the economic development analyst in the Port Authority, and I am pleased to be presenting about the Lindahl Apartments term sheet tonight. So, the quick agenda. We're going to go over the project, some context, the funding terms, the timeline, and then the action for tonight, and then we'll have questions at the end. And we are going through this at this meeting because there is a chance, and we'll go through this during the funding, that there might be a request for LAHA, and so the Port is bringing it through the HRA instead of the Port Commission. So, the proposed development is with Real Estate Equities. They're proposing a 180 unit development on Lindahl Avenue between 98th and 102nd, otherwise known as the former Wickes and Jewelers site. It is technically a fully affordable building, but 25 of the units are the 75 are 70% AMI, so that'd be a little bit above what the OHO requires. They are setting aside 318 parking stalls. Of that, 164 of them are below ground, and the community amenities include a club room, outdoor patio with grilling area, playground, and secure bike storage. Okay. So, this is the breakdown of the apartments. So, there's four for the 30% AMI, and I won't read it all to you, and that adds up to 180. And this is kind of where that leads us to our Met Council goals. So, it does kind of reach what we're like it does kind of hit what we're doing, uh or what we're hoping to meet for those uh with that. Um and then kind of for the context, this building is located just south of the Lyndale Avenue Retrofit Plan, and that is kind of a like a vision of like Bloomington's downtown. And so this will connect to the transit center that's located on the top left, and then the Festival Foods, which is where it's like other commercial areas are, and um it's right across from the uh activity church, as well. And then so the financing summary, um this is taken directly from the sources and uses from the developer, and uh at the bottom is kind of the uh details for um that like TIF is going to be a consideration for this project as well, and that's going to depend on kind of some of the funding that the developer has already applied for. They've already applied for Hennepin County and Met Council funds totaling around $3 million. Decisions on those are coming this summer. So what we are proposing from the city is staff is uh in support of the um pay-as-you-go note over the 25-year life of the district. It's going to be about 1.2 in net present value or 3 million gross, and we're setting aside 5% of that for admin and 5% for pooling. And depending on the result of that 3 million that's already been applied for, that's where the LAHA request could be coming from. And this is the uh expected timeline. So tonight, May 12th, we're here. So exciting. Um and then I'll go to council in um early June, and then we'll be back in July to discuss the proposed TIF district. And this is kind of the proposing or the proposed funding for like outside of the city. So Hennepin County and Met Council are coming um June and July, and then the developer is also going to be um working with the Minnesota Management and Budget Series B bonds application. And this is the requested action for tonight. And I'll stand for questions. Questions? Commissioner Wooten. So you're possibly requesting LAHA dollars. How much? It would depend on the results of those grants. And um that's kind of what we have for now. We're not making a request of LAHA right now. But you don't have an idea how much you think it anticipating? It would be whatever the delta is based off of Whatever the delta was. The whatever the I'm sorry, the difference is on what I need the I need the LAHA >> Yeah, so chair commissioners, they applied for these multiple sources of other public sources. They applied for a total of $3 million. I will say um if they don't get funding, then we would anticipate the LAHA request and we would have to work with them on sizing the LAHA request appropriately for their project. So it wouldn't be a I don't necessarily think it would be a dollar for dollar exchange. Um $3 million is a significant amount of LAHA dollars to contribute. So we would work with them to to downsize that gap into something that we had the funds for and is feasible. It would depend a little bit on the on the project. The the item for tonight, the term sheet includes consideration of TIF and then does say if there if they don't receive these funding sources, then there will be an additional request that will be brought before the HRA at that time for the HRA to consider and and to consider approving. So if they wouldn't get the TIF through the Met Council in Hennepin County, and let's say the LAHA dollars weren't fundable, uh what would happen to the project? Is it null and void then, or Chair Commissioners, uh we are anticipating giving them the TIF. So, that's the item before tonight to commit the TIF. There are several additional actions that would be needed, but regardless of the outcome of the other funding applications, they they do have a gap in the project that would require support from TIF. The question is, what happens with those other funding sources? Do they need to come with an additional