09.a. CDBGMEMORANDUM
TO: CITY COUNCIL av
FROM: TERESA MCCI-ISH, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
SUBJECT: CONSIDERATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG)
PROJECTS FOR YEAR 2012
DATE: MARCH 13,2012
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended the City Council adopt a Resolution approving projects to be funded with the
City's estimated allocation of CDBG funds for the Year 201 2, as shown in the following table:
Recommended 2012 CDBG Allocation
1 2011 1 2012 I Proposed 2012 1
I CAPSLO - Forty Wonderful $1,500 1 $2,200 1 $0 1
Project and Category
Public Services 15% Cap - $9,540
CAPSLO - Maxine Lewis Memorial Shelter
Allocation I Requested I Allocation
$5,000 1 $5,000 1 $5,000
I Big Brothers Big Sisters $1,050 1 $5,000 1 $1,000 I
CAPSLO - Senior Health Screening
CAPSLO - Teen Academic Parenting Program
(TAPP)
I Removal of Architectural Barriers 1 $35.187 1 $24.803 1 $24.803 1
I Subtotal 1 $35.187 1 $24.803 1 $24.803 1
$1,500
$1 -050
I subtotal
Code Enforcement Activities $1 0,000 $9,081 $9,081
$1 0,000
Subtotal
Administration and Planning 20% Cap - $12,721
$2,200
$1 -800
I Administration I $17000I $17771 1 $17 771 1
$0
$0
I Subtotal 1 $17.000 1 $12.721 1 $12.721 1
Agenda Item 9.a.
Page 1
CITY COUNCIL
CONSIDERATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG)
PROJECTS FOR YEAR 2012
MARCH 13,2012
PAGE 2
IMPACT ON FINANCIAL AND PERSONNEL RESOURCES:
The County has estimated that $63,605 in CDBG funds will be available to the City in
the fall of 2012. This estimate is equal to the final adjusted figure for the 201 1 fiscal
year and several key factors that have changed over the last few months. Factors that
have impacted the local CDBG allocations include: 1) Federal budget cutbacks to the
CDBG program; 2) additional new entitlement jurisdictions nationwide that will take their
share of CDBG funds (less money to divide among more jurisdictions); and 3) use of the
American Community Service (ACS) 5-year figures (estimates) instead of the 2000
Census data to determine the CDBG allocation to local jurisdictions (these ACS
numbers have decreased). The result is a $31,741 (33%) decrease from the 2011
allocation. The City recently entered into an agreement with the County to administer.
the public service grants, which will reduce City staff time involved.
BACKGROUND:
On May 24, 201 1, the City Council approved a Cooperative Agreement with the County
of San Luis Obispo for the joint participation in the CDBG Program for fiscal years 2012
through 2014. The City, as a participant in the Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
designated Urban County program, receives an annual formula-based allocation of
CDBG funds. These funds are available for a variety of Community Development
activities as long as the activities meet at least one of three national objectives. The
objectives are:
1. Benefit low- and moderate-income persons;
2. Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight; or
3. Address urgent community development needs that pose a serious or immediate
threat to public health or welfare.
The County distributed a Request for Proposals (RFP) and notified the public that the
County and participating cities would accept applications for funding until October 24,
201 1. In addition, City and County staff held two "Needs Assessment Workshops" on
September 29, 201 1 and January 26, 2012 to gather input from the public regarding the
allocation of CDBG funds.
ANALYSIS OF ISSLIES:
Staff has prepared its recommendations using the following criteria set forth by the
County in the RFP:
1. Consistency with federal regulations and laws;
2. Community support (for example, approval of project by a city council);
3. Seriousness of community development need proposed to be addressed by
, project;
4. Degree to which project benefits low-income and very low-income families or
persons;
5. Feasibility of the project to be completed as budgeted and by December 31,
2012;
Agenda Item 9.a.
