Consideration and Adoption of Resolution No. 2020-25: A Resolution amending the 2019/2020 Annual Action Plan to reallocate 2019/2020 Owner-Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program funds and allocate Community Development Block Grant Program COVID-19 (CDBG-CV) funds and authorizing submission of the amended 2019/2020 Annual Action Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Consideration and Adoption of Resolution No. 2020-26:  A Resolution approving the City of Flagstaff 2020/2021 Annual Action Plan and authorizing its submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Consideration and Action on Reallocation of General Funds to Coconino County Health and Human Services Eviction Prevention Program: Approval of the transfer of one-time general fund dollars in the amount of $59,000 currently reserved for the Mobile Home Assistance for Displaced Residents Program to the Coconino County Health and Human Services Eviction Prevention and Housing Stabilization Program.

For the amended 2019/2020 Annual Action Plan:

1. Read Resolution No.2020-25 by title only
2. City Clerk reads Resolution No. 2020-25 by title only (if approved above)
3. Adopt Resolution No. 2020-25

For the 2020/2021 Annual Action Plan:

1. Read Resolution No. 2020-26 by title only
2. City Clerk reads Resolution No. 2020-26 by title only (if approved above)
3. Adopt Resolution No. 2020-26

For the reallocation of general fund dollars to Coconino County Health and Human Services:

1. Approve and authorize the reallocation and expenditure of $59,000 of one-time general fund dollars from the Mobile Home Assistance Program to the Coconino County Health and Human Services Eviction Prevention and Housing Stabilization Program
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute the necessary documents

This staff summary covers three separate requested Council actions.  The first is the approval of the City of Flagstaff’s 2020/2021 Annual Action Plan that is a required submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). This document identifies how the 2020/2021 CDBG allocation will address Flagstaff’s community needs identified in the 2016-2020 Consolidated Plan and how funding will be distributed within Flagstaff city limits.

Additionally, this staff summary is for the approval of the second substantial amendment to the 2019/2020 Annual Action Plan submitted to HUD in August of 2019.  The second substantial amendment identifies how CDBG-CV will be allocated to the Flagstaff community.  CDBG-CV funds, provided by the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act will be allocated to the City of Flagstaff for the prevention of, preparation for, and response to the COVID-19 Infectious Disease and will address Flagstaff’s urgent community needs related to COVID-19.

This staff summary is also for the consideration and action on Council direction regarding one-time general fund dollars available for Coconino County’s Eviction Prevention program. At the April 24, 2020, Budget Retreat, City Council directed staff to move $59,000 in the City of Flagstaff General Funds currently reserved for the Mobile Home Assistance for Displaced Residents program to Coconino County Health and Human Services’ (CCHHS) Eviction Prevention and Housing Stabilization program. These funds will be leveraged with the CDBG allocation and administered in their combined entirety as one program contract between CCHHS and the City of Flagstaff.

CDBG 2020/2021 Annual Action Plan
Approval of Resolution 2020-XX is critical to the City of Flagstaff receiving its annual CDBG entitlement allocation. The 2020/2021 CDBG allocation is $611,295.  In addition, the City of Flagstaff is able to include program income and reallocated funds from past year grants to increase funding available for projects. Those additional funds equal $48,986.00.  Therefore, a grand total of $660,281.00 is available for the 2020/2021 program year, through the Annual Action Plan process. The proposed allocation takes into consideration the City’s financial impacts by including the estimated indirect rate of 10%.

CDBG 2019/2020 Amended Annual Action Plan
Approval of Resolution 2020-XX will amend the City of Flagstaff’s 2019/2020 Annual Action Plan and expedite CDBG-CV funding into the Flagstaff community. The amendment will de-obligate up to $174,000 in funds previously allocated to the City of Flagstaff’s Owner-Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program and incorporate CDBG-CV funds provided by the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act. The City of Flagstaff CDBG-CV allocation is $359,604. For this proposed allocation, the City has waived the indirect rate of 10% in order to maximize community benefit.

Approval of General Funds for CCHHS Eviction Prevention
Approval of the reallocation of one-time general fund dollars in the amount of $59,000 currently reserved for the Mobile Home Assistance for Displaced Residents Program, to the Coconino County Health and Human Services Eviction Prevention and Housing Stabilization Program. While this approval will temporarily defund Contract No. 2019-62, the contract between Flagstaff Shelter Services and the City of Flagstaff will remain in place and the program will be refunded in the future when funds are available.

