City Council and CRHA Joint Meeting   6/25/2024

We don't have any action on it.

Five minutes or so.

Mr. Payne, you join it.

Which side are you on?

This is a game.

He's going to just run back and forth when he is staying outside.

How are you?

Thank you so much.

We can't wait to have this meeting because we just want to ask for $75 million.

Oh, my God.

I want it from Mr. Sanders.

Where so you doing that?

Okay, the rest of the council is getting a Duncan stroke.

I'm checking my calendar right now.

No, no, no.

You don't have to get in, I guess.

Yeah.

Well, we have four of us here, Mayor Wade.

If you'd like to just start out, others will be walking in.

So we're, we're fine.

We're starting.

Okay.

So, um, well, um, Madam Clerk, will you call the road?

Is it official?

I mean, do we call the road for this?

Okay.

The agenda says so.

Okay.

Here.

So John, I just kind of wanted to just kind of start off that this is something we have been wanting to do for a while.

But it's always something that's come up just to kind of get these two boards together as far as I know for the two and a half years since I've been on here there.

We haven't met as jointly.

But I see the purpose of this means just for us to get an update on

What you all are doing, I always get questions on, you know, when is West Haven going to be redeveloped?

What's going on with South First Street and things like that?

And so you can present and then we can just have a dialogue.

So there's no, it's not anything that we want to vote on or anything.

Thank you, Mr. Sales.

Alright, I'd like to first start by thanking everyone for being here today, City Council, CRJ Board of Commissioners, CRJ staff, City staff.

The presentation is broken down into three categories.

We're currently undergoing a strategic planning session, and so I'm going to provide you all with our three goals that we've established.

We are undergoing redevelopment, so there's going to be an update on our redevelopment process and then any strategic initiatives that we have undergoing and some new initiatives that align with you all's housing plan, a formal housing plan.

Go to the next slide.

So our strategic plan was designed off of three pillars, residents first, community building, and inspiring transformation.

Next slide.

So our first goal is to foster an environment that advances residents' stability and well-being.

Our second goal is to drive redevelopment and preservation opportunities through community collaboration and partnerships.

And our third goal is to equip CRHJ with organizational structure that stores a healthy relationship with residents in the Charlottesville community.

I'm sorry.

Next slide.

You can skip two.

So we're now going into redevelopment.

Our redevelopment has been broken up into two phases or multiple phases.

Our first phase of redevelopment was Crescent Halls and South First Street Phase One.

So the Crescent Halls Development was a senior development, senior disabled development that was built in 1978.

In the renovation process, the planning started in 2018.

Go to the next slide.

Actual construction began on April 2021.

We saw significant delays due to COVID.

We had a significant water leak within two months of starting a project that flooded half of the building.

We had to relocate all of the residents in the building that increased the cost.

And so that delayed the project significantly.

We also have some issues with contractor capacity after about two years of being in a project.

And so we end up having to switch contractors around 75% completion.

Next slide.

So in May, we began reoccupying the building.

We started with the sixth, seventh and eighth floor.

At that point, the residents started moving back in, but we still had significant work on other floors.

Next slide.

GMA Construction, their hit court in Chicago.

So the building has received substantial completion.

We're currently in the process of finalizing permanent financing.

So we're working with Virginia Housing to get that complete.

We have some small projects that were not originally included in our redevelopment, such as a gazebo for residents that will allow them to be able to smoke without being caught in the rain and a traffic gate.

that goes along First Street.

This traffic gate was requested by residents to close off the speedway that goes from First Street to Second Street where folks used to cut through.

And so that gate should be going up within the next 30 days.

The building still serves seniors and persons with disabilities.

All the building has been completely renovated, including community spaces, a renovated clinic, a new mailroom, resident control heating and cooling systems, two tub rooms that are available for residents because the bathrooms were converted to walk-in showers.

And so we do have some tub rooms that are available for reservations that the residents can reserve.

We've also added increased additional handicap parking spaces that are closer to the building and improved accessibility in all the apartments, solar panels on the roof, which were donated by the Dave Matthews Band and refurbished elevator systems.

Next slide.

The building still consists of 105 units, but we've changed the subsidy mix of the building.

The building used to be 100% public housing, now it's 53 public housing units and 52 project-based voucher units.

The project was funded through a long-term housing tax credit, the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund, which is our private donor, the city of Charlottesville, and loan financing.

The city's contribution was 1.8 million.

Mr. Sales, I'm sorry to interrupt.

I just want to make sure I clarify for the members of council not to disrespect you in any capacity, but do you all understand the difference between public housing units and project-based voucher units?

Yes, I can do that.

So a project based voucher unit is a regular HTV voucher, but it's place based.

So it's specific to that unit.

So any resident that moves into that unit will get the assistance.

So instead of like a regular voucher where you can take it to whatever home you would like, this voucher stays with that home and any family that goes into that home within the next 20 years receives that assistance.

And we have the ability to continue renewing that contract.

and so it allows this project to actually pay for, like to pay for the financing.

So on average public housing unit, including subsidy and rent, it's about $600 a month in rent.

That subsidy in the tenant rent and that covers operation, utility bills, property taxes covers everything.

It's supposed to cover everything.

But with this new form, with the voucher, we'll be able to charge closer to market rents and the federal government will pay the difference of what the tenant is supposed to pay and the actual market rate rent.

So like one bedroom is now $1,500 instead of $600 is what we're getting for that.

The only question I've had about, I've been aware of the push to getting more voucher as opposed to public housing.

because there's some protections that are in the public housing units that you don't have in the regular voucher units.

So like the right to organize, the right to a grievance process.

And so those things aren't baked in the voucher program because the voucher program is typically more market rate.

So I didn't remember whether the 53 was the public housing, the 53, public housing, 52,

Boucher, does that mix?

I mean, it seems convenient that you've got slightly more than 15% as public housing.

No, it's only a marker.

So each project is going to be different.

And so we determine how that mix works.

And you're going to see in 6th Street, we've changed it based upon getting finances back.

So the way it works is based upon what it cost us as a drop down plane as I can get.

When you change the numbers, it does even better, yes.

But what we're looking at is what is the minimum we have to do in order to make this project work financially, provide the services that our residents would like, while also being able to protect the actual physical units that there's baked in protections from the federal government around the ACC units.

and we're looking at ways where the units we didn't bring back.

So there's 52 faircloth units, units that are sitting sitting dormant.

We're looking at ways where we can implement those.

So then it brings a net positive increase in subsidized units, which we're already doing.

Thank you, Mr. Sales.

Thanks a lot.

So this is the second project of our phase one projects and this is South 1st Street, phase one.

This project is a 62 unit development in between three apartment buildings.

It originally began planning in 2018 with residents.

Residents were not as involved because this was supposed to be a project that allowed CRJ to start relocating to start Crescent halls.

