CC_Minutes_2014_0825 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday,August 25, 2014 Page 30 Speaking to the concerns raised by Councilmember McGehee, Councilmember Willmus stated that he shared her concern, and questioned if the HRA should be- come a bank, and the need to be very aware of the possibility, when there was and should be a role for the private sector to play in those areas; and whether it may be considered a conflict when the City was doing the inspections, requiring some- thing to be fixed, and then making the property owner aware that funding was available from the City to make those repairs, a real concern for him. Mayor Roe noted the program should perhaps be modeled similar to other home- owner assistance and based on income qualification criteria. City Manager Trudgeon advised that staff could look at the program to review current qualifications for participation and whether any adjustments were indicat- ed. While understanding concerns related to any potential conflict of interest, Mr. Trudgeon also noted the HRA's desire to provide a low cost financing option if needed to get property owners to address those areas needing fixing during in- spections and get them done. Mr. Trudgeon advised that he wasn't immediately aware of the actual amount allotted in this program for loans, he recalled that it was a very small amount. Further, City Manager Trudgeon noted that the HRA already offered a revolving loan program, that was self-sustaining, and in partnership with the Housing Re- source Center (HRC) who administered the loans; so similar programs were al- ready in operation. Specific to that program, Councilmember Willmus opined that when the HRA got into situations with the housing replacement program, it needed to position itself to recoup costs when acquiring and reselling property (e.g. Hamlin property), and going forward needed to have a basis in place to recapture those funds. In hearing that the HRA needed to address cash flow issues as revenues from Ramsey County were received semi-annually, Councilmember Laliberte ques- tioned the need for reserves for the HRA since she didn't see them categorized as providing essential services, and her perception of the need for an emergency fund didn't apply in this case. Councilmember Laliberte stated that she was not thinking there was a need to build reserves up for those HRA programs. Councilmember Laliberte also noted that the HRA was not funding the City Communications position in 2015 and beyond; however, she questioned where those creative communication functions were to be supported in another way, ask- ing if they were no longer needed or if outside consultants would be meeting those needs moving forward. City Manager Trudgeon responded that it was a combination of funding, some separate and specific to the HRA and others part of overall City communication