Page 2
CITY COUNCIL
CONSIDERATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG)
PRO.IECTS FOR YEAR 2012
MARCH 13,2012
PAGE 3
6. Cost effectiveness of funds requested and leveraging of other funds; and
7. Organization's experience or knowledge regarding CDBG or HOME
requirements.
The cooperative agreement between the County and the City gives discretion regarding
allocation of funds. Unless the City's recommendation to the County for funding is
clearly in conflict with CDBG regulations, the County will approve the recommendation.
The final decision for funding priority will occur on March 20, 2012.
Public Services
The competitiveness for public services funds, which is capped at 15 percent, is
historically strong and requests far exceed available funds ($18,200 is requested and
$9,540 is available). Due to the competition for these limited funds, the additional
funding criteria below are used as a guideline to establish staffs recommendation:
Priority in funding consideration has been given to programs that provide the best
combination of the following program characteristics:
The provision of basic human needs. Services rated highest include those
providing food, shelter, clothing, urgent medical or crisis care, and basic
children's security. Moderate ranking includes those programs providing youth
services, social support, and non-urgent medical care.
Provide needed services to the residents of the City of Arroyo Grande.
Support a demonstrated need for services within the City of Arroyo Grande .
based upon program action in prior years.
Derive a majority of program funding from local entities and donations.
Have demonstrated proportional and fair funding requests to other agencies
within the County.
Would incur severe budget shorlfalls if funding from the City of Arroyo Grande
would be withheld or drastically curtailed.
Provide services at the County level but no local facilities exist.
Have demonstrated the timely and efficient use of previous CDBG funds. This
standard is important since H.U.D. and the County has mandated timely
spending of funds with one year of availability.
The City received four (4) applications from Community Action Partnership of San Luis
Obispo County, Inc. (CAPSLO), one from Big Brothers Big Sisters, and one from
Alliance for Pharmaceutical Access. Due to the significant decrease in CDBG funding
this year, staff is recommending that one program from CAPSLO be fully funded and
the other two public service organizations be partially funded. Of the four CAPSLO
applications, staff believes the Maxine Lewis Memorial Shelter provides resources for
the greatest need, which is the homeless.
Agenda Item 9.a.
Page 3
CITY COUNCIL
CONSIDERATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG)
PROJECTS FOR YEAR 2012
MARCH 13,2012
PAGE 4
Recommended funding $5,000 ($5,000 requested); Maxine Lewis Memorial Shelter
(Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County, Inc.) - Staff
recommends funding in the amount of $5,000 for this project, which provides shelter,
food, showers and social services to the homeless. This recommendation is based upon
1) the provision of the most basic human services; 2) the shelter serves the South
County and is the closest facility of its type to the City of Arroyo Grande; 3) the majority
of the project's funding is from local entities; 4) a proportional and fair funding request;
5) CAPSLO's excellent past performance in utilizing CDBG funds and fulfilling H.U.D.
documentation requirements; and 6) the amount is commensurate with past funding
from the City.
Recommended funding $1,000 ($5,000 requested); Big Brothers Big Sisters (Big
Brothers Big Sisters of San Luis Obispo County) - Staff recommends funding in the
amount of $1,000 for this program which provides mentoring for children between the
ages of 6 to 16. This recommendation is based upon: 1) the provision of moderate
priority youth services; 2) the majority of the program's funding is derived from local
sources; 3) a proportional and fair funding request; 4) excellent past performance in
utilizing CDBG funds and fulfillment of documentation; and 5) the amount is
commensurate with past funding from the City.
Recommended funding $1,000 ($2,000 requested); Alliance for Pharmaceutical
Access, Inc. - Staff recommends funding in the amount of $1,000 for this' new
program, which assists with the provision of prescription medications to the community's
poor and working poor and seniors. This recommendation is based upon: 1) the
provision of moderate priority social services, 2) the majority of the program's funding is
derived from local sources; 3) a proportional and fair funding request; and 4) the amount
is commensurate with past fundirlg from the City.