As this development went through the process, it was determined that that was not the best approach for renovating Crescent Halls.

And so this became a standalone development for the relocation of South Furshey Phase II project.

This was originally a vacant field and was used for baseball, playground and basketball in the garden.

It was a community garden here as well.

Um, this construction begin in February 2021.

And there's a there is a video, but we're not going to play it, but it's Joey Johnson and some other folks.

Sally Hudson and the Kaya Walker actually doing the groundbreaking.

Next slide.

So this project also experienced COVID delays because it was slated to begin in 2020, which was when COVID went rampant.

It experienced significant increases.

None of these projects, these two projects required us to come back to the city.

We did go back to other donors and to other fund government sources to get additional funding to close the gaps.

But we got the projects completed and this development is fully occupied.

The third building came online in July 2023.

It features a community center, fitness room, computer lab, property manager office, and both developments have free Wi-Fi for the next 30 years.

Next slide.

The rents are subsidized at this property with 13 public housing units, 24 project based voucher units and 25 non subsidized units that are primarily filled with vouchers because there's not enough housing units available.

And so when these tax-traded properties come online, they fill up quickly with vouchers.

This project was also funded through long-term housing tax credit, the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund, the City of Charlottesville, and loans from Virginia Housing.

Are there any?

Can I ask something really quickly to that one?

I think, so when you all, just for council's clarification, when people ask to a certain extent like what's the relationship or how does council and the resources in which you allocate directly impact the housing authority,

I don't know if there's a greater project than South 1st Street.

This is one in which we allocated the funds shortly after everything transpired in 2017, well before everything transpired in 2017 in that budget.

And even with the COVID delays in less than, you know, seven years, we see a leased up project with individuals from the community living in a very, very nice apartment complex, quote unquote, and with several amenities.

and individuals truly enjoying where they live and I think again that's like the direct impact from you all providing resources and when you all not only match our funds but we have the forward thinking of us all committing to housing these are the benefits and this is what happens and then essentially our citizens and our residents because

Holistically, they're all of our residents.

I mean, they may be under the auspice of CRHA, but they live in the city of Charlottesville.

Our residents are the benefactors.

So when we're again thinking about what we can do moving forward, just look no further than South 1st Street and how nice it is in the work in which the housing authority staff is doing as a model for what we're looking to do moving forward.

Yes.

And I'll just add that the South Furshey Phase 2 project did receive zero energy ready certification.

We went for passive house.

Question for you.

This is an impressive amount of work.

How are you getting all of this done?

Do you have people that you've hired as project managers?

Is your architecture firm doing a lot of that work for you?

We have a huge team, not a CRHA employee team, but we have a huge team of our development partner has brought a lot of resources to the table.

River Bend AHG has assisted us with project management.

They've assisted us.

VCDC, Virginia Community Development Corporation has assisted with the tax indication.

finding other funding sources like the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, DHCD.

So we've had, we have a lot of different hands at the table.

And that's for the first few projects that assistance will slowly triple away as we go further down the line in CRJ's Building Act capacity internally with the assistance of AHG.

No, it's all pro bono.

They allow us to keep the developer fee, which we put a portion of it back into the project to make sure it's sustainable.

And then we use the remainder, which these projects will be the first two projects to receive a developer fee.

We'll use that to invest in the staff.

I'm just curious, I'm noticing as we look through these summaries that you've given us that the city investment in South First Street amounts to roughly one sixteenth of the growth development cost and then the percentage and the amount of the

It's all about what's the need and what's the gap.

And so on some projects, there are additional resources that are available.

So there's a lot of green money out right now.

And so we're applying for a lot of green retrofit funds to close gaps, but we don't plan on that money always being available.

And so we're trying to give you numbers now to project for construction that starts three, four, five years on the road.

And for like West Haven, we're talking about three, three different phases.

between an eight and ten year total gap.

And so they're very rough numbers and there's been a huge cost and construction increase.

And so that's going to be part of the increase that you're seeing just on South First Street alone.

There was a 40% increase on the phase two project, which is why we had to go back and do a whole lot of redesigning.

I fully appreciate there are a lot of uncertainties.

Anytime you're talking about

No, that project is probably going to be one of the cheaper of the projects.

It was priced a little bit before COVID.

We were able to keep the contract a locked in a little bit.

We had more or contract a less leeway.

as we write contracts now, that is not the case because they have been burned, the contracts have been burned on COVID.

So they've learned their lesson to give themselves some breathing room with inflation and cost changes.

And so we're now seeing that and projecting that out in our costs.

Thank you.

Alright, next slide.

So our second phase of projects is South Furshey Phase 2, which demolition started yesterday.

The first building was knocked down, which was 912.

You can go to the next slide.

This is the second building, Brandon updated these photos today.

So now they're working on the 914 building.

Next slide.

This is the overall site plan of what South 1st Street will look like in totality.

To the left side of the of the screen, you'll see South 1st Street Phase 1, which are the white buildings.

You have a little parking lot in between.

Sorry.

South 1st Street Phase 1 is here.

Phase 2 is here.

So South first phase two had a in depth resident planning.

They met every Sunday to hash out the details on what South first phase two look like.

And at the end of the agreement, they agreed to increase the density from 58 units to 113 units.

It's a mixture of townhomes and small apartment buildings, a community center and a CRJ office building.

that's mixed into the apartment building that's at the corner of Elliott Avenue.

Next slide.

So the full build out of South First Street fate of all phases will go from 58 units, 175 units of that 150 of those units are deeply affordable, which means families at zero to 30% AMI could afford to live in those units with the subsidy subsidy that's attached to the units.

Next slide.

Actually, can we go back one slide?

I'm sorry.

And this project is 100.

The second phase of the project is all of our project-based voucher units, as I was explaining earlier with the us determining which mix to use.

Once we penciled out what the previous mix was, which was 38 public housing units,

It didn't pencil out.

We could not make the project work with the debt needed to fund the project.

And so we removed all public housing units and converted them all to project-based voucher to make the debt mix work for this project.

Phase one.

And phase two.

Phase two.

Yes, all 113 are project-based vouchers.

But you'll still be able to serve families from zero to 30% AMI.

So John, additional 120 units or so, are they going to be drawn from people in the city's waiting list?

So all of the project-based voucher units we use draw from the public housing wait list.

As we begin the redevelopment process, we knew we were taking off public housing units from the pool in order to do redevelopment.

And so at Crescent Hall is an example.

We had 105 units.

We removed

52.

We wanted to make sure that the families that were still on that pressing halls wait list still had 105 chances to get into those units instead of now only 53 chances.

How flexible is changing that mix?

No, you can change it at any time as long as you can financially afford to pay the debt.

Yes, so we can't go over 376 public housing units.

So if we wanted to convert, we could convert all the units back at

Crescent Halls and convert 58 at the South First Street project.

