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C. 65
To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation & Development Department
Date: May  12, 2020
The Seal of Contra Costa County, CA
Contra
Costa
County
Subject: Allocation of FY 2020/21 CDBG, HOME, and ESG Funds, and Approval of FY 2020-2025 Consolidated Plan and FY 2020/21 Action Plan

APPROVE OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On:   05/12/2020
APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:
John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor
Contact: Kristin Sherk, (925) 674-7887
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED:     May  12, 2020
David Twa,
 
BY: , Deputy

 

RECOMMENDATION(S):

1. APPROVE and ADOPT the draft FY 2020-2025 Consolidated Plan (Attachment A); and  
2. APPROVE and ADOPT the draft FY 2020/21 Annual Action Plan (Attachment B); and  

3. APPROVE staff recommendations for the allocation of FY 2020/21 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds in the following categories: $736,375 in Public Services; $350,400 in Economic Development; and $516,640 in Infrastructure/Public Facilities (Attachments C, D, and E); and  






RECOMMENDATION(S): (CONT'D)
4. APPROVE staff recommendations for the allocation of $372,905 in FY 2020/21 Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds (Attachment F); and  
5. APPROVE the Affordable Housing Finance Committee recommendations for the allocation of $2,238,805 in CDBG funds in the Housing category and $2,863,601 in HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funds (Attachment G); and  
6. APPROVE the revised Citizen Participation Plan (CPP) (Attachment H); and  
7. DIRECT the Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) Director to file a Notice of Exemption for the FY 2020/21 Action Plan and the FY 2020-2025 Consolidated Plan with the County Clerk; and   
8. AUTHORIZE the DCD Director, or designee, to execute the program certifications and applications (SF-424's) for transmittal to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); and  
9. AUTHORIZE the DCD Director, or designee, to execute CDBG and ESG program agreements in the FY 2020/21 Annual Action Plan approved and adopted by the Board of Supervisors.

FISCAL IMPACT:

There is no General Fund impact. All funds are provided to Contra Costa County on a formula basis through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.   
  
CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE NUMBERS:  
CDBG Program - 14.218  
HOME Program - 14.239  
ESG Program - 14.231  
HOPWA Program - 14.241  

BACKGROUND:

Contra Costa County receives Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) funds each year from the federal government for housing and community development activities. To receive these annual awards of federal funds, the County must submit a strategic plan – the Consolidated Plan – every five years to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that identifies local needs and how these needs will be addressed, as well as an Annual Action Plan that specifies what actions and investments will be carried out to execute the Consolidated Plan. This Board Order covers both the five-year Consolidated Plan for FY 2020-2025 and the one-year Action Plan for FY 2020/21, but not the supplemental CDBG and ESG funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that were allocated to the County to address and/or prevent COVID-19. The announcement of that award arrived too recently to be included in these plans that were already underway, and will be handled in a separate recommendation for the Board's approval in an upcoming meeting.   
  
The CDBG Program will be entering into its forty-sixth year. The primary objective of the CDBG Program is to assist in the development of viable urban communities through the provision of decent housing, a suitable living environment, and economic opportunity. CDBG funds are allocated annually to eligible entitlement jurisdictions by HUD on a formula basis. The County's Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) administers CDBG funds on behalf of the "Urban County". The Urban County includes the unincorporated County and all cities/towns except Antioch, Concord, Pittsburg, and Walnut Creek. Those cities administer independent CDBG programs.  
  
The purpose of the HOME Program is to increase and maintain the supply of affordable housing for lower income households. HOME funds are allocated by HUD to eligible participating jurisdictions and HOME Consortia on a formula basis. The Contra Costa HOME Consortium (Consortium) consists of the Urban County and the cities of Antioch, Concord, Pittsburg, and Walnut Creek. As the Consortium representative, DCD is responsible for the administration and management of the HOME Program for the Consortium.   
  
The County receives ESG Program funds on an entitlement basis for use in funding renovation, major rehabilitation, or conversion of building for use as emergency shelters for the homeless; provision of essential services for the homeless; emergency shelter operations and related services; and homelessness prevention and rapid-rehousing activities. DCD administers ESG funds on behalf of the Urban County.   
  
The City of Oakland is the HOPWA grantee for Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The City of Oakland allocates HOPWA funds between the counties based on the number of HIV/AIDS cases in each county. These funds may be used for site acquisition, rehabilitation, and new construction of affordable housing; supportive services; housing information services; rent, mortgage, and utility subsidies; and certain other housing related activities for low-income persons with HIV/AIDS in both the Urban County and the cities of Antioch, Concord, Pittsburg, and Walnut Creek. The County is the project sponsor to the City of Oakland and is responsible for the administration and management of the HOPWA Program within Contra Costa County.   
  
FY 2020-2025 CONSOLIDATED PLAN  
The County must submit a strategic plan - the Consolidated Plan - every five years to HUD that identifies local needs and how these needs will be addressed. The Consolidated Plan must also demonstrate how the Consortium will meet national statutory goals to develop viable communities by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment, and economic opportunities, principally for persons of extremely-low, very-low, and low incomes.  
  
The preparation of the FY 2020-2025 Consolidated Plan began with holding three public community meetings and two service providers (housing and non-housing) group meetings during the months of March through June 2019. Individuals and representatives of various public agencies, community organizations, services providers and members of the general public throughout the County were invited to attend these meetings. Each meeting covered various topics, including but not limited to:  
  
- Affordable housing;  
- Persons with Disabilities;  
- Single parents/female-headed households;  
- Homelessness;   
- Economic development (business assistance and job creation/retention);   
- Seniors; and  
- Youth/families.  
  