ask for LAHA dollars? Commissioner Wooden. I For me, I don't have enough information in front of me to make a decision like that tonight. So, I would I would be abstaining. I'm sorry. Commissioner Houck-Kim. Thank you, Chair. Um Yeah, I guess you know, it there is that just it's a a lot of what ifs that have to come together, and I guess I just don't know what that puts on us cuz what if the amount that they're requesting from LAHA isn't enough? Like then, what we're going down this I mean, I just I don't know what I want to know what this for surely locks us into, and what we can back out of, I guess, is my question. I guess that's where we're I think that's where I'm at is what is this committing us to, and what is this allowing us to? Does that make sense? I I agree. I don't think this is very clear, and I think we have way more questions than answers. Uh Chair Miller and Commissioners, so my name's Kevin Knase. I'm the supervisor of a real estate team in the Port Authority. And so, it sounds like there's a couple questions related to the project and in particular what decisions are being made today. So the request from staff today is to approve a term sheet and that term sheet outlines what we're proposing would be tax increment financing assistance for this project. This is really the first step that provides some certainty for the developer that then take additional steps to pursue other financing. So really what we're requesting at this point is a determination on if this body is comfortable with committing a soft yes of that tip assistance. So this is not the public hearing for that approval. We would have to take additional steps in the future. So that was in that kind of that that timeline that was shared earlier. So at this point it's a non-binding term sheet and the frame of the additional amount for the law house assistance that would be determined based on the awards that miss that Allen framed and we would re-review the project at that point. So once they get some determinations of awards, they'll do some additional due diligence about what those construction costs look like and what some additional other funding awards would be and then we as staff will do an analysis of the project at that point to see if we can right-size some of the dollars based on what those needs are. But for right now, we're really only requesting approval of this term sheet that really gives that certainty that the city is committed to at least this 1.2 million dollars to the project at its net present value from this tip resource. Commissioner Wooten Can you put the timeline back up, please? Yes. It it have helped to have some of that explanation, um, before tonight. Commissioner Robertson. Thank you, Chair. Um, so I just want to say thank you, staff. I if I'm hearing what you're saying correctly, um, that tonight is a soft yes. We are not actually approving this project. Approval of this project would require a public hearing. Is that correct? Like full I should be very clear when I use those terms. Um, moving forward with the project would require a public hearing. What you what staff is asking of of the HRA this evening is a soft yes to move forward with this so that the developer can seek funds. Is that an accurate assessment? >> Chair Miller, Commissioner Council member Robertson, that is a correct representation of what we're asking for tonight. Thank you so much. Okay, Commissioner Carter. Uh, thank you. I also want to thank staff for all your work on this. I know these projects are complex with lots of moving pieces. And so, um, uh, I also want to say the timeline is in the packet. It's on page 19. So, if you want to reference it, um, again, I think it's pretty much is it the same as on the slide? Okay. Um, so, um, one of the questions that I have is related to the 5% of the increment would be retained for administrative purposes and 5% would be pooled. Um, obviously 25-year life of the district is like a it's a long time, right? And by the end of 25 years there will be maintenance, probably some pretty significant maintenance need like, uh, requirements and things like that. And we've just seen a lot of newer properties that have gotten to funding and have, you know, they've come before us in the last couple of months, 6 months, um, because they're in financially very difficult positions now with the maintenance needs required on their buildings. And so, would 5% for the administrative purposes, would that go into like a maintenance fund for current and future maintenance? Or is there some kind of way that we could require something like that? I don't know if legally we can, um, but just kind of looking out for our interests in 25 to 30 years so we don't have like we don't just have all these buildings coming back to the HRA saying like, "Hey, now we're at this point we can't we don't have enough money to maintain these buildings." And so I'm curious. Yes. >> Yes. Uh, Chair Mueller, Council Member Carter, so the 5% that's part of the TIF proposal would be for our administrative costs. The developer has their own management maintenance costs that are built into the assumptions of their pro forma. And those are the things that once they get their full