So the Fair Claw Amendment was a law passed to keep housing authorities from growing, adding additional public housing units to the market.

And so each housing authority was capped at the number that they had at that time in ours is 376.

So we can't go above 376 public housing units.

But you can have other units that are not public housing such as project makes vouchers and non subsidized units.

In our case, 98% of that is likely.

Next slide.

So the second project of this phase is six street phase one, and we're currently in the HUD and city approval process.

Next slide.

So this is building A, which is what we've been calling it, of the 6th Street Development.

It's a four story mixed use building.

It has a UVA clinic.

We've signed an agreement with UVA to have a clinic on the first floor.

We have space for a farmer's market of sort, resident service space, and ample community space for residents.

This development is estimated to cost $30 million.

It's funded through long-term housing tax credit, the Fortwood Housing Opportunity Fund, the City of Charlottesville, and loan financing.

City contribution is $3 million.

The rent subsidy mix is six public housing units and 41 project-based voucher units.

And we are currently in the process of waiting for mixed finance approval from HUD.

We're estimating construction to begin in

the winter of 2024 and completion by the end of 2026.

This is a project where we also went back and forth on the subsidy mix.

At one point interest rates were so high we could not bring back any public housing units because of debt service.

Interest rates have gone down.

Virginia housing has been

willing to work with us because they want us to bring back public housing units.

It's part of their mission.

And so they've given us a reduced interest rate in order to get us to bring back six public housing units.

And so we're currently going back in the process to get HUD approvals.

We did have HUD approvals to knock down all the public housing, knock down the public housing units and rebuild the 47 units as project based vouchers.

Yes.

Yeah, to start construction by the end of 2024.

We've already emptied out.

It's six apartment units on that row.

Two years, correct.

Yeah, most of our projects are estimated between 18 months and two years.

All right, next slide.

The building is made up of one, two and three bedroom units.

The ground floor includes a computer lab, medical clinic, outdoor space includes a basketball court and playground.

and Nick Slott.

And this building is going to be at the corner of Monticello and 6th Street.

So it's going to be facing Kindlewood.

Nick Slott.

The third phase of our redevelopment projects, and we're currently in the planning stages, the rezoning through a curve ball for 6th Street.

And so we had to go back and make some changes to get closer to

what the city's plan is for that area.

We still have some changes that we're going to request some amendments to make the project work, but we're a lot closer than we were when the zoning change.

Next slide, sorry.

So the full build out, anticipated full build out for this site is going to go from 25 units to 95 units.

The units will be deeply afforded what 30% AMI and lower.

We are looking at home ownership opportunities on this site between three to six.

So the conversation is around, will they be double stacked units or are they going to be single townhouse units?

And so they can be two over twos.

or a single challenge unit.

So it's either going to be three or six, but the final termination has not been made on that yet.

But there's some new money available for home ownership around public housing.

So John, several of these, of course, you talk about the increase in the number of units.

Yes.

I do think so.

The residents have really showed a lot of courage and willingness to go above what the norm is.

Normally folks have that nimby, the nimby is I'm not in my backyard.

They're worried about losing green space of the sense of community.

Um, but like watching the South first few residents work and go from, Hey, we just want to bring back what we have.

to OK, maybe we'll do a little bit more.

They're almost tripling what was already there, and that only brings more families and more opportunities for folks to get housed that have been on waitlist for years.

And so I do think these projects would have gone through.

So we're building playgrounds, smaller playgrounds at all of our sites.

So in South First Street Phase 1 there's a playground directly behind the building.

At South First Street Phase 1 there's already a playground in between the 1050 and 1052 building.

We're building a larger playground in Phase 2 of that community.

And as you will see as we go through here, CRHA and our partners have really invested in amenity space and playgrounds, not only at these sites, but also at the other sites.

And we're working with our development partner for the residents to design their own playground.

Our development partner has worked previously with the organization that designs playgrounds with the community so the community can actually pick what components make up that playground and it's a one-off.

I would only add though in addition to the playgrounds if you see some of our clubhouse space quote unquote or like kind of the spaces that we have for the residents they're top notch they're top tier in every way imaginable because we've also noticed from a lot of the young people playing on the playground is one thing but playing games and video games with that nature is also something that they really enjoy to do

So we have to provide a multitude of space spatial options for not only the young persons in the community but their parents as well because we have a very thriving population of a multitude of different ethnicities.

So fitting in different ways for us to be able to address the needs of our residents is really important which I think Mr. Sales and his staff as well as the Housing Authority Board as a whole we've been trying to address those needs in a wide variety of different ways but

We also know that these things are expensive.

So in some regard, I think we have to be very creative in the way in which we go about covering the cost for some of these items.

Would that be accurate, Mr. Sands?

Let me mention something that sort of might involve concerns.

I'm looking at this.

And it's not a concern about any particular project, but rather the entire whole scheme between losing the soccer field at, and what's now Kindlewood, between losing the open space at the corner of sixth and Monticello with another open space gone.

First Street, that open space is gone.

I remember in back in the 1980s,

What the Turkey Bowl is.

There was a proposal to have, you know, there was going to be some housing and there was going to be a playground that was, you know, built up, not just a field.

And he basically said, where are kids going to just play ball?

And I'm wondering where, I mean, where they might play basketball is one thing, where they would kick a soccer ball or throw a football or something like that.

Yeah, I think it's a very unique and very complicated issue to say the least.

I mean, on one hand, we know the desperate need for housing as well as affordable housing within our community.

Um, I don't think that we're saying in Mr says you correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't think that we're saying one has to be sacrificed for the other.

But we are having to be very creative in the way in which we go about addressing that issue to answer your question in terms of just to use the example of soccer

We would make the case that, or excuse me, I would make the case as one individual, not as the Chair of the Housing Authority Board.

There still is a very large soccer field at Townsend Park, in which we see a multitude of kids using for soccer, softball, 7-on-7 football, flag football, and other uses.

I think there are still spaces and opportunities for kids to play within our community, but from our perspective, we have to try to address two things, and one,

The initial priority is trying to ensure we have affordable housing units.

So how we do that is utilizing the space as best we can and then also ensuring that the space is equitable for all of our residents.

Yes, it is.

And I will say, green space is something that our development partner made sure that that's something we talked about.

And it's maintained.

Yes, and it's maintained.

Energy efficiency is really important to our development partners, which is why they donated the solar array system at Press and Alls because the project would not have generated enough for a PPA agreement.

And so they actually donated the system.

And so

as you'll see in South Fertree phase two, we have a site plan.

Can you go to the next slide?

Um, maybe we'll go two more slides.

I'm sorry.

As you see, we have a decent amount of green space still.

And so up on the right hand side of the screen, which is where building A is, there's green space to the right side, butting up towards the X property.

And we also left ample green space in front of building B, which is on the far left hand side, which is currently where the basketball court is going to X to doing that side lot.

