Travis County Commissioners Court
May 12, 2009,
Item 3
Our cdbg has been patiently awaiting our calling up item no.
3.
since this morning.
3.
consider and take appropriate action on community block development grant dollars through the american recovery and reinvestment act of 2009.
good afternoon.
>> good afternoon, judge, Commissioners, sherri flemming, executive manager for health and human services.
and veterans service.
the department has filed a -- a fairly extensive backup on this item and ms.
moffett will be walking you through that in just a said.
but I can't emphasize enough that we are facing a very, very much expedited time line in terms of any potential uses that we have for this funding.
so that will caution you as we move forward.
>> hi, christie moffat, Travis County health and human services.
on Wednesday, February 25th, hued announced allocation oo h.u.d.
announced allocation amounts for cdbg program to receive money out of the program year 2008 allocations.
as a result of h.r.
1 that was passed earlier in February, cdbg received approximately a billion dollars to allocate two entitlements.
of that billion dollars, Travis County is eligible to receive $226,300 of which we informed the court on March 3rd about this opportunity.
at that time, the court directed us to look at potential projects that we considered from program years 2006 to 2008.
and because we expected the backup or the guidance from h.u.d.
to come in sooner.
there was a delay.
we actually are able to consider 2009 projects as well.
so we received the guidance from h.u.d.
on may 6th.
and cdbg staff as well as the senior engineers that cdbg pays for the community project planning, we got together and reviewed the project list.
we also looked at the guidance that h.u.d.
had provided.
which includes using the dollars to serve the purpose of the recovery act.
those things are to stimulate the economy by either modernizing infrastructure, improving energy efficiency or expanding educational opportunities and access to health care.
also in the guidance of preferred activities, are infrastructure activities that provide basic services to residents, activities that promote energy efficiency and conservation through rehabilitation and retrofitting of existing buildings.
we are not required to accept these funds if we do not feel like we can find something that meets these criteria.
also, there's a mechanism in place for -- for any dollars that entitlements do not choose to take to be recaptured or to be reallocated.
in the future.
in terms of looking at projects, what we did was we looked at a variety of different criteria, keeping in mind that the substantial amendments to the '08 action plan which is required to accept funds, is due on June 5th.
that was 21 working days from may 6th.
there is a required public comment period of 7 days.
the guidance was also provided the opportunity to waive many of the participation requirements in the plan that was approved by the court back in 2007.
also, there is a -- an interesting notation that infrastructure projects have to have 50% of their dollars spent by June 17th.
we have received clarification from h.u.d.
thank you all was the goal of congress to ensure that the funds were expedited.
but that it is not a requirement.
it is simply, you know, to try to encourage that the money gets out as quickly as possible.
and we have also included in the backup a schedule to show you what it potentially could look like if we go forward with these funds, how quickly we would have to move, potentially the court would need to have extra sessions to make decisions that we can continue to move forward or provide the judge authority to make some decisions on behalf of the court or any other special accommodation that I may not be aware of that's allowable.
so going back to the project review, staff looked at all of the different projects.
we have in the backup the criteria that we looked at.
and we came up with potentially two projects that might fit the criteria but we're still going to need to get some technical assistance from h.u.d.
and we're not really sure how well it fits.
the two projects are home rehabilitation and home buyer assistance.
now, these are not infrastructure projects.
the way that the statute is written, it actually lends itself the cdbg money more towards an infrastructure project, that's shovel ready, that's gone through designed and also gone through the required environmentals.
we don't have any projects that meet that criteria.
we looked, we asked t.n.r.
to see if they had any projects.
sidewalks, anything like that.
there isn't anything right now that's ready.
we also talked to lcra to find out if they had any projects, they have a similar environmental process.
we asked them if they had anything that they had decided and were just waiting for some funds to come in.
they do not have anything, either.
we feel like we have exhausted most of the infrastructure projects socks that's why we moved to -- so that's why we moved to home rehab and home buyer assistance.
issues and opportunities, we have outlined those for you in the memo.
and while home buyers and home repair has a demonstrated need in the unincorporated areas because it's traditionally an underserved area of the county, there are some concerns about moving forward with these funds and so there are impacts to the planning for the next fiscal year or the next program year.
there are also considerations about our timeliness.
currently we are behind on our timeliness compliance.
we are on a workout plan with h.u.d.
we're behind on that.
so one of the things that the guidance does say is that entitlements need to be -- need to carefully consider the impacts of taking this money, potentially how it might affect your regular cdbg funds.
so if you feel like it's going to impact your ability to continue to implement your regular dollars, that's a consideration that you need to think of.
also --
>> so we would not -- we really need to focus on some sort of capital infrastructure type of project?
