 Ryan you will come here and sit up here. Are you gonna stand up? What do you want to do this? You can join us at the table. You can stand at the podium your choice Perfect one o'clock, so we'll start. All right. Good afternoon everyone Okay, cool Good afternoon everyone. My name is Ryan Coleman. I'm the director of economic development for the city of Columbia It's good to be here today to speak with the members of the economic and community development committee and just share some information As far as what's been going on in economic development and certainly we are We are open to having some discussion and and getting your feedback on these as well as we're moving Into a new year and coming out of a post-covid environment. Certainly The strategies and things that we need to do not just as a as a city department, but as a city as a whole Continue to evolve and need to change and so we'll go through our our presentation here and I'll pause as needed For for anything that y'all might have for me. We'll start by going through our Some of our top accomplishments from 2021 Uh to year to date. So we've got a couple of things that we outlined 2021 was a bit of a Well, I mean a lot of the year was flat I think most people were still in in work from home scenario for a good portion of that year But we did have a pretty significant project with lofts on Lincoln which came in last year That was through the diner steen group. That's a 75 million dollar multi-family development project That took advantage of the commercial development incentive program. And so They are building 250 units Here down off of katalba street We we know that project will generate about 93 thousand dollars in taxes annually to the city over the next 10 years that's with the 50 percent tax credit And we'll house about 675 700 Probably young professionals and I would imagine there's some college students in there as well This one was a really good good one to work on in that I think the diner steen company brought a lot of public benefit to this by way of Some pedestrians a right-of-way and some much needed safety improvements down there on Lincoln street Which are needed because of the high number of students that cross there. It's right where the greek village Essentially connects to gramby in olympia We all right. Yeah, that's the city's portion, right? Yes, sir. That's correct. That is just the 17 percent to the city When you're doing these things going forward I think the benefit they're not only just say They're only just say the taxes but the word sure Yes, sir We have um, we have probably not run an east or recent average number of that but uh from a historical poll that we did off of the The student housing projects that were done in 2014 to 2016 on average Each one of these uh generates about 250 000 dollars in water sewer combined to the city Yes, sir, okay Next up, uh the advancement of commercial development a lot of the projects that we had Essentially worked on and put in the pipeline um what actually did have moved forward over the past few months And so projects such as the standard which is going on by the richland county library That project actually originally started in about 2014 it took Several years to kind of get that across the threshold. That's under development The benefit at bull street, which we heard from those developers profit dixon earlier today at the tax modernization committee They are underway with their site development Babcock building is occurring now West lawn is underway and then palms at lady and the lady apartments Palms at lady and lady have have actually opened the other ones of these Remain under development and we expect Probably the bennett and the standard will deliver in about fall of 2023 babcock building Has started leasing their first phase ones Five points development plan we the the city we had initially kind of introduced that It's time very well about march of 2020 and so when when the official plan was kind of rolled out was was when covid kicked in and so we've relaunched that over um Probably started pushing that out back in the fall and sending that out to developers. We've got a list of about 700 commercial real estate developers and investors Just in north carolina south carolina and georgia alone who have been receiving that and it's helped generate some additional interest In the five points area, and I think we we're all very proud of some of the early successes that we've seen with with jack browns furosado Swift clothing botanica on sand tea will will actually have their ceremony tomorrow And the interest in the five points district remains high technology talent attraction and retention programs This this continues to be a challenge and I know we we all talk about it pretty frequently about the need to continue to to retain The the number of students that come through here annually We pulled the numbers the other day and there's 50,245 students that came through columbia In in the year 2021 and we know that Some of these are staying but a lot of those are going to areas such as charlotte greenville charleston and so Working more with our six local colleges to promote and grow internship placements with local businesses We've we've done this with some of the insurance technology Companies working directly with the business schools. We've also been working with richland county and the central sc alliance a new job board Was introduced via central south carolina alliance last year and it promotes local job and internship Opportunities in the city of columbia in the region and every day an automated bot goes through indeed and it pulls down Thousands of job posting and internship opportunities It scrubs some of them out and then those things are all listed on the website start central sc Dot org you can go there right now and find hundreds of available job opportunities and internships as well Future work around the talent attraction and retention effort will will probably involve some more marketing and there's been some discussions about Possibly bringing in a dci out of charleston that has a pretty strong track record with Doing marketing for talent attraction and retention