I forgot the name of the street.

But green space was definitely something that the residents wanted to make sure that we emphasize a need for and also a development partner.

Next slide.

I'm sorry, can you go back one?

I didn't talk about this project.

So this project is a mixture of townhouse units for sale in rental units and also an apartment building that will have 28 units will not have an elevator be guarding style apartment similar to what we built at south first sheet phase one.

We have not determined a unit mix for subsidy, but as we go through pricing and determine what our final numbers are, we'll be able to determine what the subsidy mix will be for the project.

Next slide.

West Haven, our largest project and probably the most political West Haven was developed doing urban renewal.

And so it has a lot of history.

We want to make sure as we are redeveloping this project that we are protecting that history and making sure that it can be towed to the generations that will live at the property going forward in the future as we redevelop next slide, please.

And so, like I mentioned, this was designed after the destruction of Vinegar Hill.

We've been planning with residents since September of 2022.

We've hired our architect, which is Arnold Design Studio, and he has a team working with him, working story for engagement.

And we're currently in the process of identifying a firm to help us tell this story.

and ensure that the history is still available for folks in the future because we've found a lot of documents really from the beginning in the creation of West Haven photos of properties that were purchased in order to make West Haven happen and other properties that were purchased to move families from Vinegar Hill.

And so we want to make sure that history is protected and available.

We are estimating and anticipating that this project for complete build out is going to be around 100 to 150 million dollars.

We're anticipating building between 252 and 350 units.

We anticipate the funding sources will likely be the longabout and tax-related program, City of Charlottesville, our development partners, the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund, and other funding sources and opportunities.

We're currently working and talking about

doing some due diligence work around a choice neighborhood initiative, which could potentially provide between $25 and $50 million for this development.

And so we have not pulled the trigger on it yet, but we are currently looking to see what where the pros and cons for moving forward with that application.

If we did move forward with the application, it would not be until 20

We are not going to go forward with the planning grant because it's a required three years set.

after you're awarded.

So we wait a year to get the award.

Then we have the plan for three years.

So it puts us at four years before we can even plop with implementation.

We've worked with a consultant designed to design a planning process that is required for Choice Neighborhood and will fund that planning process.

exactly like choice neighborhood is required to be ready for the implementation grant.

So you don't have to receive one to get the other.

But it's easier if you receive one to get the other.

But there's a requirement that you set out for three years.

All right, next slide.

and so we talked a lot about redevelopment and most folks when they think redevelopment, they tear it down and rebuild.

But we're doing, we want to make sure and Housing Authority approved when they first started redevelopment planning in 2018 to design a parallel track process which ensures that the non redeveloped sites like Mickey Madison and Riverside receive some type of modernization.

And so we have since 2021

We have tied all of our capital funds, which are the funds that we received from HUD to maintain public housing.

We've tied all those funds to a majority of those funds to the parallel track.

And so if you go to your next slide,

You'll see some before and after.

So we started with window replacement, siding replacement and roof replacements.

So all the public housing sites had the metal roofs and you could easily tell which units on the street were public housing because they had the metal roofs, the stucco, stucco siding, the ugly window units.

and the really hideous metal doors.

And so we're currently in the process of addressing all of those issues.

The windows have been replaced, siding has been replaced, roofs have been replaced, and we're currently under contract to upgrade HVAC and electrical systems.

So the units have never had air condition, central air.

And so they've all been required to use the window units that are inefficient.

and they cause other issues during inspection.

So block degress because you have a huge window unit in it and so you can't use that window for egress if there was an emergency.

So we received a lot of block degress.

The window screens are missing because you can't have the window screen in.

and the AC unit.

And so we've been doing for that as well.

And so we're working to get the HVAC installed.

They're under contract.

We're working with Dominion for the electrical upgrade, which is going to be required before we can actually do the HVAC.

Next slide.

The city has funded some capital fund projects, which is the HVAC.

We received $187,000 for that project.

The total for that project is a little over $2 million.

What we have captured here is our development partner is really big on playgrounds and green spaces, and so they actually funded the complete renovation of Mickey, Massage, Riverside's parks, playgrounds, and basketball courts to sum over a million dollars for the three properties.

So Mickey Drive, we have 23 units over on Mickey Drive.

16 at Riverside, 18 at Madison, I'm sorry.

Next slide.

This is about the HVAC.

We're also working with residents.

We actually just placed the order for kitchen appliance replacements.

We're working with the residents to identify entry doors and storm doors that they would like to see installed.

So for the bathrooms, I'm trying to remember when we got a presentation from Lauren on the different things we're funding with kitchen renovations.

I know we're not doing gas hood cups or anything like that, but I thought it was funding to help with purchase of appliances or something.

We do have some additional parallel track projects,

We're estimating that these projects are going to take another six years until we get to fully complete.

We're only averaging about $1.3 million a year from HUD for these projects.

The projects themselves are averaging about $2 million.

And so it's a lot of pooling of funds to actually get a project complete.

So we're using multiple different years to actually complete a project.

and so it's taken a lot longer as we continue.

The funding we received from HUD will shrink because we're taking off public housing units and that's how they determine how much funding you receive based upon the total number of public housing units.

Plus, they also look at the age of the unit.

So you bring a new unit on at South First Street.

It's going to receive a totally different allocation than a unit at West Haven that's been there since 1963.

and so our capital fund will continue to diminish and so we'll have to continue looking for outside resources if we want to continue completing projects at the pace of apparently completing them.

Next slide.

So these are some of the initiatives we currently have in progress.

The public housing and modernization and these initiatives align with you all's affordable housing plan.

And so CRJ has developed a parallel track modernization process with the utilization of HUD provided capital funds.

Funds are obligated yearly and pooled to complete large projects.

The city has provided $187,500 to modernize public housing and that's due HVAC and electrical.

CRHA will like the annual commitment of $375,000 per year for the next five years from the city for public housing modernization.

You don't have to give me an answer now, but if you could stew on that, that would be great.

CRHA is strategically deploying project-based vouchers

to increase the number of deeply affordable units available in the city of Charlottesville.

The deployment of Project B's vouchers allows CRJ to assist more families at zero to 30% AMI.

The units are guaranteed assistance for 20 years with the ability to renew assistance, renew the assistance contract after initial term and to continue at each 20 years.

Did you have something?

Any comments or questions so far?

If I go to the next slide.

Next slide.

So these are two new initiatives that are also in your affordable housing plan.

The conversion of HCV vouchers to home ownership assistance.

CRHA has committed already in its five year plan to make up to five HCV vouchers available for conversion to home ownership assistance.

The city has a lot allocated funding for down payment assistance to this program through the home program.

The opportunity allows families to use their assistance to make mortgage payments while we make payments to the family to assist them with the mortgage and upkeep of the home.

