Springfield City Council — January 13, 2025

0:04 I'm going to call the Springfield City Council work session to order with roll call Mayor Van Gordon here councelor Weber here councelor Mo here councelor rodley here councelor Blackwell here councelor Doyle and councelor St here thank you all right we have one item tonight which is the 2025 Eugene Springfield HUD Consolidated plan which is everybody's favorite Consolidated plan with Aaron ffield great thank you mayor good evening Council um my name is aarin ffield I am the Community Development analyst with the city and the administrator of our federal Community Development and housing grants um for almost 10 years now um I'm here tonight

0:50 to give an overview of the uh 2025 um Eugene Springfield 5-year Consolidated plan this plan is a requirement um in order for the cities of Springfield and Eugene to receive federal funds from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development also known as HUD I'll note that because we receive home funds jointly with Eugene this plan was completed together with collaboration with Lan County as it relates to Social Services and homelessness um I'll note that the City of Eugene staff took lead on this project uh particularly J Genevie Middleton and so I want to thank her for her work uh so tonight I'll provide an overview of the Consolidated plan process and

1:36 timeline we'll talk about some of the accomplishments that the city has accomplished uh completed with these federal funds in the past 5 years uh we'll highlight some of the data and key findings um that came out of this effort um as well as the priority Community needs that were identified um and then we'll look at the proposed uh draft 2025 strategic goals um for the next 5 years so the uh con the City of Springfield receives uh cdbg funds directly from HUD um we're known as an entitlement Community um but we receive home funds as part of a Consortium with the City of Eugene uh

2:22 cdbg funds um for the most part are flexible um and can be used in a number of ways toward different activities that support Community Development social services and affordable housing with a primary goal to benefit low and moderate income individuals uh home funds are funds that are primarily geared toward the creation of new income qualified affordable housing the funding itself goes toward affordable housing developers um and providers as well as Property Owners um of sites uh for future affordable housing development nonprofit agencies local contractors and businesses again with a primary goal of serving low and uh moderate income folks and I just want to give some perspective on that as

3:08 far as low and moderate income is considered for HUD um the most current numbers we have for a household size of one up to 80% Ami we're looking at about $50,000 a year household of one um for a household of four that's about 71,000 a year um would qualify for certain activities under this program um so the Consolidated plan itself is a requirement of HUD in order to receive these funds um and it also serves as the primary tool we use to guide the use of these funds over five years um by identifying the needs in our community now and sort of setting priorities over the next five years um the City of Springfield receives funds based on a formula allocation as well as

3:54 Congressional Appropriations um on your screen you'll see that as a across the two jur jurisdictions we receive an estimated we're estimated to receive approximately 14 million over the next 5 years um for Springfield um that breaks down to about 535,000 each year in cdbg funds um and about 250 to 300,000 in home funds each year our current plan expires in June we need to submit our new plan to HUD in May and it'll start July 1 one so here's the process just a quick overview um in the creation of this plan

4:41 um it's outlined sequentially here and it's defined by federal requirements um it includes data collection assessment priority evaluations and decision-making to provide direction for the next 5 years the goal is for the new plan to incorporate public input um while utilizing recent data and giving flexibility to adapt to changing conditions over the 5 years um I'll note that we began this process last April and so with the goal of adopting in May that'll be about 13 months to put this together so here um we sort of break down what is once we've created the

5:27 Consolidated plan each subsequent year we need to create an annual action plan um also requirement required by Hud that explains how we are going to use those federal funds during the next fiscal year so in the orange uh box on the left um you'll see sort of that the Consolidated plan is what we're talking about tonight as the overall strategic plan and then each action plan is sort of given the actual allocation from HUD how we are planning to use those funds in the next year as of aligns with the Consolidated plan I think of the Consolidated plan as like a buffet of options that you're setting now with each year you're saying which of these makes sense given capacity and need um

6:13 another part of this process um is the reporting so on the right you see what's called the Caper the Consolidated annual performance evaluation report and that's when we report on what we've accomplished um for the most part um I wanted to talk about that action plan process um we do have a community participation plan that guides how we put these together um and so council's Community Development advisory committee also known as the cdac to which councilor MO is the council liaison um each year that committee holds public hearings on the action plan process and makes a recommend recommendation to Council on funding allocations um and

6:58 then ultimately the recommend ation is brought to council for your ultimate approval so here are some of the uh community outreach and decision-making that went into the creation of this plan um there is uh per HUD a required consultation with a wide range of stakeholders and Outreach to specific populations some of which are listed on that screen the Outreach included interviews surveys focus groups and public meetings with regional public and private agencies as well as internal meetings with City staff including our City's executive team uh for this process Eugene and Springfield formed an advisory committee to review this

7:43 information receive public comments hold public hearings and make a recommendation to the two cities uh the committee was made up of a city counselor and two community members from each City uh Springfield was represented by councelor rodley and two members of the council Community Development advisory committee so I think I want to just roll through some of the accomplishments um on how the city has used these funds over the last five years um so I'll just read through it um the city created 69 new units of income qualified affordable housing um that is the Hayden Bridge Landing apartment complex just north of Fred Meyer on Fifth and Q um by homes for good uh the