type programs Ryan just a couple of questions. How long have we been doing that program? Is that is that a new launch? Yes, ma'am. Okay, and are we kind of able to track how many students are participating and If we're having any success rates I really like that concept. So i'm hoping that we can See some benefit from it Yeah, we we um Need to get with central on that and see kind of what type of traffic that they're getting through the internship placements and then you know From from some of the advertising side. I mean we send we would send things out via social media or we used to Um promoting on the website and send these opportunities out as well So we haven't really fixed the back end part where we're getting the the actual metrics on who's getting placed And and and we need to kind of figure out how to do that because It's been very interesting just to promote some of these opportunities. It's easier with some companies that put internships on their website It's very easy to send somebody a link to that a lot of companies offer internships But it's through an internal process and so when you have to Get very hands-on with forwarding people directly to hr departments. It gets cumbersome. So Started a video series last year and Have been talking with pr about the possibility of kind of continuing that our internal staff video Videotographer is is no longer With the department as well, but we started developer takes program You know something that I think is really fascinating about columbia is we have a lot of developers and investors who do Who do really great projects here? Um People really don't get to see how the project is developed behind the scenes And so what we started doing is going in Periodically with folks like richard burts or ben arnold or frank casin To look at a project before they even start to demo and tear things out or build it up You know, let's take a look at a site. This is what the greenfield looks like or this is what The rehabilitation looks like on the building and then kind of go through periodically and check that out And then talk with the developers and hear about their stories of you know, what What what they had to do to bring that project to fruition and and Challenges and hurdles that they had to overcome Working on more continued work on entrepreneurial ecosystem development. Um, you know, this this is Something that's been occurring a lot and it's really been led through a partnership with the folks at groco And chris hivley and joe queenen through their build the ford program and the goal here is really To to build columbia's capacity for innovation and technology development Now we've we've got entrepreneurship and founder groups That have been meeting for a while and that do these things but the the goal for this was to really let's get into technology Let's get in, you know to those high tech positions Our our entrepreneurs are doing great work here But what we found was we had a gap that entrepreneurs weren't doing a lot in the tech innovation and development space So people that are really writing code and building new products and apps and so this has been part of that work and Joe and chris are kind of planning to ramp that up with some new co-working space and Some programs that they'll be running and we we think they'll be operating that hub out of five points as well Brought back the growth summit in 2021 Another you know event that had been dormant for a while. The timing worked out pretty well and so Economic development staff worked directly with the groco staff to help bring that back in person It's probably the largest attended event that they've had to date and I think Building off of the success for that. They're looking at doing it again this year and it'll be a two-day long event So we we are creating a marquee level event that Brings external business interest to the city of columbia There's no reason for people in columbia to have to continue to go to conferences in in charleston and greenville We want the people from greenville and charleston come in here What did those numbers look like I think that they they had a 350 375 attend this year full-day conference And part of that growth was supported by a $50,000 relentless challenge grant That we were able to help get through the department of commerce and their office of innovation They brought the speaker in Jordan I've got that book I can get the title and the name for folks Everybody's in attendance. He did And then just further continue work on the Deloitte technology plan initiatives You know a lot of these these individual efforts in here are things that were derived out of that original plan The chris highway work is certainly a part of that The the building up of the gross summit is a part of that as well Most recently we we had a meeting working with richland county SC tech and we we brought in 25 local executives and cio's Who work in the technology sector and to talk about where the gaps in our competitive notice What are we missing? What are the key areas or in education and training that we're short on and so We've gotten a feedback from them and are now working on putting together a second session which will Probably be in september of this year and it will bring those executives back together And we'll really start to talk about how we address and fulfill those shortfalls If you're not creating the the type of student with the the education and coding and and the technical background that they need You know, you're just not going to help continue to grow your tech companies here in columbia And that's what we really want to see is the strengthening of that local homegrown technology leadership Moving on to um overview of competitiveness of columbia Talked about a number of these things earlier today. I think you know From a from a structural perspective columbia, south carolina is a very attractive and and very Competitive city and and we are continuing to grow But you know as as we noted in tax modernization committee, you know, we have certain barriers and limitations that are really Limiting our ability to achieve the potential that I know we all can as a city We are