 The City of Flagstaff Council's CDBG Priorities: 

• Provide affordable housing (rental and ownership)
• Address homelessness
• Improve neighborhood revitalization
• Promote workforce job training
• Support education/ early childhood development

REGIONAL PLAN:

Goal NH.1. Foster and maintain healthy and diverse urban, suburban, and rural neighborhoods in the Flagstaff region.

• Policy NH.1.1. Preserve and enhance existing neighborhoods.

Goal NH.4. All housing is safe and sanitary.

• Policy NH.4.1. Expand the availability of affordable housing throughout the region by preserving existing housing, including housing for very low-income persons.
• Policy NH.4.3.Address accessibility issues and other housing barriers to persons with disabilities or special needs.
• Policy NH.4.4. Encourage green practices in housing construction and rehabilitation that support durable, healthy, and energy efficient homes.
• Policy NH.4.5. Renovate the existing housing stock to conserve energy and reduce utility and maintenance costs for owners and occupants.
• Policy NH.4.7. Enforce compliance with fair housing laws.

Goal NH.5. Eliminate homelessness.

• Policy NH.5.1. Provide adequate resources for families with children experiencing homelessness.
• Policy NH.5.2. Provide adequate resources for individuals experiencing homelessness.
• Policy NH.5.3. Support and expand programs that prevent homelessness.
• Policy NH.5.4. Make transitional housing resources available to populations experiencing homelessness.

Staff received Council direction on local priorities during the January 29^th, 2019 Council meeting. Those priorities are identified in Policy Impact above and Background/ History below.

Staff received Council direction on funding recommendations for the use of 2020/2021 CDBG and CDBG-CV funding during the May 12, 2020, Council work session.

At the April 24, 2020, Budget Retreat City Council directed staff to move $59,000 in the City of Flagstaff General Funds currently reserved for the Mobile Home Assistance for Displaced Residents program to the Coconino County Health and Human Services’ Eviction Prevention and Housing Stabilization program.

1. Approve Resolutions, authorize the submission of the Annual Action Plans to HUD, and authorize the reallocation of general fund dollars.
2. Modify Resolutions and authorize the submission to HUD and/or modify and authorize the reallocation.
3. Not approve Resolutions and/or reallocation.

CDBG 2020/2021 Annual Action Plan
In order to receive CDBG funding, the City must complete and submit to HUD the required 2020-2021 Annual Action Plan. This plan describes how CDBG funds will be used in the coming year.
Every two years, staff requests funding guidance from Council on CDBG Priorities and the overall CDBG process for the coming two years.  In January of 2019 Council received an overview of the CDBG program and established five priorities:

1. Provide affordable housing (rental and ownership)
2. Serve those experiencing homelessness
3. Improve neighborhood revitalization
4. Promote workforce job training
5. Support education/ early childhood development

In the 2020 CDBG process, five external agency proposals were received.  There was one internal City of Flagstaff request. The total requested in CDBG funding from all proposals was $791,640. $660,281.00 is available for the 2020/2021 program year, through the Annual Action Plan process.

Housing staff are responsible for determining whether a proposed activity is eligible and conducting a risk assessment of the project and applying agency. Federal funds require administrative knowledge, capacity to ensure compliance and timely expenditure of funds.  A ranking committee comprised of three community representatives and three City staff met to review the external proposals and rank them by consensus. Rankings primarily serve as a risk and benefit assessment and are the guiding input for staff recommendations forwarded to City Council.

Below is a list of the proposals in order of ranking. The proposals are categorized by Housing and Public Service categories as HUD has two separate funding limits and different criteria. For the 2020/2021 program year HUD has waived the required 15% public service cap for projects that respond to, prepare for and prevent the COVID-19 infectious disease.

Internal City of Flagstaff proposals are presented to meet City Council priorities or other unmet needs in the community and are not ranked (NR) competitively with the other proposals, since the City would administer these projects directly.
 

Housing Activities	Proposal/Project	Request	Ranking
Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona	Sharon Manor Renovation	$244,400	119
Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona	Permanent Supportive Housing Acquisition	$115,000	113
City of Flagstaff	La Plaza Vieja Infrastructure	$200,000	Internal

 

Public Service Activity	Proposal/Project	Request	Ranking
Flagstaff Shelter Services	Housing as Healthcare Program	$100,000	152
Threaded Together	Sewing and Textile Employment Pathway (STEP) Program	$32,240	109
Tynkertopia	Full STEAM Ahead Job Training Program	$100,000	53

 
CDBG 2019/2020 Amended Annual Action Plan and CDBG-CV funding
In order to receive and incorporate CDBG-CV funding, the City must submit to HUD the required substantial amendment to the 2019-2020 Annual Action Plan. This amendment describes how CDBG-CV funds will be used.