We are actively working to identify lenders for this program.

It's new to the city of Charlotte, but we have not done it before.

But all the housing authorities have done it and where I came from, we were implementing it and families have gone through the program and become homeowners.

and so we've committed to making the opportunities available because the voucher program is one the greatest homeownership assistance programs are their payments that are provided to the family to maintain the property, their payments made to the mortgage company to cover the mortgage.

No, but we have been talking to a couple of different lenders that support it and do it in other localities, but they don't have a base here.

So we don't have a dollar amount, but what's determined on the home ownership price is based upon the market, the market rate for a home ownership unit based upon the bedroom size.

And so HUD is willing to pay and will pay based upon what we commit.

If TC cuts a check for $2,000 for a family for their mortgage payment, HUD will then see that when we do our report every month that TC cut a check for $2,000.

That was an increase.

And so we'll get that back and no increase allocation.

That's how the program works.

There's not a whole lot, and there's a cap on how many vouchers you can convert to home ownership.

There's no cost to the city.

No, these are units that are out there in the world.

So if Habitat created a unit and someone had a voucher and they would like to purchase it, they can use their voucher.

We just have to work with the lender.

The tricky part of the program is the lender has to be able to accept two payments.

one from the individual living in the home and one from C.R.H.A.

And that's where the trickiness comes to the program.

I know Dollar Bank has started to finance this, but they're not here.

And so they were in my previous locality and they picked up the program.

And so it's finding the right lender for this unique model.

But there are lenders out there and other housing owners are doing it.

Next slide.

This is one where we really need a lot of help from the city.

So give a little bit of background.

The housing choice voucher program has a inspection standard that used to be called the housing quality standard, HQS.

After a lot of back and forth, HUD has decided to change that standard to have a universal standard for inspections called Inspire.

Housing authorities were already very, using a model very close.

And so our inspections are a lot more stringent than HQS inspections.

And it was a lot easier to pass HQS inspection.

So I'll give you an example.

Like if someone had carpet and the carpet had a rip,

The property manager could just remove the carpet and leave the plywood down his floor and it would be acceptable in HS standards.

that would not be acceptable in public housing.

We would have been dinged on it and had a lot of violations.

Um, HUD sees that as an issue.

And so now they brought these standards to the exact same standards, which landlords are going to have some issues with because it's going to require them to make strategic investments in their property because they have to bring their property up to the current codes.

Um,

Hutt has pushed it back again, the implementation of this.

It was supposed to start October one.

We had our first meeting with landlords in conjunction with the county office of housing a couple weeks ago here at city space.

We plan to have two meetings a year to talk about changes and things such as this and what resources are available.

Um, but

We are suggesting that the city look into the development of rental of a rental rehab program.

I think this is going to be essential in order to keep units that are currently voucher eligible and using vouchers available still for voucher programs because the they're going to need a lot of rehab.

in order to pass inspections.

Some units have a hard time passing the HUS inspection now.

They're going to be a lot more that have that issue with the new Inspire standards.

HUD has pushed you back another year for implementation because landlords have pushed back about the investments that they'll have to make and not having resources to pool to make those investments.

And so I'm asking that we start talking about what programs the city could partner

So would it be something like if we do that?

What they would have to

said that they're going to keep it as a rental for X amount.

So you could get different ways.

The one we did, we had a forgivable loan that was there for 10 to 15 years, where if the house was sold, we would call the money back.

The house had to continue being eligible for a low income family during that time period.

At the end of that time period, the money was then forgiven.

We used the 10 to 15 years because normally the work that we did, the useful life of it, was done after 10 to 15 years.

So then it gets them in the cycle of coming back to get more, more rehab work done.

Good.

So John, this is not directly related to this, but it's not uncommon for me to forward it six times a week.

We get an email from a resident that they're

in.

inspection type of thing.

And so I don't know, it's not a housing authority unit, but I think it's, you know, someone who takes vouchers.

So we inspect all the units that are not owned by CRHA.

So we now do Dogwood, South First Street, Crescent Halls.

We are not a

a landlord through the voucher program.

So we are not allowed to inspect our own units.

So we have a relationship with Audemars County Office of Housing where they do all of our inspections for our personal units that we own or manage.

And for those housing choice voucher waitlists,

So only 25% is roughly basically non-subsidized.

Yeah, so we have about a 60% success rate, so 40% of our families are unable to lease up.

The barriers typically include previous rental history, the

and unfortunately folks are still going after the three times the rent.

CRJ saw those barriers and we've removed all those barriers for Dogwood.

when a dogwood family comes with a voucher, we're not running their credit.

I mean, their credit history or their rental history because we know that voucher is there to subsidize that rent.

And so we've released and remove those barriers to make sure families can get house.

Right.

And final piece related to it.

So someone could have a voucher, find a unit, they end up getting that set for credit or they can't match the other things.

Yep.

We have a payment standard.

And folks often get confused and landlords see that Sierra Jeposa new payment standards.

And they're like, oh, great, we can go jack up the rents.

And what they don't realize is that in that payment standard includes the utilities.

And so that payment standard is the rent plus utilities, the total costs for that unit.

three-bedroom max, I believe it's $2,200 and that's including utilities.

Nine times out of 10 unless they're going above the 30% income.

where they're paying, they're being ripped burdened.

I just think that's really important context.

And I will say our payment standards have gone up, but they're way below the average.

So five bedroom payment standard, I believe is 2,800.

You'll be lucky to find one at 3,500.

And so there are issues with the payment standard.

But

That's not something we can adjust.

What we have to do is be able to make more units available that are naturally or deeply affordable.

And then I think we need to do something with holding the units that you all are getting that are proffered holding them at a reasonable rate.

because oftentimes we're seeing the tax credit folks having just as high a rent as the non tax credit properties, which only reduces the number of vouchers we can actually put on the street.

Because if you have more money going to 10 vouchers,

you have less that you can lease up our voucher capacity.

It's a little over 685.

But we only have maybe 620 actually in that pool because the vouchers cost more than what the average is.

No, I got one more.

And now we got I'm sorry, I promise.

All right, one more.

Alright, this is an important one.

Collaboration around safety.

We're seeing a lot of safety issues at our sites, specifically South First Street and West Haven.

And so we're interested in what partnerships we can bring with the police department and other organizations with the city to improve that safety, not only around community policing, but also the mental health issues we're having in the sites and also some relief opportunities to get the youth out of the community and trying new things and into new programs.

We're also working on, we're collaborating with Department of Community Solutions to engage around the SISRA program in a referral process for participating agencies.

Additional funding will be needed to increase the families that are able to be served in this program because we're only serving currently homeless and families that are in the self-sufficiency program.

So that is the last slide besides Q&A and I'm done.

Well, hold on, Mr. Wade.

Good job, Mr. Phil.

So you talked about, you know, alternatives and options for the youth, particularly the teens, the 13 to 18, because they usually don't do that.