growing so, you know, that that's positive South carolina continues to be a net in migration state But as we've seen we're growing at a late rate that's slower than our peers So our population is up six percent in the city of columbia versus eight percent at richland county eight to nine percent at richland county and then In the 20 percent at higher in lexington and we see that same thing Um That that same variation when we look at the city of greenville and city of charleston as well, so Up 137 481s our current population from 129,272 in 2011 The economy continues to be stable here locally. Uh, we've got an unemployment rate of 3.2 percent Uh, and we do benefit from having a highly educated population here in the city 44 of our population has a bachelor's degree or higher in the city A lot of our work opportunities are are in office related jobs Which would be expected in an urban environment So 71 of those opportunities are white collar office related As I mentioned earlier our student college student population in 2021 was 50,245 245 when you look At the percentage of college population in columbia, south carolina versus statewide We have 21.8 of the college population comes through city of columbia alone Over 6,000 close to 7,000 business establishments located in the city Primary sectors by jobs include public administration. Um, we we continue to be heavily leveraged in the governmental sector health care social services followed shortly by banking finance and insurance and then Retail is is last most of our businesses Well, I mean most every business in in columbia qualifies as a small business, but the the Large portion of our business over 87 percent are 19 employees and under We've got a lot of small businesses I think that gives us a good opportunities To continue to focus on growing those small businesses and help them become bigger businesses as well Some of the challenges we face the overall property tax rate for columbia as we mentioned earlier is is an impediment And it it continues to be a challenge to more investment and growth and um A lot of good discussion from the committee earlier today and um great strategies on how we we hopefully can move forward with addressing that As also mentioned those costs They they drive up the cost for existing businesses as well who aren't able To get the same type of economic development deal structures that a new business Locating to a city or a county can get and they create significant financial hurdles for startups as well We're very heavily relying on government sector employment This is great for your economic stability when you have economic downturns. Um, just because those Um, those those jobs tend to remain pretty consistent But it also limits your job creation and growth cycles as well And then as we've seen we're lagging some of our in-state peer cities in the amount of downtown multifamily residential opportunities So we we need to see, you know, uh more growth and development with creating the urban density with bringing in Multifamily apartment developers and addressing some of the affordable housing needs that we've been talking about recently as well I want to say off the top of my head the the statistic that I saw recently was that greenville charleston In downtown apartment units are about 9 000 apiece and at the city of columbia. We are only at 3000 So we're we're pretty far behind Um, I think getting height and vertical development can be challenging as well We need to make sure that You know when developers are looking around town that it's a very quick easy And fast moving process for them to get the plans in And get get those submitted and get approvals as well We've talked about The tap fees too. Um, I know If if there is substantial as we've looked at Just on small businesses in a restaurant and retail I mean imagine how big that number is for somebody that's coming in And generating that 250 000 in water sewer revenue Probably don't hear about that as much. I mean I won't Say it's not an issue. I recall some conversations with the folks at the standard. Um, we're where the parking requirements were challenging for them for their lot size, but um If it's an issue it's not one of the ones that we hear up front as much I would also wonder if I build them straight having more downtown Residential something that we Really desirable for us. I mean I think in fact it would create a really livable downtown, but I mean I just I've never had thought about it in these terms until Ryan just brought it up. I've never had thought about 9 000 versus 3 000 differentials I mean We could close that gap it would drive the restaurant trade Retail trading everything down I'm not talking about it see right a lot of all I'm here our developers already talk about me I don't know if they if they're not talking about it because of the impediments and they're going other places and once we deal with the impediments then that becomes more Um of an issue, but philosophically you're right. I mean when you have the people then all the rest will surely follow the retail and the Vitality that I know this council is promoting With the strategic outcomes that you've been discussing so Other similarly sized cities it does feel like whether you're at a conference or you're visiting that people are migrating to city centers and or the perimeter whether it's Our other hospitality just that may be laughing It does create that that mix of that vitality for sure Is there any data available to you through the various I see the various memberships you have for demand or the various presidential offerings for Each group this this this specifically for the downtown And I know a lot of times developers just do one-off market feasibility studies, but if there's just overall, you know trends You might be able to highlight through our recruiting efforts outside of the city developers That's how it would be very helpful A couple things to do And I really would like to see some We can attract some workforce And a lot of things I'm seeing For example, all the places they just put a program in To attract hotels Hotels are one of the few things that you could find out spectacularly