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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_HOUAB_03.21.2012Housing Advisory Board Minutes, March 21, 2012 1 City of Georgetown Housing Advisory Board Minutes March 21, 2012 at 3:30 p.m. New Planning Conference Room —Georgetown Municipal Complex 300-1 Industrial Ave., Georgetown, Texas 78626 Members present: Brad Curlee, Kyle Fisher, Gary Leissner, Ed Mullikin, Lalena Parkhurst, Tresa Sautier, Tim Todd, Clay Woodard Members absent: Ron Pergl Staff present: Jennifer C. Bills, Housing Coordinator; April Quade, Reporting Secretary This is a regular meeting of the Housing Advisory Board of the City of Georgetown. The Board, appointed by the Mayor and the City Council, makes recommendations to the City Council on affordable housing matters. Regular Session - To begin no earlier than 3:30 p.m. The meeting was called to order at 3:35 by Todd. Agenda 1. Election of Chair, Vice-chair and Secretary for the 2012-2013 Housing Advisory Board The board discussed nominations for Vice Chair and Secretary for the 2012-2013 Housing Advisory Board. Clay Woodard was nominated for Vice Chair and Kyle Fisher volunteered for Secretary. Motion by Curlee to approve the nomination of Woodard for Vice Chair and Fisher for Secretary. Second by Sauthier. Approved 7-0. Parkhurst not present, arrived late. 2. Consideration and possible action to approve minutes from the February 15, 2012 meeting. Curlee requested a correction be made on page 1 to remove, “abstain from the vote because he serves on the Habitat for Humanity Board”. Todd also stated a correction to be made in same paragraph to read, “abstain because he serves on the Georgetown Housing Authority Board”. Woodard arrived late at 3:38pm. Members congratulated Woodard on his appointment as the new Vice-chair. Motion to approve the minutes by Todd, second by Leissner. Motion approved 8-0. 3. Discussion and report on current actions at City Council meetings Housing Advisory Board Minutes, March 21, 2012 2 Todd introduced Ercel Brashear, who is the Chair of the Planning & Zoning Commission. Brashear said he has been in real estate business for 35 years and rarely sees an apartment complex that doesn’t “stir up dust”. Brashear said it is commonly articulated that those who inhabit apartments are less valuable than those that own a piece of property. Brashear suggested the board have the people that are going to inhabit the apartment complexes to help promote the Board’s vision. Brashear feels that 5-6 people at the city council podium will help tremendously. Woodward says previously they have focused on enlisting the assistance of the Chamber of Commerce for a statement of support. Woodward said he agrees that having a teacher or a firefighter or a police officer would be beneficial in speaking out in support to Council. Parkhurst said she may have a couple of people from Georgetown ISD that might be willing to speak at Council saying they live outside of Georgetown because they cannot afford to live in Georgetown. Brashear said putting a face on the residents of “affordable housing” will relieve the fear of those feeling at risk. Todd interrupted with introduction of 2 new members. Each member of the board introduced themselves with a brief description on their background and their purpose to serve with the Georgetown Housing Advisory Board. Todd reported the tax credit resolutions were passed at City Council. Todd explained that passing at City Council did not mean that the apartments were going to be constructed, but rather they could now proceed with the application of tax credits for their projects. Bills reported there was an item on the City Council agenda which was stated as a policy on low income affordable housing, but the item was pulled from the agenda. Bills also reported there is an item on the next City Council’s workshop, which will be held before the Council’s meeting on Tuesday. The item was placed on the workshop agenda by the City Manager. 4. Discussion on creating a presentation and talking points to take to City Council. Fisher discussed Bills email regarding the request to postpone the presentation to a later City Council meeting. The board discussed the City Council meeting held in April may not be received well. If waiting until June, new members of the City Council could determine a more favorable outcome. Housing Advisory Board Minutes, March 21, 2012 3 Todd reminded the Board of the bylaws in Section 1.2. Taking that purpose in mind, the charter “requires a Housing Element be in place” and currently there is not one. Todd stated the goal is to bring a Housing Element to the Council that they will pass. Fisher said a structure needs to be created that future projects can be evaluated against, such as the Palladium project that was recently presented to Council. Woodard agreed that a process needs to be in place. Fisher debated on when to take the presentation to City Council. Bills explained Council could vote to not have the housing element even though the charter requires it. Bills said the Board needs to respond to the Council’s comment regarding the impact on school district. Bills will pull numbers from TDHCA to see if there will be an impact. Brashear also suggested contacting the GISD demographer to get information the Board needs. Fisher suggested moving forward to the June City Council meeting if Todd is ready since he will be the person addressing the Council. Todd stated he will be out of town the first half of June and may not be prepared to present to Council. Todd suggested April or May or waiting until the September City Council meeting. Brashear suggested putting a “face” to those that would benefit from affordable housing and suggested the Board be proactive in creating a visible campaign to promote the board’s goals. Brashear proposed contacting The Williamson County Sun, posting information on the board’s website, or attend the Housing Authority Board social. Brashear said it is not necessary to have people speak at the Council meeting, but rather have them attend the meeting and let the Board tell the stories of those individuals. Bills suggested members might want to attend the Council workshop at the next Tuesday Council meeting and to also attend the Council meeting if possible. She would keep them informed on potentially interesting Council agenda items. Fisher suggested if waiting until a later meeting, the Board should focus on marketing ideas to foster public support. Board members agreed to wait until later council meeting and agreed to focus on a marketing effort. 5. Discussion and possible action on Chapters 1-11 of the draft Housing Element. Fisher recommended the Housing Element power point presentation include a slide that explains the “purpose of the Board”, which was created by Council. Parkhurst commented on Slide 4 and that there might be a better term to use other than “social responsibility”. Brashear suggested using the term “community responsibility”. Housing Advisory Board Minutes, March 21, 2012 4 Brashear suggested also changing the slide to read as “provides housing opportunities or expands housing opportunities”. 6. Consideration and Possible Action to set the date and time of the regular meeting of the Housing Advisory Board. Board discussed the option to change the date and/or time of the regular meeting. Everyone agreed the date and time should stay the same. The meeting date/time will continue as the 3rd Wednesday of the month, not to begin earlier than 3:30pm. 7. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 4:56pm. __________________________________ _______________________________________ Approved, Tim Todd, Chair Attest, Clay Woodard, Vice-Chair