I'm

I like as many options as possible.

Some might go if you have something that would be great.

Our colleagues on the commission has some things they want to add.

Yeah, I don't know if people have questions.

I want to make sure there's time for that.

There's always a very impressive amount of work you guys are getting done.

And the imagination and creativity you're bringing to it, which I think is essential.

This West Haven project, I think, is going to be in order of magnitude more involved, more challenging, more difficult.

hoping you've got the team that you need to pull that off.

I don't know if there's any support the city could provide from a project management perspective or just peer review or whatever.

Yeah, we have a little bit of time and we've been working

We've had James Friesen, when he was director of NDS, he came and talked with the resident planners about zoning and density and land use and where we were going through the curriculum that was developed by UVA School of Architects.

And so we had the city along, we brought in

Police Department, Schools, Fire Department, I think Parks and Rec, where we were talking about the choice neighborhood initiative because it touches everything.

Okay.

I know you're meeting.

I was in a small coffee shop.

It was 7, 731 and you huddled with your team.

Yes.

One question I've got, I guess, is whether, as you look at what's in store for West Haven, is there any thought that you would want to use some portion of the land there for some kind of mixed use thing?

So the Choice Neighborhood Initiative is actually a strong component of that is mixed income neighborhoods.

And so it will be a requirement to build mixed income.

So non subsidized and when we say non subsidized, traditionally we mean units that are wrong from how they tax credit, but they're not market rate.

But with Choice Neighborhood, they actually have to be market rate.

So you're talking about 100.

to 120% AMI families living in the community.

And it's a really equal mix with the choice neighborhood.

So each development and phase has to have mixed income, low income and market rate housing.

Sorry.

But I think it's about mixed use.

Oh, mixed use.

Yeah.

Well, before you go, because I think there are people listening, and we want to be very clear that as Councillor Snook, and even as Mr. Sales is communicating, we're not talking about replacing any of our residents at all.

We're going to ensure, and we're working diligently to ensure that everybody who's there now, if they want to, will be able to stay.

We say mixed use in even different ways in which we can utilize the sites

is solely for revenue generation and it's not about moving or displacing anyone.

And we are looking at mixed use as well, commercial components that are going to be incorporated.

And so when we invited James, we were looking at, we were talking about laundry markets.

We were talking about business incubators.

We were talking about daycares.

And so there were a lot of different business opportunities thrown out there.

And so mixed use would definitely be a component of this development.

Sorry, but just a topic to raise is, I know we've talked about it some in the past, but if you look at CRHA's number of staff members compared to the number of units managed, it's substantially lower than other area affordable housing nonprofits.

Obviously this is a lot of work, a lot of future work.

Could you talk about your assessment of where staffing levels are right now in terms of funded positions?

How many staff positions do you think the agency would need to kind of be fully staffed?

Yeah, we currently have exactly 50 employees.

We just hit that number.

And the projections when we penciled out everything to be fully staffed and be able to manage the products we have going on, I think we're at 63 total staff members.

That would be the need.

And that's not a need.

new strategic initiatives that we may have planned five years on the road after we have accomplished what we have in front of us now.

But that's just to take care of what our current needs.

But we've been doing it with far less.

Since I've been there, I mean, we the house is grown in size.

It was less than 35 employees when I got there in 2020.

And you have funding for how many staff positions currently?

All 50 that we currently have.

And then, obviously, the city provides a substantial amount of funding for capital projects.

Historically, it has made some investment, but not on an ongoing basis in terms of the human staff side of the organization.

What is your thinking and plan for how you

Fund those 13 additional positions.

Are you planning that the city is a part of that mix?

So we're currently going through both SOP development, the strategic planning development, with that capital investment we need to be in order to complete those initiatives and goals that we've identified.

And so we'll have a clearer number of what that looks like probably within the next 30 days.

But

at the pace we're currently going without city investment, the investment to get to that 63 employee number would not happen until all the redevelopments have occurred because that's what has for the ability for us to hire more staff.

So like a press and alls, they only

could afford property manager and a maintenance person.

Now they can afford security, three positions, and two maintenance staff members because they're producing more income now.

And so the other projects have the same issues.

The capital money that we get from HUD is very low.

$600 per unit is not a lot when you're talking about covering all the utilities, electric, water, sewer, trash.

in maintaining, like the staff needed to maintain the property, it's barely enough to get by.

And as you know, I think the buildings, the capital projects get a lot of attention, but

I think investing in employees ensuring there's enough money for the wages and benefits to be competitive on the market as well as there's just enough funded staff positions is maybe the bedrock of long-term success.

And just two more things.

One, you didn't touch on, you have the Dogwood portfolio now which is a very large portfolio you've inherited.

maintenance problems, as well as there's a lot of opportunities for redevelopment down the road.

So we have two parallel approaches going at the same time there.

We're looking at what works these have in order to keep the units sustainable and livable at the moment.

But we're also strategically looking at the property or portfolio as a whole to identify what opportunities

are available for redevelopment

Three properties on Ridge Street and one on Harris, potentially as redevelopment opportunities as a first phase in Dogwood.

But we don't have anything firm yet, so he's looking at me saying, don't have anything firm yet, but those are the products that we're looking at.

Michael Payne

CRHA is in the process of exploring creating a nonprofit to engage in fundraising through that more traditional mechanism.

So the board passed a resolution, I believe a year ago, authorizing us to look into a nonprofit.

We're currently working, setting up a new plan to come back to the board with more information on that nonprofit at a future work session.

CRJ is a quasi-government agency.

A lot of folks look at us as a non-profit and the non-profits that look at us and the foundations, they say, well, you're a government agency, you don't need our money, you should go back to the federal government or local government to get your money.

And so really it's a push that some folks here in the city say, hey, you should go there to get money.

And then those folks say, hey, you should go there to get money.

So we really get stuck in between a rock and hard place.

In some cases, I will say within the last few years, we've been really successful with getting foundations to donate to us and provide us with grants.

If there was a time line with one Dr. Goldblatt and Commissioner Wicks, they've been working hard on this.

If we were to say probably the end of the year, for sure.

It's our goal in terms of having that C3 status up to date.

And also Ms.

Kathleen Glen Matthews has been working diligently on it.

We'll get there and this will be something in which we can also discuss when we have our next session slash update because this is going to be a semi-annual meeting, correct?

There we go.

There we go.

Other questions, comments?

Yeah, so there's a few things just we don't get a lot of opportunities.

Are these like linked to Zoom or something?

Is that what we have to talk into them?

Anyway, we don't get a lot of opportunities to meet with you.

And I think there's things that we hear in meetings during public comment that it's really important to flag for city counselors.

One is about resident safety.

I really think we need to think about safety as a crisis and as a citywide problem.

There's a lot of violence in our neighborhoods.