And uh, if you look at their incentive program, it's not what we typically the incentive programs for for hotels are a guaranteed building permit in a certain period of time Basically, it's Each trap refund I mean, it's really there is It's a lighter I think it does more to Say we want hotels than it does for hotels. So that might I mean, I'm telling downtown downtown apartment is what we're going to do at Finlay Park And and some other things And I would also share with you. I think it Is more positive energy of people you have been down the rest And I've been the secretary of commerce How medicine are we going to market? I thought it was the greatest failure I'd ever seen in putting the food The company to take it over And now when you look at it in retrospect Putting all those kids on main street Maybe they're a little what I mean now we got We've got another the standard you got the group on gg street We we get two or three we get we need to blend it Get to get some workforce housing downtown get some market market market rate in the city center Then I mean, yeah, then we pay to get the restaurants. I mean it gave me this kid's really starting But just come back to the city manager if you would on what we need to do the spur or that type of thing and No, honestly, I was sitting here thinking about I don't know if the numbers The numbers would ever work to support workforce housing downtown To make the deals workable, but I guess it would it would take a lot of incentives. Um That is what I was sitting over here I think it's a good idea though because in other communities we have this People don't necessarily want them. But if if we set an example downtown Of having worked for its housing different places. I think that's a good example to set I just worry that Is if it's a workable deal Add cost I gotta love with you one of the things that I y'all are going to get tied into some of this as we go forward. I think it's Where your community development and economic development can go hand in hand A great example would be high rise over some Marion street with the housing authority The former director of the housing authority Basically shared with me that she didn't think that particular What it was going to take to put that building back into occupation Was probably not going to allow it to be back used as a as a housing authority type project And how do we look at something like that to turn that into workforce housing? I mean, it's just I think we got us. We really got to get out of the box I do think the more people we can bring to this that way not this hub thing is Really taught me a lesson That's what I say, so look, you know, I can't and see what the other successes that we're having The federal land bank building conversion the lady conversion now think about those What drove those wasn't a far months as much as it was the baby bill Yes, sir I think we're coming down the coming down the track with With a possible fix on the overall property tax situation But maybe we need to look at something something like workforce housing or I'm not seeing luxury housing But some things that we would like to attract in certain places And we're going to control but we guess the tax break you could do you can control where they're going to go by And by where you want to work and think about it. We could put more population On this end of main street And it could be very positive for the for these last two Anyway, yeah, let's look for opportunities and things like that high rise on Marion Street It's not on the tax rolls today I'd say I was kind of led to understand that The highest and best use of that would be to be sold And to and they would get to them they could take the money and do more affordable Housing authority type housing and then that somebody can purpose that into And it it's a really good tool to help you Direct to where you want to drive your growth I mean the original genesis for the student housing tax incentive was they were all locating out by Williams brice or over in Casey and The student population is best served by being closer to the university. There's less strain on the infrastructure They're not on the roads as much. I mean You can direct all your your water sewer infrastructure there. That's true And you know why they first the old neighborhood association pushed for a zoning regulation that no more than four feet No more than three people can live under the same We zoned up those projects out of the city And again, it's part of your look at At what we may need to do to create different types of houses you may you may come across ordinances in zoning That we need to take a you know, take a look at because it's The unintended consequences are we put 6,000 students out there on bluffing shop roads that very well could have been located Assembly street in the river for you for Another part is just in the houses downtown because This is again, this is something How do we follow up behind these demolition programs where we're doing to get those lots You know on the market where we can infill these things. How do we Because wilson and I have both encountered two churches for example In the city center of columbia that probably owned between the two of them some 60 to 70 building lines How do we make it attractive and who's going to work with those entities to do these to these infills? That's just something I think as we're going to Next fiscal year. We got to look at Those are programs we can build out they take for themselves Okay Moving on into investment and attraction opportunities Just go through a list of items Got here real quick First Top of mouth top of mind today leveraging the work with the tax modernization committee and the opportunity that you know As that comes to fruition to be able to Market that benefit to people Externally and really build that pipeline over the next few years to get that outside development investment interest Continuing to deepen the focus on the urban recruitment targets Such as restaurant retail, which we're seeing a tremendous amount of restaurant interest right now And we want to continue to Kind of feed off of that Hotels are starting to look