>> it --
>> yes.
>> in a word, yes.
that's the intent of the funding and what we're offering is sort of a secondary tier of projects that may, with additional staff work and the reason why we don't have those answers for you today, is that these -- these instructions came out last Wednesday, we have done our research, we sort of landed on these projects and we have sent the questions back to h.u.d.
but one of the things that has been significant in -- in a lot of our research around stimulus money in general is the issue of job creation and what does that really mean.
does it mean job creation while the project is underway, are we expected to maintain a certain number of jobs even at the -- the close of whatever project we're paying for with stimulus money and so that's -- that's sort of one of the things that we can't really tell you today because we haven't gotten an answer from h.u.d.
on what the expectation for job creation could be.
so, for example, in talking about home buyer assistance, it could be something as simple as a project director who would manage us through the funds, but if there was an expectation of that person having worked once the funds were expended, we may not have work for that person.
so those kinds of questions still remain and you see with this expedited time line you may have to -- to almost make some decisions with -- with some unanswered questions.
so we would caution you also about that.
>> now, the guidance came back more broad than we expected.
the way the statute is written we thought it was going to be much more narrowed.
part of the delay was that h.u.d.
had to request information from the white house to see if they were limiting the assistance or the use of the dollars specifically to infrastructure, which is considered public improvements or public facilities.
but the guidance provides -- you're welcome to pick anything.
of all of the eligible activities for cdbg, but the guidance cautions you that it has to meet the spirit of the recovery act.
also these dollars will be under higher scrutiny.
i would anticipate at some point in time the office of the inspector general from h.u.d.
would come and look.
that's not a problem, but just be aware that there's going to be some testing of whether or not the projects selected should the court choose to move forward, does it really meet the spirit of the recovery act.
>> this all has to be spent by 2012.
>> sent 30th, 2012.
>> if we did utilize it for -- for looking at it for home buyer assist and home upgrades, home repair --
>> right, we would recommend that you pick one or the other because of the amount of funds.
>> and of course it seems that home repair would provide more jobs.
yes, no?
>> it depends.
it depends on how it's implemented.
we have done some work that if we were to implement it where it was Travis County staff that were actually doing the repairs, approximately about $120,000 of that would go towards staff costs.
there also is the issue of the environmental clearances that would be required and based on staff capacity we might want to hire a consultant.
i'm not exactly sure how much that would cost.
so the short answer is I'm not sure how much money would be available for actual materials and that would impact how many houses we could serve.
>> you have a waiting list, right?
is there a waiting list?
>> we do have a waiting list and we are also, though, waiting on funding through the -- the Texas department of housing and community affairs that is formula funding that has been allocated for our county.
and it's estimated approximately $3.5 million for weatherization projects and so that funding, barring any action by this court, will be coming directly to you and available for -- for weatherization projects.
>> so when you do the weatherization, though, there is an opportunity to do energy improvements.
>> yes.
>> correct.
>> yes.
actually that funding has a $6,500 cap, I believe.
and this is -- this project will be similar in nature to the funding we currently receive from -- from, you know, through the state for weatherization projects.
it will just be, you know, significant increase in the amount and then we will also have a -- a higher income cap.
so we will be able to -- to, you know, more families will be eligible to receive funds through that -- through that new influx of money that we are expecting.
>> so in regards to this cdbg r money, though, it's only the
>> [indiscernible]
>> that's correct.
>> so in terms of home buyer assistance, how much home buyer assistance would we do with that?