development budget back based on their construction estimates we'll look at that and make sure that it's right sized. We are using the information that they've provided at this point and because it's a tax credit project it's pretty pretty streamlined in sort of what the expectations are and they're following Minnesota Housing's guidance on that. Okay. Um, but generally we're looking at having an inflator making sure that they're looking at an increase of costs over time and building that into those budget numbers. Okay, awesome. Um, I also had the question around Law Ha funds. Um, is there a chance that if they don't get these grants this time they could apply again in the future? Like could it just potentially maybe delay the project? Uh, Chair Mueller, Council Member Carter, they could apply again. So they have applied for the housing bonds at this point. And so the developer hopes that given that they're in a good position to receive them this next round is framed in the staff report. It's possible that there may be they may not receive it again this round and they would have to apply again in January. And then those Met Council awards they do a kind of a a twice yearly cyclical basis and so they could apply at that point. Okay. Um, so yes, they could happen at a later date. Okay. Um, and then uh, this is kind of more of a random question but in the renderings, they have the building going right up to the street. Is that what they're planning? Uh, Chair Mueller, Councilmember Carter, uh, the renderings are the current proposal. So, part of the reason that it's designed that way is to kind of meet the street. Um, so, having more of a little bit of an urban character that provides a more pedestrian-friendly sort of pathway for folks that are walking. Yeah. No, I understand. I just wanted to make sure that's [laughter] what Yes. So, that's that. Okay. >> And the developer is on the the phone and could certainly speak to some of those design things more specifically as well. Okay. Um, well, and I would say too, related to kind of the design and the amenities, I really honestly don't recall seeing any other proposals before us in the past that are just so explicitly designed for accessibility, like the audio-visual units, the type B adaptable units. Um, I just really, really impressed with, um, the length that they're going to not only meet the income requirements, but also really around accessibility and the sustainability pieces, too. So, um, and then the only other question I had was, I know I did see that timeline, but does this What What I guess I'm kind of confused between like the HRI and the Port's roles in this. Um, and so, maybe if we could somebody could explain that a little bit more, cuz I know if it's 20 units or more, it usually is the Port. Um, so, I guess I'd just be curious to hear more about staff thoughts on that. Certainly. Do you want to go, or should I? Go for it. Uh, so, when we originally received this proposal, we were evaluating having going to the Port Authority, and that was because of the 20-year or 20 limit sort of cut off that you just framed. However, given that there may be a need for a subsidy beyond or financial assistance beyond the tax increment financing and that could be law ha and that law ha authority really is been delegated to the HRA. Uh we thought it would be pertinent to bring it to this body and then in addition to the fact which you've previously mentioned that really is a affordable building and that really aligns with the ports mission or the HRA's mission here. We thought for those reasons it made sense to bring it to this body. Otherwise, that would possibly require more public meetings for uh the same approval process and so it could have had to go to both the port and HRA if that law ha assistance was required. That makes sense. Thank you. Thought I saw a hand raise. No? Okay, Commissioner Hoogey. Thank you, Chair. I just want to note one thing that I I just want to um my accounting brain is very happy with this community wealth building that they have put into that as an amenity. I I've never in my life that I have seen a project of of an organization putting something like that in there. So, I think that's amazing to help the community build wealth and help them with and help with when financial needs arise. So, I think that's a great um pro like a plan for others going forward. So, this is it. So, I apologize that I was a little confused as to what We have also been on a little bit of a break so we're all I think all getting back into our HRA brains. So, thank you for bearing with us on that as well. Thank you. All right. Are other questions or other discussion? Are we ready to take a vote on the soft yes? Yes. >> [laughter] >> Okay. So, I will be looking for a motion to adopt a resolution approving term sheet and authorizing staff to negotiate a redevelopment agreement for Lindell Apartments. May I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Commissioner Carter. Second. And second by Commissioner Dobblinger. All in favor? I. I. Motion passes 6-0. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Um next is 5.2 general amendment to the annual action plan public services 2025. Thank you, Chair. Commissioners, here today to talk about a general amendment to the annual action plan uh for 2025, so last year's program year. Uh to give you a little background or some context, as you recall >> [snorts] >> uh the community development block grant uh one of the components is public service dollars that is capped at uh 15% of the grant uh allocation. Um so last year in 2025, we did an RFP for proposals for that public service allocation or pot of the allocation. We originally approved a budget in 2025 of $50,000. We were being a little conservative, not sure what our annual allocation was. Um and as a result of that, um we had three that were selected out of that RFP. Um but uh we'll kind of get into the details here in a minute, but uh we are awarded at that time VEEP, um, Housing Link and Senior Community Services. And the action at that time approved the budget and the awards, but we also were directed to increase that budget a little bit knowing that the award to Senior Community Services was lower than they typically would have and to make the project a little bit more feasible. So, public services, uh, to get into a little more detail and we'll talk about this more uh, next week or next item. >> [snorts] >> Is public services for next year. Um, but they can address a wide range of needs, um, but they do have to tie back to our consolidated plan and then we put it in the annual action plan. And they must serve 70% or more of low-income residents, so those making 80% area median income or below. So, like I had mentioned, we had awarded, uh, VEEP, Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People. They, uh, we did their full request of 30,000. We kind of capped it hoping to do two awards last year. Um, we weren't anticipating that Housing Link would request a lower amount than the maximum at 9,030. So, that left us with that 50,000, a remainder of 90 9,970 that we awarded to Senior Community Services. Um, so knowing that it was a little bit lower than their full request, um, we then took this step. So, the amendment process, this is considered a general amendment in our citizen participation plan, so there are different levels. There's an administrative amendment we can do for smaller adjustments. This triggers into a general amendment given the the size that the award is, but it's not a substantial amendment which is more like adding a new activity or if it's a $100,000 adjustment in budget or more that's considered substantial. So in the general amendment that middle category we still had to do a public comment period so we posted this on our website and newspaper notice that ran through April 24th through May 12th. We did not receive any comments. Um but we're here today for that approval but it is not a public hearing does not require a public hearing. So the amendment would really be increasing the public services budget by $10,000 knowing that we would award that to senior community services. Um and we have to take that money technically from somewhere so we're reducing the rehab loan budget by that amount but we have program income and other sources that kind of fill that gap so it's more mostly just an accounting situation. Um and with that uh there's a suggested motion or I can answer any questions about the Question Commissioner Hulsey. And it's it's just might be a clerical thing I don't know but um in the actual resolution it says um 19,030 to senior community services and your presentation said 19,870 so I'm just confirming yeah the agreement versus I'll have to double check that. It should be 19,970. Let me let me verify so that we have the correct amount in there. >> Sorry, making sure I'm pulling up their actual RFPs to confirm the amount. Um cuz you're yeah, we have a couple different versions that went through. >> Yes, so um senior community services would be a uh it should be 9,000 um the total amount, so this is correct up here. Their partial award was 9,970 and their total amount will be 19,970. Okay. So, then we might need to We'll need to adjust that up. adjust that in the resolution. So, I can adjust the motion for you if you would like to. Sure. Actually, um at the end I would say motion the uh agreement for program year 2020. Sorry, it was the wrong Um and then you can just add after senior community services to the and it I'm trying to think how we would adjust this. Uh Chair Commissioners, we have our perhaps our attorney is online. Perhaps you could jump in and help us if we need to amend this motion. Sorry, I was having trouble finding mute. Um I think and obviously it's very light in the room I'm in right now. >> [laughter] >> Um I I can help amend the motion once we have Do we have the final numbers we need? Yes. So, the the final award will be 19,000 970. Sorry, I'm having some technical issues Um do you want to give me a minute to pull up the item? I don't have it. My computer just locked it for me. Um do you want to Can we come back to this one? Could uh Could we um just make this motion and approve it and then verbalize with the correct amount of 19,970? I have a couple of questions before you. Oh, yeah, sure. If I can ask. Commissioner Wooten. Uh so, the decision was made to pull 10,000 from