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| | 1. | | Review and approval of the minutes of the June 16, 2009 meeting
Minutes note: Mr. Morics moved for approval of the minutes. There were no objections. | | | |
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| | 2. | | Update on the federal stimulus status report and action taken by city departments related to these funds since the last meeting
Minutes note: The city applied for four FEMA grants since the last meeting of this body. Sue Kenealy, Dept. of Administration grants manager, reported on the Port Security and the Firehouse Building grants. The Port Security grant has a city request for $423,000 to be spread out among the city's partners and includes 3% for management and administrative costs. The Firehouse Building grant includes the request to build two new fire houses - engines 8 and 17. Both of these facilities are 58 or 59 years old and there is no city match required, which is unusual with federal grants. Mr. Nicolini noted that a match isn't required, but might be noted as favorable. Mr. Nicolini said that we should encourage the fire dept. to include a match - Ms. Kenealy will contact the chief about a proposed match in order to approve the odds of getting the grants. The goverment has available $210 million and the city is asking for approval for two fire stations, with the hopes of getting one funded.
Maria Prioletta, Dept. of City Development, appeared and said that the city is now applying for the competitive, round two of federal funding. The application is due next Friday and the city is applying for $1.5 million, which would be used to leverage $12 million in redevelopment. She has not heard of anyone in Wisconsin submitting an application, beside Habitat for Humanity for work in the city. These funds must be used for foreclosed properties and includes up to $2 million for demolition. The city can demolish any properties, even those that are not foreclosed. Demolition could include standard demolition as well as deconstruction. These funds must be used on foreclosed properties, not foreclosure intervention efforts. If the city gets these funds, the dept. believes the funds will be available the beginning of 2010. Ald. Murphy encouraged Ms. Prioletta to work with the Housing Trust Fund. The dept. has also been incorporating job opportunities as much as possible utilizing these funds. The areas that the city is targeting with these funds have a foreclosure rate of about 60% with pending foreclosures at about the same percentage. The areas were selected in order to maximize the city's odds of receiving the maximum amount of funds. The application is due July 17th and the funds will be awarded by the end of the year.
Martin Aquino, Department of Public Works, appeared to speak on the Clean Water Loan Fund. The applications for $50.3 million were submitted by the deadline of June 30th - the applications were for sewer cleaning, pilot projects, and clean water programs. The most that any community would get would be $35 million and the decision will be made by August 15th as to who will get which amounts. Fifty percent of the grant amount will be funds and fifty percent will be low-interest loans. Mr. Nicolini noted that the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has a "sewer school" to teach individuals who work on sewer repairs. The Dept. of Public Works has been working on this grant for months and has been submitting portions to the federal government as completed. All of these projects, per Mr. Mantes, were in the capital improvements budget and the dept. can advance these projects if the funds are received. Ald. Murphy is concerned about how the projects were prioritized by the department, particularly due to the recent flooding. Mr. Aquino will provide Ald. Murphy with a complete list of the projects applied for by the department. There is also a possibility of a second round of funding depending on how much money remains after the funds are distributed. The Dept. of Public Works meets regularly with the Dept. of City Development regarding proposed development projects and any pending sewerage needs as a result of that development.
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| | 3. | | American Recovery and Reinvestment Act job creation reporting directive
Minutes note: Ms. Robinson noted that the first report is due October 10th and each quarter thereafter. The Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has created definitions related to how these jobs need to be reported and the city has created its own internal forms that are consistent with HUD mandates and with Community Development Block Grant reporting forms. Ald. Murphy questioned why the city is creating its own forms, rather than using the federal government's forms. Ald. Hines noted that the city has already received money and created jobs, while the federal forms are not yet public, so forms were needed so that the city could begin reporting, rather than trying to recreate the date retroactively. The forms will be online, not paper. The city is also waiting for guidance on how the state wants the job creation data reported. The Comptroller's Office will also review the proposed forms and submit any suggestions to Ms. Robinson. | | | |
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| | 4. | | Set next meeting date and agenda
Minutes note: The Staff Assistant will e-mail members about proposed dates/times. | | | |
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