Number
240861
Version
SUBSTITUTE 1
Reference
210894, 220703, 230897, 231182, 240222, 240360
Sponsor
ALD. BAUMAN
Title
Substitute resolution terminating the Environmental Collaboration Office’s contract with Habitat for Humanity to build net-zero homes.
Analysis
This resolution terminates the Environmental Collaboration Office’s contract with Habitat for Humanity to build net-zero homes.
Body
Whereas, Common Council File Number (CCFN) 210894, adopted October 21, 2021, appropriated $43,500,000 of the City’s first installment of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for affordable housing, and CCFN 220703, adopted November 22, 2022, appropriated $4,700,000 from the City’s second installment of ARPA funds for affordable housing and housing support projects; and
Whereas, Exhibit A and the “Finance & Personnel Committee 2021 ARPA Proposal Recommendations (Yellow Packet) Revised” attachment of CCFN 210894 described how the City’s appropriation would include $1,000,000 for the Modular Housing Program administered by the Environmental Collaboration Office (ECO); and
Whereas, Federal guidelines from the U.S. Department of Treasury require that the City of Milwaukee expend ARPA funds directly by December 31, 2024 and/or have ARPA funds under firm or fixed-price contracts by December 31, 2024 in order to expend them by December 31, 2026; and
Whereas, CCFN 231182, adopted on December 12, 2023, directs the use of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to be placed in the control of the Common Council if any funds are unused or unencumbered by June 30, 2024; and
Whereas, At a Joint Committee on Redevelopment of Abandoned and Foreclosed Homes meeting on May 6, 2024, the Department of Administration’s Budget and Management Division presented a report on ARPA-funded housing projects (CCFN 230897 attachment “May-ARPA-Funded Housing Projects”) which indicated that the Environment Collaboration Office had spent or encumbered only $105,190 of the $1,000,000 allocation for the Modular Housing Program; and
Whereas, At the same Joint Committee on Redevelopment of Abandoned and Foreclosed Homes meeting, Alderman Robert Bauman expressed concerns with ARPA Director Andrea Fowler about the difficulties of finding a suitable contractor for the Modular Housing initiative, as detailed in the transcript of the attached Legislative Reference Bureau Memo “180175 Bauman Memo ECO Contract”; and
Whereas, A pending Common Council resolution, CCFN 240222, introduced on June 11, 2024, seeks to reallocate the remaining unspent American Rescue Plan Act funds from the Environmental Collaboration Office Modular Housing Program to housing programs administered by the Department of City Development (DCD); and
Whereas, According to a program expenditure report attached to CCFN 240360, as of June 30, 2024, only $9,800 had been encumbered and $110,333 had been spent, with $879,867 remaining unspent, for the Modular Housing initiative; and
Whereas, A substitute to CCFN 240222 was submitted to the file on July 10, 2024, reallocating $879,867, which was the adjusted amount of funds unspent and unencumbered, of the $1,000,000 allocation for the Modular Housing Program to the Near West Side Partners, Inc. for the purpose of constructing affordable housing units; and
Whereas, On July 17, 2024 representatives of ECO, DOA, and the Common Council met to discuss CCFN 240222, and as a result of this meeting, scheduling of this file was delayed to after the August 2024 recess of the Common Council; and
Whereas, On July 31, 2024, the Environmental Collaboration Office executed a contract with Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity that encumbered $847,900 of the $1,000,000 allocation for the Modular Housing Program; and
Whereas, This contract effectively rendered moot CCFN 240222 to reallocate the adjusted amount of $879,867 from the $1,000,000 allocation for the Modular Housing Program to the Near West Side Partners, Inc. for the purpose of constructing affordable housing units; and
Whereas, An updated program expenditure report from September 18, 2024 showed that $852,800 had been encumbered for Modular Housing, but this was past the deadline set by CCFN 231182, which requires funds to be reallocated to the Common Council if they are unused or unencumbered by June 30, 2024; and
Whereas, Further discussion among Council members and ECO regarding the Modular Housing initiative occurred at the September 18, 2024 Finance and Personnel Committee closed session, which is not part of the official record; and
Whereas, This resolution would utilize the “terminate for convenience” clause in ECO’s contract with Habitat for Humanity for building net-zero homes; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that the Environmental Collaboration Office’s contract with Habitat for Humanity to build net-zero homes is terminated.
Requestor
Drafter
Alex Highley
LRB180175-2
9/25/2024