the rehab loan program. What was the thought process there? Uh Chair Commissioner Wooten, uh we need to adjust our budget somehow because we're increasing the budget and we didn't receive any additional allocation, but the justification of doing the rehab loan program is we also funnel program income in there. So, while we're increasing the allocated amount so the 465,000 um that is technically reducing the rehab loan allocated amount, but it will still essentially be a wash as we get plenty of program income that kind of adjust that variability if that makes sense. Uh Chair and Commissioners, if I can clarify, too, we because we receive program income, which we can't budget for because it's variable according to the market, it varies per year. So, this this because of the accounting function, we basically have to move it, but we are receiving more than enough program income to fund our program fully, so it's not like a loan is being dropped from the program. Um all of our our we're still moving forward with processing our loans as normal. And also, this year and last year we received fairly significant amounts of program income due to people selling homes and things like that for the revolving fund. So, the rehab loan program has adequate funding. Um And so, this is kind of just moving it over a small portion to the senior community services budget. I don't have other questions. >> the motion in front of the in front of the um board, and it it doesn't have a dollar amount in the motion to be made. So, I think you can keep the motion the same. Um and I think you can authorize verbally that staff can correct that amount consistent with your intent, provided that they don't, you know, add another $50,000, which of course they would never do. Um as long as they just kind of square up these numbers, and that fits with the intent of the board, I think that the existing motion will work. I really couldn't hear. Uh Chair and Commissioner, I'll just restate cuz Rachel's coming through a little bit faintly here, but she's basically saying we can make the motion as is and just verbally authorize us to correct the resolution to the correct amount. Yep, 19,970. Yep. Okay. So, um I will ask for I'm sorry. Is there a question? Okay. Um I will ask for motion to adopt a resolution approving an amendment to the 2025 annual action plan budget for public services to increase the award to senior community services. So moved. Pardon? To What did I miss? Oh, okay, increase the award to $19,970. Okay, so may I have a motion? So moved. Second. Moved by Commissioner Hook Ham and second by Commissioner Robertson. All right. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Motion passes 6-0. Okay. Next item. 5.3 is the Community Development Block Grant public services for 2026. May we have the staff report? Thank you, Chair. So, we will move from last year to this year for our public services dollars. This year we were fortunate enough to have ahead of time a little more advanced notice of what that annual allocation is, so that for 2026 we have $477,190. We approved in our budget for the annual action plan $70,000. Again, recognizing last year we were over subscribed for the program, so we made that increase to get closer to what that cap would be. So, similar to last year we did an RFP process. It closed on April 21st. We reviewed items in those proposals related to project feasibility, organizational capacity, are they able to complete it, do they have the expertise to do it? Timeliness, schedule, responsiveness, can they complete it in in a year, and then their experience and references that show that they are capable of the project. Um, again, public services can use for a wide range of things. These are services to people, so not building things, a little bit different category in our community development block grant. Um, but it could be wide ranging from coaching to financial, uh, education to, uh, what you'll see here with emergency rental assistance, um, fair housing activities. It's pretty wide and open-ended, which is why we did a request for proposals knowing that there are lots of different ways it could be spent. But we always tie it back to our consolidated plan, which identifies goals and activities that we want to accomplish. Again, 70% must be lower moderate income. So this year we are looking to award to VEAP again for rental assistance. They had a very strong application and the need as we know in our community. Um, but we have a two other, uh, awardees that we're proposing this year with Bridging and Homeline. So I'll run through their programs. Uh, VEAP again, emergency rental assistance. Uh, we've funded it uh, previous year in other capacities as well, strong partner in Bloomington. Um, they are proposing, uh, we increased our maximum award a little bit this year again, so 35,000, slightly higher than the 30,000 cap last year. Um, but they with that they are proposing to serve 17, uh, households roughly. Uh, and it will be used for eviction prevention and keeping people in their homes. And then they continue to prioritize the lowest income, so 30% area median income. So Bridging you'll be familiar with. We fund through our admin services