To determine the most efficient and effective use of the CDBG-CV funds, housing staff contacted six local, non-profit agencies who provide essential community services and have successfully administered City of Flagstaff CDBG funded projects within the last 6 years. Agencies were asked to submit an “Agency Needs Assessment” detailing urgent needs for responding to, preparing for and preventing the COVID-19 Infectious Disease. Three agencies returned needs assessments requesting $535,000 for COVID-19 related projects. The CDBG-CV funds provided by the CARES Act and allocated to the City of Flagstaff equal $359,604. The three agencies that did not submit a request for funding all sent responses supporting the requested CDBG-CV projects.  

Additionally, HUD has urged entitlement communities to consider the use of allocated CDBG funds for the prevention and response to community spread of COVID-19. Therefore, staff is recommending a de-obligation and reallocation of up to $164,000 from the Owner Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program (OOHR) for allocation to COVID-19 response programs. Due to health and safety concerns caused by the pandemic the OOHR program is going to be paused for the time being. This brings the total available for funding up to $533,604.
Below is a list of the agency needs received by housing staff.

All agency needs are in the public service category. For the 2019/2020 program year and CDBG-CV allocations HUD has waived the required 15% public service cap for projects that respond to, prepare for and prevent the COVID-19 infectious disease.
 

Public Service Activity	Proposal/Project	Request
Flagstaff Shelter Services	COVID-19 Infectious Disease Response	$280,000
Catholic Charities	Homeless Services	$80,000
Coconino County Health and Human Services	Eviction Prevention and Housing Stabilization	$175,000

Approval of General Funds for CCHHS Eviction Prevention
The FY 2018-2019 budget included $100,000 in one-time general fund dollars for the purpose of assisting households being displaced from the closure of mobile home parks.  The City entered into a Professional Services Contract with Flagstaff Shelters Services for the Mobile Home Assistance for Displaced Residents Program to provide these services for up to $100,000. A total of 35 Arrowhead households received relocation assistance support during the Arrowhead Village Park closure. Of those 35 households, 14 households received assistance with city funding totaling $15,438. The remaining balance is $84,562.

These funds are made available to mobile-home owners during a qualifying event such as a “change in land use” filed in accordance with the Arizona Mobile Home Parks Landlord and Tenant Act. In the past 12 months, these funds have not been utilized.    
 
At the April 24, 2020 Budget Retreat directed that $59,000 be reallocated from this purpose to the Coconino County Eviction Prevention program and $25,000 be reallocated to the Boys and Girls Club of Flagstaff in order to respond to urgent community need due to COVID-19.

In order to receive CDBG funding, the City must complete an Annual Action Plan that describes how CDBG funds will be used in the coming year and how the activities will accomplish the goals outlined in the 2016-2020 Consolidated Plan.

The creation of the Consolidated Plan is an extensive process involving public and stakeholder input (gathered through surveys, public meetings and a 45 day public comment period), community needs assessments and a housing market analysis. The data outlined in the Consolidated Plan helps determine the relative priority of activities and the populations that will be served in the coming years.

CDBG 2020/2021 Annual Action Plan
For the 2020/2021 Annual Action Plan, the ranking committee, along with staff are recommending that the City of Flagstaff fully fund the external Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona Sharon Manor Rehabilitation project and two of the external public services proposals, Flagstaff Shelter Services and Threaded Together. Remaining funds would be used to partially fund the City of Flagstaff internal infrastructure project in the La Plaza Vieja target neighborhood as outlined in the chart below:

2020/2021 Allocation

Total 2020 Entitlement Award	$611,295.00
Program Income (PI) and de-obligated funds	$48,986.00
Total Available	$660,281.00
Administration (20%)
Grant Compliance and Administration	$64,974.00
Estimated City Indirect Rate of 10%	$60,026.00
Total Administration	$125,000.00

 
2020/2021 CDBG Funding Recommendations

Housing/Economic Development Activities	Recommended Funding	Individuals/Households Served
Housing Solutions of Northern Arizona Sharon Manor Renovation	$244,400.00	8 households
City of Flagstaff La Plaza Vieja Infrastructure	$157,433.00	2,230 individuals
Total Housing/Economic Development Activities	$401,833.00
Public Service Activities (15% Cap)	Recommended Funding
Flagstaff Shelter Services Housing as Healthcare and COVID-19 Response Program	$100,000.00	500 individuals
Threaded Together Sewing and Textile Employment Pathway and COVID-19 Response Program	$32,240.00	3 individuals
Total Public Service Activities	$132,240.00
Administration	$125,000.00
Total City of Flagstaff Fund Request	$660,281.00	2,733 individuals 8 households

