4.7. SR 09-03-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Elk REQUEST FOR ACTION River TO ITEM NUMBER Housing and Redevelopment Authority ?. AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY August 5, 2013 Brian Beeman,Director of Economic Development ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By Hire CMHP or Tri-CAP to write &administer grants and HRA Jeremy Barnhart,Assistant housing goals. Community Operations and Development Director REVIEWED BY ACTION REQUESTED Hire CMHP or Tri-CAP to write and administer grants and HRA housing goals. BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION The HRA has indicated a strong interest in being more proactive in housing programs. At the May 6, 2013 HRA meeting,the HRA set some housing goals and directed staff to address some community housing needs including: 1"time home buyer's assistance, affordable housing, rehab assistance, and foreclosure prevention. In developing draft policies to address these goals, Staff has met with the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA),Minnesota Central MN Housing Partnership (CMHP),Tri County Action Partnership (Tri-CAP),Brooklyn Park and Coon Rapids staff, and researched several other Minnesota housing programs. Through this process,it became clear that outside agencies provide the services desired by the HRA, at a fraction of the cost of administering our own program. For example, CMHP or Tri-CAP can address the HRA's preferences for 1"time buyer's assistance, affordable housing, rehab assistance, foreclosure prevention,and a variety of other housing programs. It is staff s recommendation that the City utilize these resources more aggressively for the benefit of city residents. At the July 8, 2013 HRA workshop,it became clear that the HRA would like to focus on rehabbing housing in Elk River and were interested in the Small Cities Development Program (SCDP) to accomplish this goal. The HRA met in a workshop July 8, 2013 to hear presentations from CMHP and Tri-CAP.The HRA discussed pros and cons of both agencies and how each agency would or would not be able to meet the HRA's housing goals. After discussing options,the HRA focused discussion on the Small Cities Development Program (SCDP) and directed staff to gather information regarding each organization's administration of the SCDP for the August meeting. The SCDP grants funds to local units of government who then lend out to home or business owners for rehabilitation or new construction based on community needs. In order to start applying for the SCDP for 2014, one of the agencies will need to start the grant writing process in August or September 2013 to meet the pre-application deadline. P O w E A E 0 6 Y UREJ