annually. So, slightly different funding pot, but the same program. So, they applied for additional funding through this opportunity. But, they provide low and no cost furniture. So, their award request was for only 15,000. But, they're looking to preserve 117 Bloomington residents. So, they have other funding sources that they are using to to do their program. And they provide essential furniture and household household goods. So, it's kind of a uh an invisible issue that people don't think about when we provide a housing unit. You then need to furnish the housing unit. You need a table to eat at. You need a couch to sit on. You need other furnishings that kind of are missing in that process. And that's where Bridging comes in. They receive donated furniture, and they help move that to individuals who are moving from homelessness into those affordable units. And then Home Line, similarly, we funded them in the past through other opportunities. But, they provide a tenant hotline. So, we are using the remainder of the funds after the 35 and the 15. So, $20,000 remaining to award to Home Line. They would continue to provide the legal services that they provide. So, Home Line really is a team of attorneys that answer phone calls and provide legal advice to those in different situations. So, it can be anything from eviction prevention, repairs, you need to get out of your lease, what are the legal implications of breaking a lease, fair housing complaints they will take as well. So, a wide range of things that they address related to your renting and your legal rights. And so with that, we'll incorporate this. So, our annual action plan is going to hopefully be submitted Friday. We're almost done finishing all of the signatures that we need for that. Um so, once that's submitted, it goes to HUD for their review. The program year starts uh July 1st, so there there sometime. So, in the meantime, we'll be working on drafting and executing and drafting up contracts for that execution for the program year start. And then once the program year starts, we'll start administering the funds and kind of the typical typical process with our with our partners. With that, I'll answer any questions. Do we have any questions or comments on this? Commissioner Carter. Thank you. Um fully supportive of this. And then uh I guess one of my questions for you. Can you just talk about some of the how do we what what kind of reporting requirements are there in place for the nonprofits? I think nowadays that's a question that comes up frequently, and so I wonder if you could speak to that. Yep. Uh Chair, Commissioners. So, because this is federal funding and community development block grant specifically, there are quite a few different requirements that we have to comply by. So, um we have different income verifications that they will be required to do depending on the services that they provide. Again, we need to demonstrate that we're serving 70% lower moderate income. So, they have to be able to provide that information to us. Um depending on what we're funding, if it's staff time, there's different verification that we'll have to get for when they submit their invoices that we will review before we can uh submit. And so, part of this too is that we they become what's called the sub recipient. So we are the recipient of the grant, they're our sub recipient. So we have to do sub recipient monitoring on an annual basis. So at the end of the year we'll go in and spot check their files to make sure that they're complying with all the CDBG regulations and getting into those details. Um knowing that if HUD does come and audit us, then we can point to them. They will have those files ready and available and they have to retain those for I think it's 7 years. Um So there there is the steps in place and program guidance that we have to follow with the community development block grant. Thank you. Other questions or comments? All right. Then I will be looking for a motion to adopt a resolution approving entering into agreements for program year 2026 Community Development Block Grant public services. So moved. Moved by Commissioner Roberson. Second. And second by Commissioner Doblinger. All in favor? I. I. Motion passes 6-0. >> [clears throat] >> All right. Now we move on to discussion items and HRA administrator updates. Okay, chair and commissioners, I have a couple of fun updates for y'all tonight. Um first I'll mention a quick shout-out to the staff who planned the home fair. One of them being Mary Kus, who's here tonight. Um and then we also had some significant support from CD as a department. And uh it was a fairly successful home fair. We moved it back this year. Uh 2 years ago it was located offsite. This year we put it back at Civic Plaza. It was well attended. Uh got a lot of really positive feedback from the vendors who were here. Um a lot of people felt like they were able to engage with community. And there were some um fun activities for folks to do. It was also an opportunity for people to come and and get to know the Civic Plaza, um explore the site, go to the front counter where they can get some of their questions answered. So, I uh uh I think we estimated around 7 to 800 folks