8:28 city also has internally a home repair program that we administer ourselves and contract with local businesses and contractors to do repair work um in the last 5 years we've estimated to help about 350 370 lowincome homeowners with health and safety improvements that's uh examples include new heating systems roof roof repairs electrical and plumbing improvements we've also supported uh the needed repairs of income qualified rental apartments um that was a roof project I think from last year and then Council has also indicated support for putting cdbg funds

9:13 toward that which I'll be I'll be bringing back in March um through the city's home ownership program also known as shop we're providing $25,000 in no interest deferred payment loans to low-income home buyers in Springfield and we're estimating to uh support about three new home buyers each year uh we partner with Dev Northwest on that effort um regarding Human Services um the city allocates 15% of its cdbg funds to link County Human Services Division each year to support local nonprofit service providers this last year those funds supported Catholic community services Relief Nursery food for Lane County and hope and safety Alliance the

9:59 council has also supported nonprofits with capital facilities um you're using cdbg funds to upgrade the bathrooms in City Hall near the library to be ADA Compliant you're also using those cdbg funds to support new inhome child care businesses with startup grants to plant trees and low-income neighborhoods and have completed crosswalk improvements um near schools including the raised crosswalk that you can see on your screen across from do Rus So the plan itself um is about 300 Pages um it's online um but the needs analysis needs assessment and market analysis has

10:44 broken down into four pieces um related to housing homelessness special populations and Community Development um the data sources that went into that are in that Orange Box on the right um particularly the US sens the American Community survey Hud's comprehensive housing affordability strategy um as well as other local and Regional data sets um including reports from Lane County and the Housing Authority um there's a lot of data in the plan I'll go through some of it here um in Springfield 46% of all households are renters 68% of low and very low-income renters are severely cost burdened meaning 60% 68%

11:30 of low and very low-income renters are spending more than 50% of their income on housing nearly 36% of Springfield homeowner households are considered lower moderate income there are approximately 1,000 tenant-based housing vouchers being used in Springfield and over the course of 2022 about 1,000 residents in Springfield were unhoused at some point the needs an the needs assessment and market analysis also characterizes the needs of what HUD refers to as non-homeless special populations but that sort of broad category is um sort of broken out into different

12:15 subcategories which are on your screen um as we know some of these populations um are requiring additional Supportive Services and they're often spending more financial service financial resources on those Services uh the city's home repair program for example is often serving elderly homeowners who are in their home own it but cannot afford needed home repairs so this map it's one of a few in the document but this just hold it to say this is this represents census block groups in Eugene and Springfield that are considered low and moderate income by Hud specifically block groups are shaded that are shaded blue um identify

13:03 where more than half of all households are lower moderate income the plan also requires um that uh the city's identify priority needs to say where where are we prioritizing where these funds should go over the next 5 years and so these are the six priorities needs which arguably Encompass everyone at some point we're talking renters people experiencing homelessness non-homeless special populations homeowners employment opportunities for those who need them and then broad low income neighborhoods who need

13:53 support So this I would say is the meat of the plan um what what are we taking like everything has informed what we've created here are the draft strategic goals and as we move forward with the action plan these are the six strategic goals that we will look at to say what would you like to fund going forward so these are the goals that were were recommended by the Consolidated plan advisory committee um and I'll point out maybe this is smaller but this is two slides are the six goals so the goals are on your left um increasing the supply of affordable housing rehabilitating the

14:38 existing housing stock and providing home ownership assistance and then the priority needs that will be served by those goals are in the second column um sort of this is how HUD is requiring this information be presented um you can see possible examples of ways council could determine to allocate funding toward different activities under that goal in the future um I will say another requirement of the plan is to put in what HUD refers to as a measurable outcome the way Springfield staff went ahead and approached that was to say where has council's support been in the past and how have we used those funds and so estimating um those outcomes on the right is sort of Guided

15:24 by the past um I will say we are not held to these numbers um but it is a requirement that we estimate where will funds go I think I personally struggled with it knowing that each year we're coming to you to ask where is the need and where would you like to prioritize so who who are we to say what we're estimating over five years but um I think on this next side you'll see I struggled to put anything in the farri column because I didn't know where that priority was going to be and so The Narrative of this plan that we're submitting to HUD sort of acknowledges if there's available funds it'll be up to council to determine where that money goes and then what that sort of outcome will be so um it may look empty but

16:10 that's not the goal it's sort of depending on where the funds are and where the the need is um that's the The quick summary um next steps um I'm going to come back to council during regular session um and uh you'll have the opportunity to approve a resolution in support of the Consolidated plan um the Consolidated plan will also be going to the Eugene city council for their approval and then ultimately we'll need to submit it to HUD before May