>> based on my conversations with the housing finance corporation, if we did $10,000 down payment assistance and gave them -- it would depend upon how much admin we felt like we needed but approximately 20 homes.
>> okay.
with 50% target spent by June 17th, barely five weeks away.
>> that's actually in relation to infrastructure projects and h.u.d.
has clarified that 120 -- they would prefer that commitments happen within 120 days of award.
so as soon as the court signed the grant agreement, that is when that 120 days would start.
the reason why that June 17th date ends is in there is because that's what's in the legislation passed by congress.
so they have clarified that was a goal of congress, but not a requirement of any program.
>> between the two projects that we have got here and you said -- you said that you would prefer that we pick one, is there one that stands out over the other as more implementable?
easier to meet time frames with?
>> there are concerns about those.
with the home repair, it's -- it probably meets the spirit of the recovery act a bit better.
in terms of meeting one of the three criteria, but it's -- it's more difficult to implement in that 120 days, there are more things to work out.
with the home buyer assistance it's easier to ism -- with the home buyer assistance, it's easier to implement.
the housing finance corporation has a track record of being able to do this well with home funds from tdhca, however we are not sure how we can meet some of the requirements regarding job creation and whether or not h.u.d.
might feel like it's a stretch to meet the recovery act intentions.
so it's something that we have to request information on.
will we be authorized to use half of this for additional summer jobs for youth?
>> that would be considered a public service.
public service is capped at 13%, so that's about $33,000.
>> because we ended up with a list of youth that we would not be able to serve because we ran out of money.
>> okay.
>> we would have to identify if they are in the unincorporated areas.
>> yes.
it would have to benefit youth in the unincorporated areas.
>> one of our outstanding employees who happens to work in the health and human services department, would have that information, for us.
>> I believe she might, yes.
>> so I guess on that, seems to me that there's a readily identifiable pool who went through our required training program, we really would take even $30,000 and do quite a bit of good because they only work half a day for six weeks, I bet that's what, a thousand apiece?
>> probably a little less than that.
>> so 30 or 40, would really make a lot of difference in that, the other thing is on the weatherization, if the staff already worked for Travis County, why wouldn't we be able to put virtually all of the money into materials and stuff and why wouldn't we take this opportunity to take, say, half of this and identify contractors available and interested in this kind of work and gear up for the big piece that may be headed our way.
>> there are multiple requirements for each funding stream that's coming down.
so any requests for proposals that would have to have specific language, this one would have to for doe.
that's my understanding of it.
i'm not sure how we do an rfp for different qualifications for all of the different funding streams.
i think that might be difficult and I'm not sure that's allowable, I would have to check into that.
>> can I have one -- one suggestion and then I'm done.
why don't we ask h.u.d.
what communities in the nation do an outstanding job of meeting your requirements and contact them and see what they do differently?
you see what I'm saying?
this is kind of new for us and I understand that -- that if we go this way, we have got all kinds of regulations to comply with.
but a lot of jurisdictions spend a whole lot of this money annually, I guess to h.u.d.'s satisfaction.
maybe I'm wrong in guessing that, that's the thing.
i mean I understand if you get -- if you're not careful you get $35,000 and spend 75 documenting how you are using it, meeting financing all of the requirements, et cetera, but --
>> yeah.
i do feel compelled to say that -- that the implementation of this money will -- will sort of create some capacity issues in this program.
and that -- that you have a -- you have a process underway for the -- the spending of your plan year '09 funding that -- that will have to be sort of weighed against this, you have several tracks that are going, there are capacity concerns not only in health and human services but also in the other departments that -- that would be impacted by, for example, if we're going to rfp's that bringing in purchasing and legal and of course the spending and the paying for supplies and whatnot brings in the auditor's office and purchasing yet again.
so -- certainly an issue that we want you to be aware of.
we will move forward as you direct, but it is -- it will displace some capacity towards this project.
>> forward other projects.
