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HRA Meeting Minutes – Tuesday, July 21, 2015 Page 8 1 more proactive and play a greater advocacy role in making sure development projects 2 come to fruition. 3 4 Member Etten it could be one role of the HRA, and suggested the word “advocacy” would 5 certainly fit in this initiative. 6 7 D.Member Elkins noted workforce housing was addressed as she’d wanted to make sure 8 happened. 9 10 Member Masche questioned how specific this needed to be in defining smaller rental 11 buildings, or general rental housing. With more information now available than before, 12 Member Masche noted the ability to reach out and incent small rental owners to improve their 13 aging housing stock. 14 15 Chair Maschka opined that got to Member Elkins’ comment by keeping language more global 16 than specific while addressing smaller rentals; noting that those older rentals and their owners 17 had received some of the best ratings. 18 19 Ms. Raye suggested adding language to “consider ways to incent owners of small rental 20 properties to continue to make improvements.” 21 22 Chair Maschka noted the need to consider how to incentivize and remain proactive in those 23 efforts. 24 25 At the request of Member Etten, Ms. Kelsey advised that participation levels and available 26 funds were in the process of staff review; with that information made available for rental 27 inspectors to alert owners of that available assistance that may be necessary for some property 28 owners to come into compliance. While that fund was used in assembling land for the Dale 29 Street Project, Ms. Kelsey asked that part of this strategic plan update include a review by the 30 HRA for direction to staff in how and when to use it for multi-family programming. Ms. 31 Kelsey estimated the availability of $600,000 to $800,000 at this time. 32 33 As happens with many older buildings, Chair Maschka noted that one of the needs was making 34 them accessible and perhaps funding improvements (e.g. elevator installation) for those 35 buildings by the HRA as an update or improvement may be an effective consideration. 36 37 Member Etten concurred that the funding program needed to be reviewed to see how it could 38 be made most useful. 39 40 By consensus, Letter “F” was added: “Explore uses of the Multi-Family Loan Program to 41 make it become more effective.” 42 43 Goal 5. Strengthen organizational effectiveness, innovation, and processes. 44 D>Chair Maschka suggested language be revised to add “Engage the City Council in the 45 relationship. 46 47 48 E>Chair Maschka opined this language needed to be more definitive based on discussions 49 about developing metrics and timelines, as long as everyone understood the intent. Chair 50 Maschka noted that, in the past, a list of projects and the HRA’s status was provided as a 51 quarterly checklist and could be done even more frequently if applicable to make sure 52 everyone – including the City Council and public – understood the process and where it 53 was at. 54 55 Member Wall noted that policies were at the micro level.