There's a lot of trauma.

And I think that we tend to treat safety in a patchwork way, like try to apply this band-aid here or there.

Let's get this service.

And just like the city has gone through this comprehensive rezoning process to think about affordable housing holistically, to think about how it will shape the city.

I really think it's time to start thinking about safety in Charlottesville more holistically.

And I say this because I don't have the answers.

I do think there's excellent data.

that's really strong that says more affordable housing and more people housed is going to lead to greater public safety.

But it's more complicated than that and I think a lot of our residents, they need safety right now and their needs are far beyond what CREHA alone can provide.

and so starting to think as a city together about what we can be doing and it's not, none of this is going to be an immediate fix but things that we can start to say like what is a multi-year plan around greater safety in public housing but in general in Charlottesville look like and how would we build that so I think that's one thing to be really deliberate about the other thing that we sometimes hear from residents in public comment

is that there's some bureaucratic confusion around when they approach CRHA in need of housing and they're told you're not eligible for some of our programs, you have to get a city referral and then how all of that works.

So if there's any way to look through those bureaucratic procedures to make sure that people are not dropping through the cracks because you have people who are in need of housing and they are eligible for housing but because of the various regulations around that find themselves stuck

and, you know, are finding themselves in really dire situations.

Well, I'll chime in first.

I think that for your second item that you mentioned, I think we have the players right here with Alex and John to make sure that we gap the processes in place to make sure no one drops through them.

Great on that.

So in second, the first one is on safety.

I like to see some type of citywide plan, some type of approach.

That's one of the I know, at least for me personally, sometimes we get all of the emails, but I get a lot of concern about the safety and then and then how so these things are definitely connected on that because I think before we have do anything residents

Michael Payne

and that I feel like that's one of our as counselors, number one priority.

So it is something that just as within house that we're working on every day.

It's no easy answer because we know when it gets warm, things can heat up.

Anyway, so thank you for bringing that to attention.

And also just want to thank all of you all for serving on

The Board, your service, the hours that you put in, it's really important and I should thank you all from the beginning.

We appreciate it.

So I mean one thing is something that Mr. Sales pointed out in his report that there's a question of enforcement of the bar mit policy so people who have gone through a CRHA process and are barred from properties and there's very little ability to enforce that if that person shows up.

So thinking about ways to partner with the city around that.

I think also there's concern, I mean I know we're revising our parking policy but a lot of times people are worried about people like parking up in public housing and then using that as a kind of hub to move through things.

There's a lot of concern about drugs, so people are concerned about drugs and then there's some like really mundane issues like speeding.

Speeding is something that our residents, especially those with children and grandchildren, talk to us about

All the time

through public housing, and it's really a hazard for children.

So I think those are their big ones that they're concerned about, and I think that there's a lot that CREHA is trying to do, but things like, you know, drugs, speeding, like that stuff that I think we need to be thinking about as a city.

I think I would say to that point, these are city-wide issues, as we're all aware.

And I think maybe coming out of this meeting, just as we've committed, I think we are all committing to continue to collaboratively work collaboratively to address the affordable housing issues.

This is, as Dr. Goldblatt alluded to, is in fact a part of those same, as the same tentacles, if you will.

So I would be open to, and I think I could speak for the board.

I think we all would be open if there was a joint meeting, maybe a collaborative effort between us and other entities to having a discussion around safety, obviously to be a long term kind of discussion.

But if that was with

C. R. H. A. and other organizations, you who ready kids.

I don't know.

There's a multitude of folks who are doing a lot of different work, the police department and so forth.

I think we could maybe come to some kind of tangible solutions in which we can again, collaboratively work.

So we split the coverage of the safety committee meetings and I speak on behalf of myself like I'd be happy to join another committee or whatever to like bring what we hear in those meetings to collaborate to try to come up with some solutions and I think we're like we're talking about the more mundane but I think

What doesn't get raised in the safety committee meetings but that I think we are all aware of across the community is that there's some violence and some shooting issues and that is not just a housing authority issue.

I definitely don't know the answer to that, but I think we can help and partner with that.

Yeah, I mean the only other thing I'll add that we do sometimes here or that I've had residents talk to me about and some people in the community who have come to safety committee meetings is it's just worth being aware that there's a lot of trauma in the public housing and low income housing communities that we serve and that comes up a lot that like people who have had trauma either from bad social services in the past so things around foster care or violence

or Displacement.

And then some of the big deal things like August 2017, people who are kids in that moment are still really reeling from the trauma of what happened.

We're seeing a lot of trauma and I think that there is a real recognition that there's not a lot of easily affordable and accessible mental health options, especially amongst people who have experience working.

with low income residents and people of color and so there's a real call to say like can we start to think about like virtual counseling options with people who can do, can provide care and understand the kinds of issues that we're dealing with because I think people often feel like they don't know where to go and they're feeling a lot of these things and so thinking about what resources exist within the city and potentially other ones that we could tap now that so many people are willing to do virtual counseling.

and to think about what models there.

I know that Mr. Sales had been looking into some of this at one point because it was really pretty acute during COVID.

People were feeling like so much trauma, so much loneliness.

Yeah, that fell apart because there really wasn't enough resources financially and regent didn't have the capacity to actually provide us with that service.

And so it fell apart, but there's definitely a need.

And the conversation kicked off when we had a lot of violence, a lot of gun violence a couple of years ago.

And now folks are talking about it again.

So it is an investment that we would like to make.

But the resources were not there for CRJ to make that investment.

I will make the argument that in some ways we probably collectively are going to have to address gun violence as a public crisis in some regard.

I know for some that may seem as if it's extreme but for others it definitely feels like it's something that's needed in the immediate.

It's really a public safety issue and again it's a crisis in many regards.

So we're not going to solve all of this quote unquote tonight.

But I do think that it's something I'm looking forward to us having more intentional conversations about moving forward.

And I think not only Commissioner Wicks, but all of the commissioners, we are here to serve and be of assistance in any capacity, with also the recognition that all of the shootings aren't solely happening at the housing authority or our properties.

Yeah, absolutely.

I know we had the city had a gun violence working group and if my memory is correct I think some of the things they referenced in terms of like research of what works was on the police side increased visibility of officers where crime is occurring

Community Policing, but then increased street lighting, improvements to even just physical infrastructure, trees, mental health care, all that.

So I know there's just a lot of unimplemented things, increased job internship programs over the summer.

But anyway, I just reference that because that's

It's not the final, you know, complete look, but there was a recent city cross department, including social services, look at policies that's, you know, perhaps a place to start.

The final thing on this is in written reports, you've referenced John, you've heard from residents that there was

concerns that partnership with the police department perhaps wasn't as strong as some residents would like.

And I know that's just one component of a solution, but it's still an important one.

I don't want to speak for anybody, but I've heard in the past that the chief and the department I think are open to any kind of partnerships that from residents are desired.

