Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 (Agenda)
Item 26
26 is consider and take appropriate action on items related to -- program year 2010 consolidated annual performance evaluation report for the community development block grand provided by h.u.d.
a, receive a summary of the annual performance report, and b, approve the draft of the program to post for public comment and let me indicate our intention to call up the item next.
>> christy moffett.
we're here to provide you an overview of the performance by the cdbg program for program year 2010 which spans from October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2011.
this is an annual process for us.
this is the fifth and final annual report for the first consolidated planning period that spanned from 2006 to 2010.
so during the reporting period, Austin habitat for humanity closed on 27 lots in gilbert lane to build affordable single-family housing for low-income families.
in January of 2011 a substantial amendment was approved by the Commissioners court to provide an additional $174,000 in cdbg funding from prior year project savings for the acquisition of four additional lots and habitat closed on those lots in July.
the first house for the project was completed.
it was 90% complete by the end of the program year, and of the over $1 million budgeted we got very close to spending exactly what we thought it was going to cost to acquire all those lots.
also we completed lava lane.
this was a three phase project that was funded over three years.
the first year for design, the second year for acquisition of right-of-way, and the third year for construction.
the project was substantially complete in June of 2011 as the road has been accepted for maintenance.
it's benefited approximately 1297 people.
and we've spent a little over $330,000 on the construction aspect of that improvement.
in terms of the social services expansion, this is a continuing project that the court has approved.
it has been ongoing since 2007.
the project benefited 175 people this year.
our goal was 120 so we keyed that goal.
we also conducted outreach to 29 organizations to inform the community about the social work services available.
four clients received assistance through the youth and family assessment program.
11 clients were assisted with best single source funds.
and we also spend a little over $65,000, which was very close to most of the budget there.
in terms of planning and administration, in February of 2011 we were able to fill the two vacant positions and finished the consolidated plan.
staff were active in homelessness and planning efforts and we spent about $159,000 on those efforts.
additionally I'm happy to say that we achieved timeliness compliance in August of 2011 and at the end of the program year our ratio was 1.34.
1.5 is the number we're trying to stay below.
>> can I ask a quick question.
>> yes, sir.
>> we added one planer to assist.
>> through general fund.
it was to help with the consolidated plan.
>> was that two years ago?
>> no, it was this year we hired.
>> last fiscal year.
>> I'm sorry, last fiscal year.
>> do we have the planning is having the anticipated beneficial impact?
>> yes, I do believe so.
>> okay.
>> and in py 10 we also renewed urban county status so the village of webberville will be joining the urban county beginning this upcoming fiscal year that we'll be planning for.
>> let me ask this question because during that time when we had outreach toward the urban participation as far as dealing with some of these issues that we have before us in the item, did anyone else accept participation in this process other than the webberville urban situation?
has anyone else participated or did the doors close at that time?
and I know there was a certain time line that we needed to make sure that folk became a part of what we're doing here.
was there anyone else as far as municipalities in the county other than webberville that participated?
>> > sherri fleming for health and human services.
no, sir, webberville was the only -- the only area that officially accepted.
I think we have made valuable contact.
I think we've shared a lot of information about this process with the municipalities within Travis County.
you know, there are pros and cons to accepting our invitation.
and I think that the villages and municipalities are now keenly aware of the pros and cons.
and so as they move forward in their development, you know, they will continue to weigh those pros and cons as to whether or not they want to join with our urban county, and we do have the opportunity, certainly at the court's direction, to extend the opportunity every three years.
>> every three years.
>> every three years.
>> so we'll start working on this in two years.