>>
>> the contract with the housing finance corporation, then the housing finance corporation would actually have until the 2012 to expend those funds.
the other projects that we're talking about, we would have to -- as we mentioned complete the research on what the expectations will be that might place your projects in danger.
but then also -- then also in some cases establish contracts that are not currently, you know, we don't currently have all of place 4 that sort of thing.
so we would have to, you know, bring in our brothers and sisters to see how we can expedite that process.
>> the time line that we have to adhere, even though we have a combination of things, one project that may have more requirements than others, some may be as straightforward and directly to the point.
my question, though, is how long do we have to -- to make sure that we -- that we do not fall into a situation where -- where we can't do what we need to do here as far as the assigning the money with the tasks.
>> [one moment please for change in captioners]
>> I would have to be a separate action or a separate meeting of the court or approval by the judge, approval of the drafted substantial amendment.
this mean that is the court would have to approval projects on next Tuesday, on may 19th, and for us to be able to start advertising the 7 day public comment period, we would know -- we need to understand the court's commitment to pursuing this funding and if we need to go ahead and start advertising the 7 day comment period, either today or by some action that can happen later this week, maybe on Thursday or Friday
>> the reason I asked him is because I think there have been several good suggestions that have been brought up and I think y'all have -- they all have merit from the job aspects of some of you brought up by the judge to the affordable -- to the housing system brought up by Eckhardt and others.
it just appears that there is a very viable projects to consider, but my concern was that we had enough time to make sure if we end up doing these things, even with employee assistance or I think Commissioner Gomez brought back some of the reservation programs and I think these are all meritorious as I stated.
my concern, however, is if we are going to consider these then complexity and things of that nature is something we need to also consider and be sure we come up under the radar screen to make sure we get more bang out of the buck as far as diverse movement, as far as projects, instead of maybe one or two, so that's why I posed the question
>> how much specificity do we have for the comments period?
could we -- could we leave a little squishy between now and next Tuesday?
>> I mean, I can ask, but the thing is that we are going to have to -- all of this is about transparency so we will have to put something on our website, everything will have to be posted.
i think that, as long as we are providing information about what we are considering, that will be important.
my -- my key concern is that people have to be told about the comment period, and if it starts on may 22nd and, let's just say that we delay this decision a week until may 19th, the problem is that literally gives people three days notice of a comment period for these types of funds.
and --
>> is it possible to do notice for a comment period saying that we are considering home repair, home buyer assistance and employment
>> for the actual comment, for the notice of the comment period, we don't have to indicate what the actual activities are
>> -- , okay
>> for the notice of the comment period, we have to understand what the court's intent is.
if you are sure that you want to move forward in accessing these funds, then we need to know that so that we can go ahead and start advertising the comment period.
>> if -- if we were to get into the middle of this, say, we get to the 22nd, there is a public comment period, in the meantime, we are flushing out the details in regard to what the various proposals are and how it would burden our system, what if we get up to the 22nd or the 25th and go, wait, wait, wait, we are in way over our head, it is not worth the amount of money can we pull the plug
>> you don't have to approve the substantial amendment so ultimately June 2nd is the final day you determine whether or not you are going to move forward, so you could do that.
now, the problem, intrinsically with that is that the comment period will have passed and anybody who has a concern about that action might, you know, have some comments about it afterwards
>> uh-huh
>> and we would hope that prior to that time we would be able to tell you the answers to many of the questions that we don't have answers today
>> yes
>> specifically those related to job creation
>> yes.
>> because the job creation part of it, I am sure pretty staff could figure out but it is the sustainability of the jobs that are created that is a significant question, in my opinion.
>> we have several pages here -- things that works with senior, each year when the weather hovers around 100 degrees, they are hustling up fans, what if we buy $200,000 worth of window units and have them installed
>> you can only -- the fan cans only benefit persons in the unincorporated area and you would --
>> I would have to --
>> it would have to be something from -- it would have to meet a h.u.d.
--
>> I will be honest --
>> eligibility?
>> no, the h.u.d.
