Mercer County Affordable Housing Fund

MEETING MINUTES

MERCER COUNTY AFFORDABLE HOUSING FUND BOARD MEETING
Thursday – November 14, 2002
Mercer County Regional Planning Commission Offices

Present:

Board Members – R. Glenn Adams, Debra Arner, Sister Clare Marie Beichner, DeWitt Boosel, Dr. Joyce M. Cuff, Ron Errett, Thomas Fiscus, Donald A. Koontz, Jim Miale, Pamela Prince, Bob Siegfried and Dave Ryan

Others – Gary Cervone (Mercer County Community Action Agency), Ronda McClelland (Mercer County Recorder), Denny Puko (Executive Director, Mercer County Regional Planning Commission) and Chris Conti (Senior Planner, MCRPC)

Absent:

Board Members – Randy Riddle

Mr. Fiscus, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. He mentioned that during the board's first meeting in September, by-laws were adopted and that Mr. Fiscus, (Chairperson) Mr. Boosel (Vice-Chairperson) and Dr. Cuff (Secretary) were elected officers.

Board members and visitors introduced themselves and gave their backgrounds.

A motion was made by Mr. Siegfried and seconded by Dr. Cuff to approve the minutes of the September 4, 2002 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Fiscus asked Mr. Puko for background on the PA DCED Brownfields for Housing Initiative. Mr. Puko mentioned that this was the second year that Mercer County has received funding from this source. This year, $82,945 was available for eligible projects.

The Brownsfields for Housing funds are to be used for development projects on previously developed sites in core communities.

Mr. Puko then noted that MCRPC, as per the board's instruction, had developed a mailing list of potential applicants. Subsequently, two organizations submitted proposals--the Mercer County Community Action Agency (MCCAA) and Southwest Gardens Economic Development Corporation. The applicant's proposals totaled $82,163.61, therefore both projects were fundable under Mercer County's 2002 Brownsfields' allocation. After requests for additional information from both applicants, both proposals were reviewed for completeness and eligibility by MCRPC.

Southwest Gardens proposed to rehabilitate four homes in Farrell for rent or rent to own to qualifying families. They were requesting $19,851 in Brownsfields funding, to be matched by $4,962.80 of in-kind building materials.

The MCCAA proposed to construct three new homes on five potential sites, as well as four new rental units for transitional housing in Sharon and Farrell. The total cost of MCCAA's project was $735,999.22 and involved funds from a number of sources including their own. These funding sources included HUD, HOME, CDBG (City of Sharon) and Weed and Seed. MCCAA was currently requesting $62,312.41 in Brownsfields funding and will request $20,770.80 in Mercer County Act 137 funds during the spring of 2003 to complete the financing for the project.

Pending the board's recommendation, the county commissioners would approve the projects for this year's application at their November 21, 2002 meeting. MCRPC would then submit the county's application to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) by the December 2, 2002 deadline.

Mr. Siegfried asked if this funding would be lost if it was not used. Mr. Puko responded affirmatively, that part or all of this funding would be lost for fiscal year 2002 if not used.

Mr. Boosel asked if the proposals were ranked in any manner using the competitive selection criteria established for the Mercer County Affordable Housing Fund (MCAHF). Mr. Puko responded that since both projects could be funded, the applications were only reviewed for completeness. The board then discussed the merits of ranking the projects and agreed that it would be a useful exercise to rank the projects.

Mr. Puko then proceeded to review the two proposals using the competitive selection criteria established for MCAHF. The criteria established a ranking system that included four categories totaling 40 points. These categories included leverage (10 points), need, problem solving and impact (15 points), support and collaboration (5 points) and workability and experience (10 points). The proposals were scored by the board and the average scores were 26.3 for Southwest Gardens and 35.8 for MCCAA.

Several issues of concern were discussed concerning each proposal. Several members of the board including Mr. Siegfried, a housing rehabilitation contractor, questioned whether Southwest Gardens could undertake the wide range of improvements proposed for the four homes in Farrell for the cost enumerated for each house. It was felt that perhaps two houses, rather than four, would be able to be completed with the total project cost of $24,814. Mr. Puko mentioned that he would talk with both the applicant and DCED about this issue and perhaps the final Brownsfields application would state that a range of houses (2 to 4) would be undertaken with this funding by Southwest Gardens.

The Board discussed MCCAA's leveraging funding and the commitments from other sources. The application did produce documentation from the HUD, HOME, and CDBG funding sources and the organization did agree to provide $185,302 of its own funds. MCRPC did confirm that Weed and Seed funding is available for projects similar to that proposed by MCCAA. Other than the Brownsfields funding, MCCAA assumed funding from the MCAHF, funds that will not be available until spring of 2003. Mr. Puko mentioned that MCCAA would have to provide firm commitments to DCED and in essence would be responsible for all matching funds in order to be eligible for Brownsfields funding.

Mr. Boosel asked what entity would be responsible for monitoring applicants to insure successful delivery of the projects. Mr. Puko responded that MCRPC would be the monitoring agency and would not allow a project to commence without a solid project, working with the applicant beforehand if necessary.

A motion was made by Mr. Boosel to recommend to the county commissioners the inclusion of both proposals in the 2002 Mercer County Brownsfields for Housing Application to DCED. Mr. Adams seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Errett abstained from the vote. The discussion of the motion centered on approaching Southwest Gardens about revising the scope of their project.

The board then discussed the 2003 timeline for soliciting and selecting projects for the MCAHF. Applications will be solicited from March 1 to April 30 with the board meeting thereafter to make recommendation to the county commissioners. MCRPC would again review the applications for eligibility and completeness, conduct necessary workshops and mail the board the key components of the applications along with a ranking sheet to score the projects before the next meeting. The next meeting will be in May 2003 with a specific time, day and place to be determined.

A motion was made to adjourn the meeting by Mr. Boosel. Mr. Siegfried seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

 

 

Mercer County Regional Planning Commission
2491 Highland Road, Hermitage, PA 16148
mail@mcrpc.com    www.mcrpc.com

 

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