Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 08-22-2007 special agenda — reading text

assistance to persons to enable them to live in good housing are direct methods to improve living conditions. Activities that improve infrastructure improve the quality of life and raise the living standards for all thepeople in theneighborhood served by the infrastruc6ture. Public services and facilities that meet community needs particularly for the young and the elderly, provide a means by in which persons may receive needed services and benefits that will enable them to live decently; and, the case of children, develop the future capability to provide for themselves. 6 persons may receive needed services and benefits that will enable them to live decently; and, in the case of children. develop the future capability to provide tor themselves. b. Obstacles The primary obstacle to meeting underserved housing and community development needs of the City is funding and these resources are shrinking. Demand for assistance exceeds the supply of available resources. The number of lower income individuals) families, and neighborhoods in need, coupled with the complexity of issues they face is steadily increasing in both scale and cost. The combination of these factors places substantial new burdens on an already strained housing and community development delivery system. c. Community Development Block Grants Title I of the Housin.g and Community development Act of 1974 ( Public Law 93~ 383) created the Community Development Block Grant funding program. It is allocated primarily thought the entitlement communities, and state and small cities program. The primary objective of the CDB<J program is to develop viable urban communities, by providing decent housing and suitable living environment and expanding econonric opportunities principally for persons of low and moderate income. All CDBG projects and activities must meet one of three national objectives: Principally benefit low-and- moderate income persons, aid in the prevention or elimination of sluDls or blight, or meet other urgent community needs. The City of Fort Walton Beach 'will use CDBG funds for activities that provided decent housing, provide a suitable living environment, and economic opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income. f.t) General f.J. a) Genera). The City plans to undertake activities to address obstacles to meeting underserved needs by funding the non-profit subrecipient organizations previously identified. f.l.b) The City will also encourage and support other entities in their effort to secure additional public and private funds for affordable housing, community and economic development. f.t.c) Foster and Maintain Affordable Housing. The City' s allocation will.provide assistance to homeowners fOf emergency home repairs, maintain property maintenance efforts through property maintenance code enforcement demoHsh or restore vacant/deterioratedproperties, and provide neighborhood organizational support and education services to community organization. 'The City will maintain the stock of affordable housing by way of the Residential Rehabilitation program. Applicants for this program are also advised of the rehabilitation services of the Okaloosa Community Development Corporation, which also provides housing and rehabilitation services 7  through the State Housing Initiative Partnership ( SHIP) Program and the Home Investment Partnership Program. f.1.d) Fair Housing and Barriers to Affordable Housing The City will provide fair housing educational and investigative services to limit housing discrimination, as well as other activities to remove barriers to atIordablehousing. The steps to be taken the City are outlined in the City' s Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing. by f.1.e) Lead- based Paint Hazards The City' s rehabilitation program continues to include lead- based paint hazard education within the initial phase of the application process. During the preconstruction conference, homeowners are given a copy of the booklet " Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home". In addition, as part ofthe process, homeowners must complete and sign a written acknowledgement of the receipt of this booklet. Each unit to undergo rehabilitation will be evaluated for the presence of lead based- paint.If such hazards are determined to exist, the City will hire a certified consultant to remove the paint to the extent possible and repair the surface. To continue the city' s lead-based paint compliance activities, a number of actions are planned for the coming year. ACTION GOAL Distribution of Lead Safe Painting Prep Kits to homeowners 25 Coordination of homeowner awareness events 5 Distribution of additional lead hazard literature to homeowners where 50 children aged 6 or younger spend a significant amount of time in the home and encourage rehab applications to have children tested for " elevated blood" condition f.1.h) Anti-poverty Strategy The City does not plan to undertake activities which will reduce the number of poverty level families, develop institutional structure, and enhance coordination between public and private housing and social services agencies. i) Institutional Structure f. l. The City funds services to extremely low, low and moderate income families through non- profit organizations who provide services to these families. Funding sought by these organizations for public Service through an application process during the formation of the annual program. Funding programs is highly competitive due to limited funds and an abundance of need. The City has therefore not solicited projects which target specific needs. The City chartered the Fort Walton Beach Housing Authority (FWBHA) i.2) in 1968. The FWBHA is administered by seven Commissioners, appointed by the I\1ayor and City Council. The executive director, who manages the daily functions, if hired by the FWBHA Commissioners. Other than the appointment ofthe Commissioners, the FWBHA is an independent agency from the City. 8  The City is not involved in any hiring, contracting or procurement activities of the FWBHA. Vat-ious Public Service activities of the FWBHA have been funded through the CDBG program to benefit the residents of public housing. The will review development sites proposed by FWBHA in the same manner as other applications for development proposed by private developers. 1.3) The City is not aware of any gaps in the institutional structure that will impact the priority needs which will be addressed by the City within the planning period. f. l.j) Coordination. The city does not coordinate activities between public and assisted housing providers and private and governmental health and governmental health and mental health and service agencies. 1.2) Public Housing. The FWBHA does not operate under the Comprehensive Grant Program. The Authority receives assistance through the Comprehensive Improvement Assistance Program ( ClAP). The FWBHA has not been designated as '' troubled'' by HUD. g) Program Spedfi~ Requirements g. t) CDBG i) A description of the activities planned with respect to the CDBG fhnds is provided in the attached Listing of Proposed Activities chart. ii)(A) The City will not recei" e any program income. ii){ B) The City will not receive any surPlus for urban renewal settlement ii)(C) The City does not intend to return any grant funds to the line of credit for which the planned use has not been included in a prior statement of plan. ii)(D) The City will not receive income from any float fu.nded activities. iii)( E) The City has not undertaken any " urgent needs" activities. g.2) HOME Not Applicable. h. Monitoring ds and Procedures Standa.. Program evaluation and monitoring is the means by which the City of Fort Walton Beach provides administrative oversight and perfor:mance testing of activities undertaken through HUD assistance under this Consolidated Plan. Evaluation and monitoring applies to both activities directly undertaken by the City of Fort Walton Beach as well as subrecipient and other work or services performed on a contractual basis. It is the intent of monitoring activities that they be conducted in a positive and pro- active manner, identifying and resolving problems early during an activity~providing 9 technical assistance when feasible and necessary, maintaitring communication and feedback on perfonnance, any required reporting, and ongoing compliance with tenns of the assistance and contract Education, particularly in the case of subrecipient types of activities, is an important element of 1- he monitoring process. Prior to execution of a subrecipient or other agreement, requirements are further reviewed with and explained to the parties, including the compliance and performance measures, and additional materials or infonnation is provided as appropriate. Ongoing evaluation is the primary mechanism for tracking performance and compliance. In the case of individual activities and subrecipient agreements, disbursement of funds is tied to maintenance of compliance through each disbursement, including proper documentation of cost.through that disbursement. Ongoing compliance is measured against the specifics of the particular agreement. Satisfactory resolution of any compliance or perfonn.ance difficulties at the time of a planned disbursement IS required prior to disbursement. . From time to time, subrecipients who are not progressing on their project are requested to submit a written report to the City' s Community Development Block Grant Dept. indicating why the project has been delayed, and what plans have been prepared to assure that the project will be completed in a timely fashion. The goal of the City' s monitoring process is to identify deficiencies and to see that these are addressed in order to improve the Subrecipients performance before it becomes a concem. h. t 1easures Progress l\ In the case of subrecipient and other forms or agreements or contracts tor individual activities, the measurement of progress will vary depend.ing upon the type of activity and the specific schedule~ reporting and other benchmarks established for the particular activity. . 10  CERTIFICATIONS In accordance with