in attendance, um which I think is is great and actually was our most well-attended and successful home fair since pre-COVID, I would say. So, quite a successful event this year. So, shout out to our staff who planned that and great job and very happy to have that event uh roll in smoothly this year. Um we also have uh So, last year we partnered with our sustainability folks at the Public Works Department and they provided some funding. So, the HRA has some funding available to support Home Squad energy visits and so the homeowner pays half and the HRA pays a half. That's a long-standing agreement we've had with CEE, the Center for Energy and Environment. Um sustainability uh joined us last year to cover the other half so folks could get free home energy squad visits to prepare their home for home energy efficiency in the best ways possible. We are planning to do that partnership again this summer and so between May and August, I'm not sure if it's started yet, maybe it's late May, um we should be you should be seeing some advertising about that in the community so folks can have someone come look at their home and let them know what adjustments they need to make to be more energy efficient. Um and then along those lines, uh the sustainability folks also recommended, you know, we've been thinking a lot about HRA properties and capital planning for them um and part of that is thinking about energy efficiency improvements. There's a program called well, we're Nobody's quite sure if we pronounce it Liar or Lear, but l i r e. It stands for Low Income uh Rental Efficiency Program. And so essentially uh it's a partnership with Frontier Energy, which is owned by uh CenterPoint or a partner company a company of CenterPoint, sorry. Um and so they came in and they would do free energy assessments for all of the HRA owned homes, including blower tests at 10% of the homes. And so we were able to work with them to say that because it is a a program for income qualified renters, and because our program is for income qualified renters, we're able to say that all of the HRA homes were eligible through one application instead of having to apply 41 times. So that was great. So we've been working with those assessment checks, looking at things like furnace, water heater, insulation, etc. Um, and so this the goal of this is to help inform capital planning. I believe there is also some funding available from Frontier Energy to make improvements. And so we are working on integrating those with our capital planning process. We have the results, we're still reviewing them to determine next steps. So that is a fun promotion that you you might see a video about online at some point. Um, and then uh, maybe I'll pause there for questions. Okay. Um, on May 20th at 4:00 p.m. we are looking to do a ribbon cutting at 9030 Park. I believe that that just the invite for that just went out at the end of last week. So you should see the invite. If you're interested in attending, please let me know. I might ask a commissioner two to maybe give some comments at the event. So Oh, no. >> [laughter] >> Let me know if you're interested in that. You can also accept the invite online and that'll be a good trigger to let us know that you're planning to come. Um and then so also some updates on the various development projects. So we have a many development projects underway as part of this Bloomington Affordable Home Ownership Initiative. Habitat for Humanity is a partner on four sites. They just closed on purchasing the first two and I believe they're starting construction any day now if they haven't already. So that is a great success to be moving forward with um two homes on those sites. Um we're also working with Outlaw Development and Magnolia Homes on their single-family projects. So, they have a total of six homes over four lots between the two developers. And then um we were able to close on the St. Mark's site where we were able to resolve the issues with the cell tower. Yes, that was an interesting um experience. Um and so we're moving forward with planning. Uh it will need road for road construction and we're looking at um getting into developer selection very soon. And so we have a lot of exciting projects. Um I will say in some of these projects we're working on now with Outlaw and with Magnolia, we are seeing some of the impact of global forces and we're seeing some rise in the gaps. So, these have a uh a capped price that we can sell them for because they're capped at a certain income. And so we're seeing some cost rises. So, we are working with them on reducing the size of that gap as much as possible um through methods such as cost engineering, um even looking at the size of the home, and really trying to work with them to reduce the gap as much as possible. Um we expect to see one or two of those coming through in the next couple of months here. So, they are they are large gaps, but I think we can we're working with them to try to get that down. So. The last thing I have is uh City Council items. Um we had the annual the CDBG annual action plan was approved by the City Council on April 13th. Um and then the cell we had to do a code amendment for the cell tower and that went