again as well And then the multifamily mixed use development opportunities around the city Updating all of our economic development marketing materials It's we've we've done a pretty decent job over the past few years within house But now with the changing dynamic in the city now would be a great time to really go through and kind of a refresh all of our Collateral for economic development and make sure that we're promoting these enhanced opportunities at the city Um and and and by way of that promoting the these benefits of of columbia being open for business and doing business here such as the reductions in expansion fees the Promotion of the city's grease trap program are changes in parking allowances Updating and simplifying signage codes streamline Streamlining permitting increasing strat staff level approvals to reduce wait times and Reduce design guidelines and requirements all of things that are going to be attractive to developers and investors So you can kind of hit them with the one-two punch on you know Hey, we're going to make it more cost-effective and we're going to make it quicker and easier to do what you need to do here While you're at that point because I was actually going to ask for some direction from Mr. Chair and the committee on how we delve into some of these business friendly Items that are really in process. I think that it's Timely that you all we're doing this this overall discussion But there have been some other things that we've been working on we talked about at the retreat and I think there's a desire to Really start pushing out the information on these items the ones that we can I think there's a few from the retreat that might need a little more discussion in the in this committee I'm assuming that's the direction you all want to take so Since he's listed i'm here. I think this captures most of them. I also have my notes from the retreat. Is it um Maybe before we end it at love to have some direction on how y'all want to proceed if you're gonna refer all of them in committee And we go over them with the group. Are you ready to start marketing these things and pushing them out? Great great point. I think there's two types of things One that doesn't mean council approval and those that do Right the things that you're not lead council approval And combine that with the things that may may not be very controversial That we feel pretty solid on I like to get those. I like for I'd like for I'd like for this committee And the staff to be able to roll those out in the community Before the end of may that would be that again that would be The old site parking requirement changes the fact that we're we can be flexible on greece collection Combined with our greece collection rebate program Commitment and I think somebody this you might have said somebody's working on a building permit timeline Somewhere that we're we're we can make the commitment And yes, the good news is most of these all sprung out of the file points, but we're gonna apply them city-wide So which ones are ready for may I just want to make sure we're all on the same page too That staff is on the same page of what Is this the complete list here for may This pretty much addresses the complete list. I think it's in broader terms here than what we talked about with you at the retreat What we would not do yet see the design guideline has to be an application Still that application has been briefed on everybody It's just in the conceptual That'd be the last bullet mr. Burnett, and I think very candidly we're probably looking at that at the earliest september You just don't get much bang for the book Columbia South Carolina by Nelson stuff But I'm you know Go over those because I I missed them that the ones that we feel are comfortable are ready for may I just want because I want to make sure that we're all on the same page I'll tell you the easiest thing to do on that is I've sent you a note of what what I'm thinking is just let's just take that and drop the memo back to the committee. This is The item we're heading to bring to the market because we were a couple of when we need to get some and collateral material done We talked about a fairly easy to understand brochure on oversight parking requirements. We talked about a fairly easy That's your thing is all on grease trap and grease interception So just so I'm clear are these new things or we're promoting them more? Some are in the elimination The big the big gorilla here is the elimination of the change of use phase Water and sewer And we did that when it's a staff level change Yeah, after you know kind of hearing in general terms this business friendly model What can we do to make things better? So that was a staff level change So that's council been Because I don't know is this and I might have missed it because y'all know I don't think so. I think that's why I'm bringing it up How do you how did some of it came out of the five points the grease trap program? It was a five points driven. It's sort of a hodgepodge of different things the parking allowances Under 5,000 square feet was a five points most of these we've been talking about for four or five years And some of them have been in placing for them. We're just we're highlight them. It's so Kind of in line with what we were talking about at the retreat um I would prefer if we kind of gave council an update of all of them Before they go out Just so we're prepared when people ask questions, you know, so I can be able to explain it real quick It's it's kind of in line what we were talking about when something comes out make sure we all notice So we He has been to figure out what you could do and couldn't do Before it came up and I think we're like I say, I think we're fairly close on this I think it's going to have positive impacts for every area One of the things we've talked about in your district for example, where we have Couldn't build a corner store today What kind of corner store you're talking about I might not want a corner store but go ahead Well The root of is that we need we need to educate citizens and residents of Of that point exactly make it clear And that's what I'm hoping to do once we get to