 
CDBG 2019/2020 Amended Annual Action Plan
For the 2019/2020 Amended Annual Action Plan, staff is recommending that the City of Flagstaff reallocate funds from the OOHR project and combine these funds with the CDBG-CV funds and allocate funds for Eviction Prevention and Housing Stabilization administered by Coconino County Health and Human Services, and Flagstaff Shelter Services and Catholic Charities homeless services as outlined in the chart below:

CDBG-CV and 2019 Allocation

Total CDBG CV Entitlement Award	$359,604.00
De-obligated OOHR Funds	$164,000.00
Total Available	$523,604.00
Administration (10% of CDBG-CV Allocation only)
Grant Compliance and Administration	$35,960.40
Estimated City Indirect Rate of 10%	$0
Total Administration	$35,960.40

 
CDBG-CV and 2019 Funding Recommendations

Public Service Activities (15% Cap)	Recommended Funding
Flagstaff Shelter Services Housing as Healthcare and COVID-19 Response Program	$250,000.00	600 individuals
Catholic Charities Homeless Services	$73,643.60	560 individuals
Coconino County Health and Human Services Eviction Prevention and Housing Stabilization	$164,000.00	91 households
Total Public Service Activities	$487,643.60
Administration	$35,960.40
Total City of Flagstaff Fund Request	$533,604.00	1,160 individuals 91 households

**In addition to CDBG-CV funds, Coconino County Health and Human Services’ Eviction Prevention and Housing Stabilization program will also receive $59,000 in City of Flagstaff General Funds per Council direction at the April 24, 2020 Budget Retreat. These funds will be leveraged with the CDBG allocation and administered in their combined entirety as 1 program contract between CCHHS and the City of Flagstaff. Those funds are not indicated in these recommendations. 

Within the 2016-2020 Consolidated Plan and excluding administration, Flagstaff has leveraged $1,177,287.11 in CDBG expenditures with $4,805,665.71 in other, private or public funds.

Flagstaff is proud of prior year CDBG accomplishments and continues to utilize viable resources to improve the quality of life in this community. In all, approximately 6,050 individuals and an additional 31 households were beneficiaries of CDBG services during the 2018 Program Year. If funded, the above recommendations would serve an additional 2,733 individuals and 8 households in the 2020/2021 program year and an additional 1,160 individuals and 91 households in the 2019/2020 program year.

Public process requirements for the Annual Action Plan offer extensive community involvement and collaboration ranging from public meetings and public comment periods to a ranking focused committee.

First Public Meeting January 30^th, 2020

• Display advertisement (January 5^th & 12^th, 2020 – AZ Daily Sun)
• Meeting to discuss the CDBG proposal process and the Annual Action Plan

Second Public Meeting February 28^th, 2020

• Display advertisement (February 9^th & 16^th, 2020 – AZ Daily Sun)
• Meeting to review the submitted proposals and allowed public comment in preparation for making funding recommendations to City Council

 
Third Public Meeting - Council Meeting May 12 and May 19

• Display advertisement for Council meeting discussion CDBG 2020/2021 AAP, Amended 2019/2020 AAP and CDBG-CV funds (May 6^th, 2020 – AZ Daily Sun)
   

CDBG 2020/2021 Annual Action Plan
With efforts to attract a diverse group of social service agencies, emails were distributed to all members of Coconino County’s Continuum of Care (300 members).  Additionally, agencies that had previously requested information and/or had been involved in the CDBG proposal process in prior years received personal invitations.  The proposal format was provided at the first public meeting and placed on the City website with a submission deadline of February 20^th, 2020.  Five external agency proposals were received along with two City of Flagstaff requests.

CDBG 2019/2020 Amended Annual Action Plan
Utilizing a recently published waiver of regulations, there was a five-day (instead of a 30 day) Public Comment Period from May 6^th – 11^th, 2020.  An advertisement for Public Notice was published in the Arizona Daily Sun on May 6^th, and the proposed DRAFT Resolutions, the 2019/2020 Amended Annual Action Plan and DRAFT 2020/2021 Annual Action Plan were made available on the City of Flagstaff website starting May 6^th, 2020.

With efforts to eliminate risk in federal spending, all while expediating CDBG-CV dollars to the greatest need, housing staff contacted six local, non-profit agencies who provide essential community services and have successfully administered City of Flagstaff CDBG funded projects within the last 6 years. Three agencies submitted Agency Needs Assessments detailing urgent needs for responding to, preparing for and preventing the COVID-19 Infectious Disease. The three agencies that did not submit a request for funding sent responses supporting the requested CDBG-CV projects.