Are there specific things that aren't happening that you've

Yeah, so the residents that I'm hearing from want a relationship with the police department.

They want to see a larger presence, but they want to see a presence where there's actually community policing happening, where they're getting out their vehicles, talking with residents, building relationships, attending meetings to let residents know what's going on in their neighborhood.

And hearing from residents about their concerns, that's what the community would like to see from the police department.

And so

chief cautious.

I've spoken with him and we're working to get more meetings together and to build on our bar mit process with the assistance of Joe Pelsania to make sure it's something that he can actually defend.

Um, but we are working to build that relationship and the residents are asking for it.

If I can add to that one of the things that we worked on really hard in the safety committee meetings in 2020 and I think through like 2022 is residents wanted an MOU with the police department so they said like we want police to come in but we want to be treated with respect.

and we want to be able to have some control over what happens within our communities and that was a no-go with the police department.

At the time I have a document I'm happy to send people of the things that residents said they wanted to see in an MOU but at the time that we were told like no way the police department is not going to have an MOU with CRHA because they're not going to have different agreements with different communities and so

I don't know if residents feel differently about

I'll have to look at my computer and see what the time stamp is.

Can I ask about one other thing?

We got a couple of emails this weekend.

talking about the broader issue of CRHA and the Buck Squad.

And I'm not here to be carrying the Buck Squad's water or anything, but we had a lot of questions at budget time about they wanted a whole lot of money to be able to do things, frankly, some of them in CRHA properties at a time when they didn't have an agreement with you all.

I see from the recent emails that there may be some progress towards getting

a little bit of discussion going there.

I hope that if I don't tout them as being the answer, but they can be a part of the solution.

So we have a meeting scheduled with them in August and they'll get a chance to tell the residents what they would like to present and offer to the residents.

But I will say the concerns that we've heard from residents the last three to four years are outweigh

We have a clear process.

Thank you, Mr. Sills.

And just to be clear, we have a process for any outside entity or group to be a part of or participate with CRHA or partner with CRHA, specifically groups that fall under the office of Buck Squad, like the Buck Squad.

They have to be approved by our resident services committee.

and our Resident Services Committee has discussed them in months prior.

We have found, through our process, that we'll have them added to our agenda for the Resident Services Committee in August.

The July agenda is already set.

They will have the opportunity to present to the Resident Services Committee in per HUD guidelines.

Entities such as Buck Squad have to be approved by the Resident Services Committee first.

I think that's what Mr. Sales was alluding to.

They will be able to present there at that time.

And then after which the residents will decide how this moves forward, which we communicated with them this weekend on the emails that Councilor Snook was referencing.

And at that point is when we'll be able to decide how we move forward.

Right, Mr. Sales.

So I think that concludes our meeting unless you have anything else you'd like to add.

I think on behalf of the Housing Authority, one, we want to thank our staff who work very diligently for showing up.

Thank you all.

We appreciate it.

Ms.

Thomas.

My apologies.

Amir Wade.

My name is Emily Dreyfus, and I'm an organizer with the Legal Justice Center.

I recently left the position of interim executive director with FAR, and this is the night that worked for the officers and the new executive director, LaTricia Giles, to meet.

So they're sorry that they're aren't in the room.

But I will definitely share information, and I'm sure they'll watch the recording.

So far, super grateful to be a partner in this work.

And when you hear it all condensed into one evening, it's like shocking how much has been accomplished.

So I appreciate everyone that's contributed.

Everyone in this room has done something and it has made a big difference for residents.

One of the things that has worked super well is the incentives that have been provided for resident planners.

It's a great example of paying people a reasonable amount to be at the table and share their lived experience that has just made this process work so much better.

I would echo all the concerns that have been raised, especially around gun violence and safety issues and the difference between community policing done right and policing that makes people feel overly watched under surveillance all the time and harassed.

And we've had that extreme happen in public housing in years past.

We don't want to see that come back.

but we definitely I think need to see an increased police presence and an effective one that helps address the problems and prevent the problems.

The other piece of safety issue that Dr. Goldblatt mentioned, like sort of the band-aid approach that sometimes happens is the cultural clashes, because what happened in the high school happens in our neighborhoods.

And we have much more diversity than we ever had in the past.

And there are conflicts between kids.

And I think that there needs to be a sustained city effort to address

those issues and try to bridge the gaps and help make the conflicts decrease and increase tolerance.

And then the other thing I just wanted to touch on is choice neighborhoods.

The residence bill rights and forest positive vision for redevelopment emphasized increasing density for the sake of increasing deeply affordable housing.

I think forest positive vision named 40% is a goal.

So the idea of using choice neighborhoods as a funder means that market rate would be half of the housing, which is going to significantly decrease the quality of life for people living in West Haven.

So I think that's something that has to be weighed out really carefully.

At this point, I believe FAR does not support that and does not want to see that happen.

And I really encourage you to look at the fact that density

decreases quality of life in some aspects and to weigh that carefully.

Thank you, Emily.

Could I ask a question?

So I know we talked about this this piece with safety and the police being involved and so on and some efforts before school starts.

Was there an actual like follow up or like

So we've already had conversations that have begun.

Far as new executive director did reach out and is requested a meeting with residents and I'm working with Ms.

Giles as well as the chief to make that possible.

Based on what I've heard tonight, it feels like that'll be a step one to additional conversation that we need to have.

We're having other conversations.

We're meeting with the Bucks Squad this week as well.

And I've already reached out to Uhuru and have to just get that coordinated.

So the effort is already underway.

I think part of the work that we have to do is, one, get all the right people in the room.

And I'm going to be controversial and say and get everybody on the same page and make sure that everyone is being honest about everything through those things.

I guess the other point I would like to make just in closing is I think the piece that Councillor Payne has mentioned a number of times about and the budget every year we do

We can do more.

We want to do more in terms of funding capital efforts.

But and I'm not sure exactly how this works in terms of a fundamental agency or whatever the term is that we're using.

But I think there does we really need to think going forward about if we can, should we, I think both of the answers to both those questions, yes, do more to support

maybe not subsidizing their funding per se for their operations, but thoughtfully think about ways that we can sort of be a force multiplier for their staff and given the amount of work that they have going on.

So next budget season, that'd be something I'd be interested in and I'd be open to funding something like that.

I don't know exactly how that would look.

You would have lots of great ideas about how that might be structured, Mr. State Manager, but I'm just wanting to sort of echo what Michael said, that we come up against this every year and I think it's something that

I don't know how they, they mentioned, you all mentioned how you did your funding for your folks.

And you are kind of this weird sort of public agency, but you're also having to act like a private developer, frankly.

And I'm not sure how we can help them with that operational side of things.

Yeah, note it as well for follow-up.

What?

Okay.

Know the action we stand adjourned.

Thank you.