Although the following public service programs satisfy many of the screening criteria
listed above, they were not recommended for funding due to the significant decrease in
CDBG funding this year:
Recommended funding $0 ($2,200 requested); Forty Wonderful (Community
Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County, Inc) - The purpose of this program
is to provide no-cost preventative health screening programs for low income women
over the age of 40.
Recommended funding $0 ($2,200 requested); Senior Health Screening Program
(Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County, Inc.) - The purpose of
this program is to provide preventative and maintenance health screening programs for
seniors.
Agenda Item 9.a.
Page 4
CITY COUNCIL
CONSIDERATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG)
PR0,IECTS FOR YEAR 2012
MARCH 13,2012
PAGE 5
Recommended funding $0 ($2,200 requested); Teen Academic Parenting Program
(Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County, Inc.) - The purpose of
this program is to provide healthcare, education and mentoring to pregnant teens.
Public Facilities
Staff recommends allocating $24,803 to assist in ADA improvements by removing
architectural barriers. This may include ADA ramps, sidewalk improvements or other
ADA related improvements to public facilities. Final determination of ADA improvements
will be coordinated with the Sidewalk lmprovement Plan and other Capital lmprovement
Programs. There are a number of needed improvements that fall under this category
that exceed $45,000. To help fill the funding gap, staff also recommends that
$10,479.42 be reallocated from unspent 2010 Program Year public services to
allocation to public facilities.
Elimination of Slums and Bliaht
Efforts related to the elimination of slums and blight is limited to a 30 percent area
benefit cap ($19,081). Because of the ongoing demand for participation in the fa~ade
grant program, staff recommends funding $10,000. This is a $1 5,000 decrease over
last year's allocation due to the decrease in local CDBG funding. Likewise, staff
recommends funding for Code Enforcement be reduced from $10,000 allocated last
year to $9,081.
Due to the recent California Supreme Court ruling to uphold the abolition of
redevelopment agencies, the City must redefine areas determined to contain slum and
blighted conditions to allocate CDBG funds. Staff recommends that the City's previous
Redevelopment Area be established for this purpose.
Administration and Planning
Funds requested for the administration of the CDBG program have decreased in direct
proportion to the overall decrease in the City's CDBG funding, even though HUD
administrative requirements are increasing. Staff recommends allocating $12,721 for
program administration. Due to reorganization within the Community Development
Department, staff has established a real time billing arrangement with the County of San
Luis Obispo to assist with administration efforts. Therefore, a portion of the funds will
reimburse the City for staff time and a portion will be used to contract with the County to
administer the grants once approved.
ADVANTAGES:
The recommended allocations fund City priorities and routine funding for public service
requests. At the same time, it allocates funding for priority public service requests to
fund meaningful amounts and reduce administrative staff time.
Agenda Item 9.a.
Page 5
CITY COUNCIL
CONSIDERA'TION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG)
PROJECTS FOR YEAR 2012
MARCH 13,201 2
PAGE 6
DISADVANTAGES:
The recommendations result in a number of unfunded requests.
ALTERNATIVES:
An alternative would be to maintain all of the CDBG funding for City programs and not
allocate funds to public services for the following reasons:
The 33% decrease in CDBG funding is significant enough to question whether
the small allocations are warranted given administration costs for the City and
recipients. The cost of administration is the same regardless of the amount of
funding allocated.
The loss of the City's RDA fund has considerably impacted the City's budget and
ability to fund public facility programs such as ADA improvements.
A second alternative would be to fund public service allocations up to the $9,540 cap.
A third would be to maintain the allocations for each category, but adjust the amounts
for specific recipients.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The allocation of CDBG funds is not considered a project under the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Specific projects that may have environmental impacts will be reviewed under CEQA
and NEPA prior to implementation.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION AND COMMENTS:
A public hearing notice was published in The Tribune on Friday, March 2, 2012. The
Agenda was posted in front of City Hall on Thursday, March 8, 2012 and posted on the
City's website on Friday, March 9, 2012. No public comments have been received.