through just last last week, May 4th. Um so that was also approved. And then um we have an item on consent on May 18th, which is every 3 years we're required to let the county know that we want to keep receiving CDBG funds. And so we anticipate well, we're planning to use the same um process and the same kind of setup in in terms of administering the funds. So, it is a consent item to just let the county know that we're continuing on as as we are now. So, no changes there. And that is all I have in terms of updates. Any questions? Commissioner Hulke. Thank you, Chair. I just had one quick question. That with working with Habitat for Humanity on those couple houses, was that the minority owned property initiative? I don't know if people have seen the news, but obviously black home ownership in the Twin Cities has been dropping significantly and I thought we had some sort of initiative with them. So, I just was kind of wondering if that's the same thing. If I'm if we're on the same page or just trying to refresh. Sorry. Yeah, Chair Commissioners, we have we work with Habitat in a multiple multiple variety of ways. That was not this particular project. We do work with them on a down payment assistance program, which we're also anticipating to have Habitat come and give a presentation on their progress on that. This was for the Bloomington Affordable Homeownership Program, which is they're they're developing new homes as opposed to financing down payment assistance. So, but yes, we work with Habitat in multiple different avenues. So, what happened to that particular grant that was offered? I mean, that's about 2 years ago. We approved a certain percentage. So, what what happened to that? So, Habitat has continued forward with administering the loans and then our goal is to come to the HRA. We we might be proposing some amendments to the contract in terms of financing source, but also we'll give an update to where the how the loans that Habitat has issued over the last year and a half. What I guess I'm asking is it still addressing those families specifically African American families? It That's what that's what I'm interested in specifically. Yes. Um If we can get a report on that, it'd be great. >> Yes, I can provide an update on that to the board. Yes. Okay. Um Go ahead. So, I'm just saying for me, I feel a little disjointed because we've been absent from meeting for so long. Initially, we went from two meetings down to one for the sole purpose of I guess becoming a great deal more efficient, and I don't feel that way. I I feel kind of out of the loop, and I'm I'm not sure if I'm the only person who feels that way, but our last meeting as a board, this is a HRA board, was in February. We had a joint meeting with all the other boards in March, and then we didn't have anything in August, and now we're meeting once this month, so I I personally would like to revisit our meetings uh to make sure that we have adequate number on the on the calendar, so we don't have these gaps. Yeah, chair Yes, go ahead. Oh, sorry. Well, uh chair and commissioners, I'll just say, so the HRA has approved a number of really significant initiatives for HRA staff that are currently managing a lot of different projects right now, and so there were a lot of approvals that went through, and now staff is working hard at implementing, as you can hear from all of our updates and the work going on. There is a lot of work happening. Not all A lot of it has received prior board authorization, so we are working to continue to bring updates um and amendments to the board as required. And also, the meeting cadence um I would still recommend the once-monthly meeting, although of course, that's the board's decision, but um I do believe that this is adequate to cover the board authority approvals. I'm happy to meet with any commissioners outside of board meetings and give continued updates and and progress check-ins. I understand it's a little bit of a shift from the board's practice previously. Commissioner Carter. Um >> [clears throat] >> I wonder if maybe instead of adding another meeting back in, at least maybe sending an email out um to the board just saying, "Here are some key updates." Um so that we don't so we have that kind of communication and connection more than once a month. Um Uh yeah, so maybe maybe that could be like a first step in seeing if that helps. And then having that gap I think just makes it feel more pronounced, I think, you know, the gap in the meetings, but um I mean, I would be comfortable continuing the once a month, but I do think having maybe some additional like a month like a monthly newsletter that's 2 weeks like right in the middle. Yeah, halfway. Yeah, I I like that idea. I mean, it doesn't have to be fancy, right? Just hey, here's, you know, top 10 things we're doing or whatever. I think it would make a better connection. But I I would like to continue to try the meetings once a month. So. All right. Well, we have reached the end of our agenda. So, may I have a motion to adjourn the Tuesday, May 12th HRA Board meeting? So moved. Moved by Commissioner Hulking. Second. Seconded by Commissioner Robertson. All in favor? I. Motion passes 6-0. Thank you. >> [music]