this point and we saw today this morning that we can get the real Really your pr bangs on them and various council members, you know communicates to it. We can get the commercial real estate In the room and that's when we talk about announcing this thing. We're really not talking about so much It would be a fresh release, but One of the things that city manager and I have thought that that is Going back to something we did a long time ago Down in five points and we could do it in a couple of areas where we plug them all in And go over this thing. I mean part of part of why I'm here To hear your thoughts on this at some point in time But part of what we got to do is get our commercial real estate community inspired To go bring capital back into the city We've done a pretty nice job of showing the world what you can how you grow with Recycle your own capital every time it's time. We've got to get some Give them the tools to make sure they understand what these things are some Really are already in place, but I think you were you're talking to You know a business person and they're like, I didn't know that or I didn't you know So we got a perfect example was a week ago. I think our best hospitality commercial real estate guy in columbia We're showing a building in the city center And was going over and over about the own site parking requirements It's frankly had already been waved on that particular size of the building So the prospect was was rolling their eyes and having to lease spaces for $2,000 a month above his rent When the fact that didn't exist anymore So part of the rollout is So why don't we put together the memo Um that because we pretty much have it so for you all And if on the committee level or just all accounts, I don't know how you want to handle that For the things that are in process or have already been done Some of them do require tech amendments the parking And probably the signage, but that's something we can get done. Some have already been done as staff level changes Um, as mr. Taylor mentioned the last bullet is probably the bigger item that whenever you're ready Maybe to refer it to this committee Then you'll let us know that Yeah, I would say I would say refer it sooner than later unless that's right And there's some things that we want to start talking about. Yeah And what Jeff's doing on the business license program You know, I mean I got no problem announcing what Jeff's going to get accomplished because once I put it in the public He's going to get it accomplished the state told him what he's going to get accomplished with There are things that frustrate Meaningful citizens and small business Keep going through Next slide increase the availability of our online business services. Good timing there Continue to capitalize on the renewed interest of the restaurant and retail businesses mentioned that earlier Maintaining the focus on filling our ground level retail spaces I mentioned five points because I do think they have the still have the heaviest concentration of those But really in in all of our business districts around the city and I think with with the momentum that we've got Throughout this year. We're going to see that happen and we will probably need to shift Into a situation where we're creating new Ground level retail Spots for people to move in just looking for kind of like empty Tracks of land where we can do smaller developments and get people building some new product Strengthening just a quick question. What do you think that vacancy rate is in five points? There's probably still at least upwards of 20 down there and Think it's higher than that 25 there's probably 80 to 90 total 20 to 25 Continuing to strengthen the coordination with our local businesses meeting with them one-on-one in in groups and Getting their feedback and bringing that back to the city manager and the city council on where to prioritize The city's efforts with regards to the the quality of life improvements that they want to see with the cleanliness with the infrastructure green space improvements in public safety And public safety so really being a conduit of information flow so that you know better decision making And timely decision making can happen at the upper administrative levels And then we've just got approved to everybody. We're not just a business friendly city. We're a business first City in columbia On the grants Um We're coming and closing on a fiscal year in and you have grant money available still yes, sir should we Should we be looking at doing some type of grant money into the chris hivelly Joe queen and things they really seem to have some Very serious momentum. I mean, I know they're looking for some approached some of us on grant for operating We I met with chris and joe last week and we met with regards to the groco contract So the we contracted with when groco was getting started at a rate of 37 5 For a year for a three-year term that term is up now This was before the whole the merger with the hivelly and joe's efforts I know they've got some new programming that they want to roll out And and we just kind of had a conversation about You know a closing out the current process and be You know, what's the likelihood if there's there's no funding for stuff going forward because again groco's You know kind of closed out at this point. What if we remain consistent at 37 5 or if there was extra money available What would that look like for y'all? So they've got I think the thing that they said was they've got a Build better program. That's kind of like a small accelerator for businesses that they wanted to power I do think these guys They've been able to excitement Well, and I think it takes up a lot of the boxes of recruits and retain talent from all of our colleges That's what I say. So my point is as we come down I hate to see I hate I think this is I actually think this is more of a city county type deal than it is a university type deal And if you like what they're doing We need to be driving the train because it needs to benefit The whole city and the whole county not just the campus And I think historically in the past too many things along these lines have been campus