--
>> if national objective
>> thank you, very much, it would have to meet h.u.d.
national objectives
>> and aim not sure if that would be considered a public service, it potentially might, especially if it is not creating energy efficiency.
it might be an energy efficient unit but if it is not specifically weatherizing or creating conservation of energy it would be considered a public service which would be held to the 33,000 cap
>> well, I don't know if if you are talking about investigating things, investigate that, because you are talking about quality of life issue, mr.
davis you want to address on the house something
>> yes, I want to add on the home buyer assistance, there is a tremendous demand that I get calls from lenders daily, e-mails, we are out of funds on the home buyer's assistance and they are anxious for us to have available more available funds, so if you chose the home buyer assistance route and it was an eligible activity, I don't think that there would be any problem with us utilizing the funds.
that would not be an issue what's happened in this area is that before September of '08, lenders were able to do seller finance downpayment.
in other words, they were these nonprofits that were able to gift downpayment.
they really came from money of the seller of the homes.
and so downpayment programs that we offered were not as popular, because they could get the downpayment with less trouble than utilizing our -- our home funds, but since, fortunately, and -- actually, this is one of the -- one of the causes of our housing problems was this seller finance downpayment assistance, but since that's been outlawed or they can't -- that is not allowable option for the seller of the home, then our types of programs are very popular, because people need downpayment assistance
>> we would be able to spend all of that money if authorized?
>> yes, Commissioner?
>> yes, I was going to say, talking at this from several different angles, and I am really mindful of the comments you made in the backup about our own cdbg program being out of compliance and timeliness requirements for this year and I am -- it is unavoidable the need to apply staff time will impact staff's ability to address this, and that we should consider our -- these funding streams as opposed to this opportunity.
have you done any preliminary risk analysis or comparison there that could give you -- give us a better feel of what your sense is along those lines, because it seems to me that's a pretty big issue?
>> well, as -- as the court may be aware, we have already been proactive with the h.u.d.
field office in san antonio and we actually had you approved back in March, a letter requesting a waiver of our timeliness because we do have, in particular, a significant project that we have been trying to move forward and, you know, to the, you know, appreciation of several accounting departments and staff, to take a rather complex project and try to make it work and so we did want to be proactive and -- and request the waiver prior to sort of the July test period, when, once again they will advise us whether or not we are in compliance with our timeliness.
we have not gotten a response from our -- from the h.u.d.
field office.
what we've gotten is questions, actually, about our decision making for there plan year, before they've even opted to send our requests forward to the washington main staff, so I think that we -- we felt obligated to -- to make you aware that -- that this issue is still there, and that staff is -- you have two staff in this area.
they are charged with implementing your previous three years projects while planning for a fourth year and -- and then you have the planning and implementation in a very tight time period for this -- this spending.
now, it is -- it is your call, in terms of how you want us to expend our energy in terms of being able to spend this money.
i think that we have offered you what -- the options we think make -- makes the most sense.
i think that we can't say enough that these funds, in particular, have very specific guidelines and so, therefore, the expediency in spending the money will -- will certainly make staff more nervous than we'd like to be about our project selection, implementation and all of the things that we are here to help you navigate.
but with that said, we certainly will take your direction in terms of how you want us to move forward with this particular project.
>> and I --
>> and what will help you, if we can find a way to spend all of it fairly easily and in a manner that requires activities by other people, maybe yours is more oversight than anything else.
the two examples I threw out and I guess home buyers downpayment assistance if we do that, I think it is a matter of your receiving reports from the people who are doing it
>> and monitoring
>> but there is a question about whether these eligible projects are under h.u.d.
guidelines but I agree with y'all to the extend we can shift the work to somebody else to help implement the project would help but at the same time I was thinking we need to start putting together -- if we think 3 and a half million dollars may come down for weatherization, we need to start thinking about how we would use that money in a timely manner and there is to way to get around contracting with others
>> right.