Agenda Item 9.a.
Page 6
RESOLUTION NO.
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF ARROYO GRANDE APPROVING COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) PRO.IECTS
FOR YEAR 2012
WHEREAS, via a Cooperation Agreement with the County of San Luis Obispo
(hereafter referred to as "County") executed by the City of Arroyo Grande ("City") on
May 24, 201 1, the City agreed to become a participant for a period of three years with
the County and other cities therein as an "Urban County" under the Federal Department
of Housing and Urban Development (hereafter referred to as "HUD") CDBG program;
and
WHEREAS, per the Cooperation Agreement, the City retains the authority to determine
which projects are to be funded with its allotment of CDBG funds; and
WHEREAS, the City expects to receive $63,605 in CDBG funds in 2012; and
WHEREAS, in 201 1, the County published a "Request for Proposals" for projects to be
funded under the 2012 CDBG Programs, which provided that proposals were to be
submitted by October 24,201 1 ; and
WHEREAS, on September 29, 2011 and January 26, 2012, the County conducted
public workshops with the City of Arroyo Grande to ascertain the housing and
community development needs to be addressed in the document entitled the "One-Year
Action Plan" for Program Year 201 2; and
WHEREAS, on March 13, 2012, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing to
further consider the City's Program Year 2012 CDBG projects.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Arroyo
Grande, California, to recommend that the Board of Supervisors for the County of San
Luis Obispo adopt the Draft 2012 One-Year Action Plan, which shall include the
programs listed in Exhibit "B" attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference,
to be funded with the City's allocation of CDBG funds.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City hereby designates a Slum Blight Area as
shown in Exhibit "A", attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference, based
on the existence of deteriorated infrastructure, substandard housing, and the need for
economic development in this area.
Agenda Item 9.a.
Page 7
RESOLUTION NO.
PAGE 2
On motion of Council Member , seconded by Council Member , and on the
following roll call vote, to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
the foregoing Resolution was passed and adopted this day of March, 2012.
Agenda Item 9.a.
Page 8
RESOLUTION NO.
PAGE 3
TONY FERRARA, MAYOR
ATTEST:
KELLY WETMORE, CITY CLERK
APPROVED AS TO CONTENT:
STEVEN ADAMS, CITY MANAGER
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
TIMOTHY J. CARMEL, CITY ATTORNEY
Agenda Item 9.a.
Page 9
Slum Blight Area
Slum Blight Area shown in yellow '1
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RESOLUTION NO.
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EXHIBIT "B"
ALLOCATION OF PROGRAM YEAR 2012 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK
GRANT (CDBG) FUNDS
I Proiect and Cateaorv I Allocation I Reauested I Allocation I - -
Public Services 15% Cap - $9,540
CAPSLO - Maxine Lewis Memorial Shelter
CAPSLO - Forty Wonderful
I Big Brothers Big Sisters $1,050 1 $5,000 1 $1,000 1
CAPSLO - Senior Health Screening
CAPSLO - Teen Academic Parenting Program
(TAPP)
I Alliance for Pharmaceutical Access. Inc. I $1.050 1 $2.000 1 $1.000 I
$5,000
$1,500
of Architectural Barriers $35,187 1 $24,803 1 $24,803
835.187 1 824.803 1 824.803
$1,500
$1,050
I Code Enforcement Activities $10,000 1 $9,081 1 $9,081 1
$5,000
$2,200
I Administration $17,000 1 $12,721 1 $12,721 1
$5,000
$0
$2,200
$1,800
The City Manager is authorized to proportionally adjust final award amounts to each
recipient based upon final funding distribution by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
$0
$0
Agenda Item 9.a.
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Agenda Item 9.a.
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