centered Not city center Well, I think that that's a bigger conversation that we could probably have a whole session on as that's what's with But I just the relationship of county city Off of this Deloitte study I mean how Those two entities need to be the leader on it, but but you know Where's it going? So eventually That study's done. I think there's another round of More digging in There is an interest on the county level It's a good I guess kicking off point. We'll go into it now unless you already talked about it before I sat down, but The plan program, you know, this gives us the direction. Maybe this is the type You know impactful Project that moves the city's mission. I think the What we've been doing at times, you know, it was I'm not taking anything away from the various entities that were awarded plans, but That's been Ryan's struggle and mine, you know, when maybe previous city council and different trains of thought on it Are we just doing it because they say they do economic development Or are we doing what actually and are they and what does that mean? Are they doing something that moves the mission or is impactful in a bigger picture? So if this is an example of what grant dollars should be going towards, I think that gives him Ryan a better indication of maybe how to structure something You know, maybe what kind of funds remain, but it's only for significant impactful I mean, it's for the council to tell us, but we have been looking for that direction Let me say haven't been to secretary of commerce most cities don't do grants State does grants the state doesn't send us cash incentives. I mean look what we're going to see and I think you're seeing it now Steal someone else's political line from way back our jobs to get the soil conditions right Yeah, and it may be sometimes where we can do things for our public works department Which are the you know, which are the type of incentives we should be doing cash is not the incentive our incentive would be if A grant if a big new hotel was going to come onto main street We might use our public work staff to put a valet lane in Form or some things like that You know, I think these community-wide grants like this whether you want to have them That could be a line item frankly in the city manager's office You know Because some of these will be economic development. Some may not But I was just just really for this discussion today as I know Chris and them this is something that we probably I would encourage you to have a conversation with the mayor and have a conversation with them We don't need I think this is something we don't need to see going away. I'm not saying it will but it could and I think We want to make sure Like councilman friend was saying that it is this thing's Community-centric not campus-centric I will wrap us up. Um five minutes left There's a proposed org chart for the columbia economic development office going forward led by director staff of five underneath the director I'm shifting and realigning some roles having two project managers who are really working on the ground With the existing folks bringing in walking them through the process connecting them with You know the things and resources that they need and then having two recruiters as well Also have our our office manager placed under that and then utilizing business school interns From our dollar more school local business colleges thinking of maybe two or three of those a year Being able to rotate some of that that young talent in through the office That is in the budget requests from your department. Yes, sir Right, uh, we would also maybe look at incorporating that office into our regular city offices instead of being In the former h&t building. Yes Okay, and mission Read through this real quick columbia economic development's mission Is to be a champion for businesses and make our city the preferred destination for growth and development in south carolina We value our local businesses and those looking to invest in our city and will support their needs by providing fast friendly and effective service We will highlight and promote columbia south carolina is an ideal location for job creation and capital investment Planning for 2023 updating the office structure Um continuing to add some improvements with our crm system. We are already getting some of the email Automation systems put in place And that that project rollout will begin starting next week Dedicating more time to identifying these properties and property owners where we have potential development opportunities downtown As we talked having more of an ability to escalate issues working with the city manager And administrative staff to expedite the resolution of critical time since it matters um And doing more analysis of underlying calls of these these business cases What's going on on a year-to-year basis? And so we can start to kind of hone in on where our issues are on a macro level And then working with a business advocacy council consisting of owners developers and investors Particularly those who have have recently worked with or regularly work with the city and that can provide information On their experiences and best practices And we we have had a developers group and a commercial brokers group that we've met with this would be Kind of an enhancement of that structure Updating strategic and marketing plan for the city of columbia focused on our urban economic development targets Updating all the marketing collateral and then finally there's a just a list of a couple of recruitment opportunities And conferences going on throughout the duration of the year most of those are aimed at either retail hospitality type businesses Some of our insurance and then Developers investors Who typically congregate at the urban land institute conferences we've made some good contacts there And to go out for RFQs That would probably have to okay three or four folks, hopefully would present Would that come to council or that would be staff decision? Not of all the council if we follow up a curement process, mr. Brennan But leading up to that if they're folks that are Particularly, you know, you know, I'd like to ask