>> who are experts in whatever specific things we do.
the reason I thought about the window units is it is really a big do need and people have generated lists and I don't know what those window units cost but I think once you put in two or three, the others ought to be pretty easy, even if you do a little weatherizing around where you set the window, but there is a great big difference, which I experienced recently, between a house that has none of that to one that had a window unit.
i mean, in one room it is just like having central air.
it is not the same in the whole house, but the whole house is a whole lot better than without it.
so, I mean f that's eligible, to me it makes sense, and on the home repairs if we got 3 and a half million, I would rather somebody trying to put together a strategy that will enable us to use 3 and a half million dollars if we really think it is coming
>> yes, sir.
and -- and we are -- planning is underway.
it certainly is underway and, as a matter of fact, our memo to you to -- to advise you of that planning and its costs to you is underway as well so it's just been preparing for this time period for -- or for this funding over the last several months specifically, but some of the same questions still exist, even from our state officials: how -- how do you translate from the -- from the -- the -- the federal government the job creations, what does that look like, you know, some of those same questions loom in this but our plan has begun for the 3 and a half million dollars which adds to the capacity issue we are trying to highlight here
>> okay.
can we do this today?
would indicate our intention to try to use this money if we can, right
>> yes,
>> we notice a public hearing and if we have to list specific projects we list the two on your list plus the two we talked about today and why don't we invite others to bring projects?
or do we want to do that?
>> -- , sorry --
>> [laughter]
>> all right.
let's leave it at those four, then
>> yes.
>> somewhere in our notice, though, we have to say here are the eligibility criteria
>> well, and --
>> that we must meet.
otherwise, I think you get a whole lot of ideas that require a whole lot more time than we have for the $226,000
>> right.
>> and then next -- next Tuesday, we will try to land on it.
on one of them or two of them or a way to spend this money in a timely manner where we think that your involvement will be limited but sufficient to provide oversight so we don't get in trouble
>> right.
yes, and just so -- since ms.
moffitt almost passed out here --
>> [laughter] --
>> I think the reason, when it comes to having to do sub recipient contracts with other entities, with this particular money, that is what causes a great deal of angst not only with our management of the program, it creates sort of an administrative burden, but, also, with the auditor's office, with the county attorney's office, and so to the extent we can minimize the number of contracts that we need to enter into with entities of -- outside of Travis County, if you will, I think the better off you are going to be.
now, with that said, if -- it's the court's choice as to which projects you choose and we will implement as you direct.
but to the extent we can minimize the number of contracts, the -- I think the -- the easier it will be for us to move into the spending of this money.
>> and so my question is, is that -- does the court want to authorize the judge to review the advertisement?
we are not going to be putting it in newspapers?
but I will suspect we will put it on channel 17.
we will have to put it on the internet.
probably put it through listservs through social service agencies.
our current e-mail list that we hand out to residents andcies as well as our -- agencies as well as our mailing list that we provide, do you want to authorize the judge or another member of the court to review that to make sure you are okay with it before we put it out?
>> I don't have a problem with that.
but I just want to make sure that we really be aware of the jobs associated with any of this money coming down, in my opinion, you know, jobs, jobs creation, sustainability of jobs, I think sherry mentioned it and it is echoed by the same thing on this dais on several occasions is to track as best we can the actual jobs that -- that we capture doing these -- doing these endeavors so I want y'all -- if you can track any kind of job deal, whether it's current or whatever -- contracts, whatever that is, I would like to have that report as we go through this, even leading to the other money that is coming in the future, so if we can do that, I would appreciate it
>> we certainly will.
and we certainly want to be able to advise you in advance of whatever effect might be -- might be coming down the road if we have an expectation of maintaining a certain percentage of positions that we create, and so we need to remain mindful of that, that part of -- part of our expectations will be job creation and then the sustainability of a portion, we hope for a portion of the jobs that we create.
i think it's -- it's -- we have to be clear that our expectation at this time, barring any additional information from the federal government is that this is one-time money, and so funding positions with one-time money, you all know better than -- than we do.
the problem that that creates for the management of our future budgets, and so we are very mindful of the -- the problems that can create in the future to be continue to be compliant within the expectations that come along with these dollars
>> and in terms of --
>> would that count towards jobs, as an example, the public service phase of this thing, where we if -- we did want to look at the -- the summer youth programs, would that be flagged as jobs, any of these other contracts whereby the weatherization is taking displace and they may need the extra help or something like that to do some of these things and hire folks to help them along in these contracts, would that be considered job creation?
i don't really have put my arms around what we actually would consider as jobs and jobs created, who --
>> yes, sir.