16:58 questions be sorry can you um let us know again how much Springfield is set to receive you mentioned it early on and I just yeah um I can speak to what we receiv received this year um which was in cwg funds 535,000 for the year um we sort of looked we wait on Congress and HUD to tell us each spring what we're going to be receiving starting July 1 so we haven't heard yet the 13 million is over five years correct yeah the 14 million is over five years between both Eugene and Springfield that's right it sounds so small yeah all right Alan just for clarification um you know there's there's a handful of different

17:43 like real minor things I know you have the advisory committee are you do you want feedback on some minor things or want questions on some minor things or do you want just is the overall plan look good because overall the plan I really like yeah um and I don't want to get too far in the weeds right but I also want to be I also want to know what kind of feedback are you looking for right now it's a great question primarily information based was um so the Consolidated plan advisory committee that sort of put this recommendation forward um has met and is not planning to meet again for what that worth um and so having Springfield Council and committee members represented on that committee sort of helped inform that um

18:28 but I can certainly answer questions or take feedback for what you see as discrepancies or questions for the future so I I would say Alan if you had like AA type stuff maybe you know uh email you know email it to her but if you have kind of policy questions you know go ahead and ask them well let me let me try one on Just for prise um so I love the shop program but I obvious I know and I uh almost worked with uh somebody who was in the process of buying their first house and she just like barely didn't qualify for what in terms of the housing market for in terms of the quality of housing that she was looking to move into and it wasn't anything exorbitant but it was a good solid um move I just I noticed like it

19:13 was almost like those things weren't quite uh she needed a little bit more assistance than that the 25,000 would have been great but she just barely didn't qualify for it so I was just wondering if that was a consideration and to use the same person as an example um I I notice also you know we talk about things in terms of of um you know for a single person it's a $50,000 income but for a family of four it's a $75,000 income but what about the family of three where you have a single wage earner because there a lot of single parent households and I just want to be I'm in a sense look walking through a lot of the affordable housing texts I'm very concerned that we're not paying enough attention to single parent uh households and that they're not getting

19:59 a full uh support that they might need with respect to the HUD funds that's that's all yeah no those are great points and I would say this this program is not without its frustrations as far as following Federal requirements um so yeah um I would say first on the shop assistance I think that is um the broader Consolidated plan putting uh identifying home ownership assistance as a strategic goal um sort of keeps keeps the detail out of it and so through the action plan or through the cons uh Community Development advisory committee that is where we've actually had some of those conversations around what is an appropriate amount to sort of give

20:47 toward one person that may need it versus do we want to serve more people and do yeah that is the a great yeah that's a policy question um we're are EXP exploring is there a way to match those funds with non-federal or non cdbg to help support because there are these like nuances with this in I'm sorry if I'm going in the weeds but these nuances to the cdbg program um that guide maybe why we've set it where we haveen and I'm happy to go into it if you're curious just curious maybe another another time but but I appreciate your feedback already um and I yeah the household I mean you're right like HUD looks at a three-person household as like individuals living in the household and only counting adult income um whether or not those are two adults

21:33 and one kid versus one adult and two kids is not distinguished right okay thank you yeah thank you um and I I know that Aaron was sort of spreading around the praise but um Ain has done a great deal of work in this and I have appreciate working with her because as you were very uh carefully pointing out we have some say and we have do not have a lot of say so this is funding that comes with a lot of restrictions um and a lot of Hoops and a lot of planning and a lot of eyes we have to Dot and te's we have to cross um and we're working in collaboration with Eugene so that we can bring in as much money as possible to do this and we

22:18 couldn't do it without the staff who are so exp like you said 10 years of experience who are helping to guide this process and um I think that the meetings that we had were recorded so folks could go and watch and see the robust conversation that we had as we were working through this as a committee and the questions that the the representatives from the Committees brought and how we worked through it to get to those goal areas um to see that it was it it is it is a long process with lots of opportunities for people to give input thank you all right that looks uh for the record uh councelor Doyle did join us um the question that I had or maybe it's just simply a comment is the last few times we've done the Consolidated Plan

23:04 and there's not nearly enough uh sort of money to really go around we have done a really nice job of flushing out the Human Services portion of it the affordable housing piece supporting the Human Services piece we've historically really struggled to find projects that fit in that Economic Development bucket and I think it's important to acknowledge as we're as we're adopting this next set of plans to re to that it's got a kind of a foot in all you know in a bunch of different buckets including you know this there is money here for economic development lastly um the Springfield's been historically you know a home ownership of community and right like this is one of the big programs that we promote that help people get into their home ownership for the first time or as people age in place

23:51 keep their keep their home stay in their homes in a sort of safe and healthy way and I think it's important that we continue to fund you know or highlight those programs that uh that have been serve this community so well I know it's not it's a little bit more detailed than what's in the Consolidated plan but I think it's worthwhile to say that we've done a really great job with these with these funds all right I think you have your direction because I think it's coming back for a public hearing not a public hearing um just a vote adoption by there you go will perfect uh this is our only item we are adjourned until 6:00 thank you