The Consortium also solicited input from community organizations, public agencies, and members of the general public through an online survey that was accessible from March 2019 through July 2019. Over 1,400 survey responses were submitted. Consortium staff compiled and analyzed survey data to come to the following conclusions:   
  
1. Services to homeless populations or to those at imminent risk of homelessness rank highest as a priority for continued CDBG support.  
2. Affordable Housing activities are also a high priority. Of the eligible activities for affordable housing, the following are the highest ranking: 1) housing for "Special Needs Populations" (especially seniors/elderly); 2) preservation of existing affordable housing; 3) rehabilitation assistance to existing housing; and 4) emergency repairs for low-income homeowners.  
3. Job Development/Creation and Pollution/Property Cleanup rank the highest of the Economic Development activities.  
4. General Infrastructure/Public Facilities Improvements are also identified as a priority with the following categories ranking the highest: 1) Improvements and/or construction of streets and sidewalks; 2) senior centers; 3) youth/neighborhood centers; 4) park and recreational centers; and 5) childcare centers.The draft 2020-2025 Consolidated Plan proposes the following priorities for the use of CDBG, HOME, ESG and HOPWA funds: Affordable Housing (AH-1 through AH-4), Homelessness (H-1 through H-2), Non-Housing Community Development and Administration (CD-1 through CD-7).   
  
FY 2020/21 ACTION PLAN  
In addition to the five-year Consolidated Plan, the County must submit an Annual Action Plan that specifies what actions and investments will be carried out in the coming program year to implement the Consolidated Plan.   
  
On November 4, 2014, the Board of Supervisors (Board) adopted funding guidelines for use of CDBG funds as follows: Housing 45%; Public Services (PS) 17%; Economic Development (ED) 10%; Infrastructure/Public Facilities (IPF) 8%; and Program Administration 20%. Funding recommendations are made by the following Committees:  
  
-Family and Human Services Committee - CDBG PS and ESG categories  
-Finance Committee - CDBG ED and IPF categories  
-Affordable Housing Finance Committee - HOME and CDBG Housing category  
  
On October 17, 2019, County staff held the annual "Kick-Off" Meeting, a meeting to announce the County's CDBG/HOME/ESG/HOPWA Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) and to meet with various private/public non-profit organizations and agencies. The County's CDBG/HOME/ESG/HOPWA applications also became available that day and were due by December 9, 2019. County staff reviewed applications from December 2019 through March 2020.   
  
County staff developed recommendations for the PS, ED, IPF CDBG categories, and the ESG Program to present to the Family and Human Services (FHS) and Finance Committees scheduled for March and April 2020. Unfortunately, both committee meetings were canceled due to the public health order related to COVID-19 and therefore CDBG staff was unable to present recommendations. The Citizen Participation Plan (CPP) allows staff to bring recommendations directly to the Board (Attachments C, D, E, and F). Since County staff was unable to present recommendations to the FHS and Finance Committees, staff reports for each application submitted in the PS, ED, IPF CDBG categories as well as the ESG Program are also attached (Attachments I, J, K, and L).  
  
The Affordable Housing Finance Committee (AHFC) is a Board-appointed advisory committee that makes funding recommendations for the Board concerning the allocation of HOME and CDBG Housing category for affordable housing development. The AHFC held a public meeting via teleconference on April 24, 2020, to consider staff funding recommendations for CDBG Housing and HOME applications. Following discussion and comment on each project application, the AHFC approved funding recommendations shown in Attachment G.  
  
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN  
The Citizen Participation Plan (CPP) sets forth the County's policies and procedures for citizen participation for the use of funds from HUD funding programs that are allocated to the County and administered by DCD, including the CDBG, HOME, HOPWA, and ESG programs. The CPP provides an opportunity for the community to work in partnership with the County to identify needs and to allocate these funds. The CPP is revised periodically to reflect changes in the program. The following is a summary of the revisions in the attached CPP:  
  
- DCD address/contact information was updated to reflect the most current address/contact information;  
- A section clarifying the process for amendments to the CPP was created;  
- A section to address accessibility to public meetings/hearings related to the CDBG/HOME/HOPWA/ESG Programs was created;  
- The program priorities were revised to reflect the priorities in the FY 2020-2025 Consolidated Plan;  
- The Residential Anti-Displacement and Relocation Assistance Plan section was updated to provide more clarification;  
- Appendix A of the CPP was updated to reflect the public meetings/hearings process.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

Negative action will prevent the Consolidated Plan and Action Plan from being submitted by the deadline, and will jeopardize the County’s reciept of its allocation of FY 2020/21 CDBG, HOME, and ESG funds.

CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT:

The recommendation supports one or more of the following children's outcomes:  
(1) Children Ready for and Succeeding in School;  
(2) Children and Youth Healthy and Preparing for Productive Adulthood;  
(3) Families that are Economically Self Sufficient;  
(4) Families that are Safe, Stable and Nurturing; and  
(5) Communities that are Safe and Provide a High Quality of Life for Children and Families.  

CLERK'S ADDENDUM

Written correspondence was received from Adam Poe, Bay Area Legal Aid (attached).

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