>> who are these persons, how do we identify them.
they weren't working before.
now they have employment.
you know --
>> and I think there will be a variety of definitions around job creation, there will be other service projects much like what we have talked about, where we have employed youth, that will be a form of job creation, there will be job creation that stems from the -- the activity around weatherization, if you will.
we talked a lot about that
>> right.
right.
yes
>> and just the -- the personnel that it will take for us to move that amount of money out into the community and the contractors that we will ultimately have to contract with in order to get the work done
>> yes.
>> but the question is looming, Commissioner, is when we get on the other side of this, any of this personnel that we might hire and put on Travis County's payroll, what is the expectation that we will continue those -- those personnel in those positions, when, clearly, it is -- it is tied to a pot of one-time money
>> and then the other thing that we can do is that there is there has been some guy dance that has come out from o and b, office of management and budget from the federal side, and it talks about what it's going to be looking for and how it's going to be strucking the auditors that come out and review these dollars and so that's one of the things that we'll have to look at.
also, in terms of reporting, whenever we do the substantial amendment we will have to put in there how many jobs -- we are going to have to know that before the substantial amendment is complete, so we will have to put anticipated number of jobs, either temporary of nature or permanence that will be created, and I am sure you heard of this, so I am saying, you know, something you've already heard, there is transparency in reporting will be upmost importance with this money, so at minimum we have to provide recovery on recovery.gov website status of where we are, in the court would want information more frequently than that, you let us know, but on minimum we have to have it on the website on the tenth after every quarter.
so does any member of the court want to review the information that we would be posting for the 7-day comment period?
okay.
this is for the -- this is notice for the hear something
>> this is the public comment period
>> how many phases will that be?
it should just be a one pager
>> send it to all of us, those with significant comments, get them back to you.
those who like to word schmidt, schmidt -- word smith have fun doing that, but first thing tomorrow morning -- you want it back when, if you get it to us then, 5:00 o'clock the same day?
>> yes.
>> if it is a one pager, unless there is some inaccurate, my guess is we'd all bless it and move on it
>> now, the requirement is only a comment period.
it does not require a public hearing.
do you want a public hear something
>> we ought to have a public hearing in this courtroom, Travis County Commissioners court, transparency and democracy, codes words
>> we are anticipating this hearing next Tuesday?
>> that would be the --
>> Tuesday the 19th.
what about the 26th?
>> the 26th.
>> is that early enough?
>> okay.
>> uh-huh
>> that's during the comment period so --
>> I don't believe you have a second on your motion to -- intent to use the money and to further explore and prepare --
>> a motion?
>> yes, you made a notion
>>
>> [indiscernible]
>> and for home repair, home buyer assistance, some reviews and employment and acs for elderly
>> I will second it
>> okay.
>> you stole my ability to say it.
>> [laughter]
>> on those window units, energy efficient.
let's have our warehouse supervisor call home depot and two or three other displaces like that -- other displaces like that and price out efficiency window units and price out how long it takes to install them and how much it is and my creative mind is working right now, we may want our number two guy to find out who in the community can do these if they are eligible and work with them but we don't want to a sub recipient contract, do we?
>> no, we don't
>> maybe we want part time temporary standards to do this.
there are things we can work out but that is the threshold question s this eligible
>> that's correct, is it eligible, and staff will be back next Tuesday with a list of projects that we will need the court to approve.
>> and may I request a morning time?
>> [laughter]
>> as I have --
>> whoa, you are really --
>> I have jury duty Tuesday afternoon.
>> [laughter]
>> maybe we ought to have Commissioner Huber to call the direct clerk and get you excused
>>
>> [laughter]
>> I vote for that motion.
>> it is not for the county.
>> in that case, we will do it in the morning.
>> okay.
>> unicourt?
>> yes.
>> -- I believe we couldn't torture you anymore, so...
>> any more discussion on my motion?
all in favor?
this passes by unanimous vote.
>> thank you.
>> thank you
>> thank you for your patience this morning, also.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 2:30 PM