>> okay.
thanks.
additional projects that weren't implemented were the home buy assistance project and the home rehabilitation.
home buy assistance Commissioners court approved the scope of services, I think it was a week ago.
and then the home rehabilitation project we expect to go to purchasing in January.
so our full anticipation is that those projects will be implemented within the second quarter of this year.
and then also the fact of flex fund expansion.
you know, just in terms of looking at prioritizing and making sure that we were timely and spending and moving some of the bigger projects, it's likely that we'll come back to the court during the action planning process for program year 2012 and request that that project be deleted.
it's just -- there's a small project and in terms of prioritizing sometimes it's hard to get all of this parts and pieces moving.
so we did want to give you, since this is the end of our first consolidated planning period, we wanted to give you just a really brief high level summary of what we accomplished in the first five years with our cdbg program.
we completed 12 projects, spent over $3 million, 1.6 this year, and we also benefited over 3550 people.
so for people who weren't really sure what we were doing at the beginning of this, I feel like we made some great successes as we moved through.
>> that's tremendous.
>> so in terms of the documents that will be available should the Commissioners court approve the draft in the next few minutes, there is a public comment period attached with this report.
so comments would begin to be accepted on December 1st at 8:00 a.m.
and that period lasts 15 days ending on December 15th at 5:00 p.m.
to access the annual draft of the report, you would go to the county website, one of the seven Travis County community centers or call me and request a copy at 854-3460.
and we will have a public hearing here at Commissioners court next Tuesday at 9:00 a.m.
or you can also provide written comments to the cdbg program at p.o.
box 1748 or you can email them to c.d.b.g.a.c.o..travis.texas.
u.
c.d.b.g.a.c.o..travis.texas.u.
s.
>> have we posted the public hearing for next Tuesday?
eat will be on the court's agenda.
>> can we do it on the 14th because the deadline is the 15th, right?
>> but we've already advertised it would be on the 6th.
>> okay.
>> the only thing I would add is a request we put out channel 17, that for those who want to see the evaluation report, who they can contact, how they can access it.
>> absolutely.
and actually I think we do as part of our advertising strategy, we've been advertising this since November 9th.
the advertising is also on the t.v.
as well.
>> okay.
>> judge, if I may, the cdbg staff and health and human services recognizes that we don't do this alone so we would like to extend our appreciation to the finance division and resource and planning division and family support divisions of health and human services, specifically, but the entire health and human services staff in support of our cdbg program.
then also the transportation and natural resources department, the county attorney's office, purchasing, auditor's office, all are great partners with us in completing this first consolidated plan.
five years ago I think most of us weren't really sure what we were moving toward, but we certainly see that all of hard work that's been put in by county staff and partners in our community has benefited over 3500 people in our community.
so I would call that success.
>> and Austin habitat.
>> yes, of course, Austin habitat.
>> they've done a tremendous job.
in fact, that
>> [indiscernible] of that gilbert lane subdivision, the 31 lots, per se, but one wall raising event that took place not too long ago with the single family dwelling, of course, and a single parent.
could you tell me exactly, you know, was there a --
>> [indiscernible] and others that were involved along with our staff.
can you tell me exactly where that particular home is at this time as far as completion?
I haven't had a chance to go by since the wall raising event.
>> the house was completed.
>> okay, great.
>> and the dedication occurred, I think it was earlier this month.
my days are starting to --
>> okay.
I thought it was, but then I -- I wasn't sure and I wanted to make sure that got mentioned because I think I had staff out there.
I know it was one of the events I couldn't make.
but I want to applaud you all on that because that was a fine individual that -- that -- of course submitted and yield to the conditions of what we're dealing with as far as those single-family lots and what the Austin habitat for humanity and others that are involved in that project, it's just tremendous what we can do using these particular funding mechanisms. So we just to give a big applause, kudos to everybody involved in the project.
>> and the second house started a couple weeks ago.
>> couple weeks.
>> the second house has already gone up.
>> that's great.
that's great news.
single-family dwelling that fast, affordable.
>> I move that we approve the draft and authorize that it be posted.
>> second.
>> for public comment.
seconded by Commissioner Davis.
discussion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
with Commissioner Huber temporarily off the dais.
special thanks to you, miss moffett, for taking the lead on this.
>> thank you.
>> thank you, sharon.
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