to broaden that to get some of the best and talented groups to take a look at our wonderful assets here and how to promote them You know what will I'd like for us to take a shot at it Amen. Yeah, I gotta tell you I think I think uh, I think I was gonna suggest that we would have That we're gonna have one committee meeting just on economic development will be very short Sometime you'll find a date on a tuesday preferably Um 30 minutes 45 tops for us to go over What we're talking to all the processes. I want to make sure miss harbert and everybody is Is fine With the things that we we would begin to roll out Like I said, if you do it, we can get it into that next council agenda But I gotta tell you I would I would like for us to To perhaps look at engaging somebody from from the dalamore school because they're out for the summer Encourage the city manager and and our committee maybe to make some suggestions To put together a group that involves business leaders some business leaders here Some economic development professionals here members of the council member of the staff And and let's talk about what we want to do And what timeline we want to see that's what to say I'm with you. I You know, I just and and it needs to involve every neighborhood, you know, we want to you know Not just to five points. Not just the city center And let's let's just see if we can't make a run that before we go We go hire somebody I I have great confidence in what I think This is a great foundation right here I'll tell you something if you got and you're seeing it now, I mean, I'm not Picking on anybody anywhere, but what I've just you know, when you when the mayor's out there talking about we're open and And the city council is all enthusiastic in going to ribbon cuttings and talking about About new businesses being welcome and things like that that's what company company folks want to see in here and And we can continue with that list of things that we've been working on We'll have to go recruit the big stuff, but I'm just telling you it will it will come on its own So I think most of our strategic plan is going to be You know just getting our getting our approach nail down So just so I'm clear y'all know, I'm always like needing clarity. So we're not going to put out an RFP To get this strategic plan done. We're going to put something like a committee together We're charged the city manager to come on up with With an approach and we're happy to help and and let's just see if we can't Because here's the other thing happens You pay somebody to come do a strategic plan for your city I mean the only person that really gets vested in that is the consulting group If we build it amongst ourselves And it's our ideas and it's our concept we own And I'll just tell you it's case You get the results everybody becomes engaged Everybody gets to brag about the successes because they're our success I just think it could be fun to do and probably save us 20,000 We're already going to be we are As we talked about at your retreat going to be doing that overarching bigger marketing RFP or Q and that from what you all said is really intended To create that consistency across all the departments. So I think if we do our own internal economic development Plan that can be information for that group to use for the economic development related collateral So that makes sense. I mean, I think we can definitely And say in a kind of a sneaky way It should be nice to get the darlimore school faculty and staff some engaged in How we can make our whole place more successful And I I think when you talk to them you'll be able to You'll find the right Black moderators Whatever What we really need is a marketing When some of these jobs that We're going to they're going to be putting the budget under ryan specifically The scope of their Their job could be towards that obviously We're all going to take that into account They're going to assist I think that um, you know, there was really that the intention was to make sure we have that these two people were out there I mean, they're going to need the I see the recruiters for example needing the product from what comes up there So they can take that and they're out there bringing the capital back Everything presented today for future, you know vision that is going to go into the future jobs that I mean, there's several that we have to hire for now Right three four five So now the time of craft specifically if we're going to own it, let's get the talent to help us on that Yeah, and I think An engine D wants to use the interns from darla more, but then if we did get another More senior people from there perhaps I think it can it's all doable Thank you Thank you all Or with the city of columbia community development department review miss gloria sye community development director Oh, yes ma'am All right committees back we reconvene Say please and make sure Here you all can hear me. Uh, good afternoon It's a pleasure to be here. I'm gloria sye community development director for the city of columbia And we're here to present to you today information on What activities the community development team has been involved in over the past year And discuss our accomplishments and also talk about some of our opportunities moving forward So we're going to start with Of course our mission statement And I'd like to read this to everyone Our mission is to improve the quality of life for columbia citizens by providing economic housing and social opportunities We are the fuel supporting the local economy by providing resources and opportunities for growth Community development administers federal state and local funding and ensures compliance community development programs increase home ownership And build neighborhood capacity while offering excellent customer service Partnerships with banks neighborhoods and organizations Allow us to improve the quality of life and continue to make columbia a world-class city so just to give you an overview um our One of our main responsibilities at the community development department is grant administration And here we've listed a total of eight grants that we are currently administering um Looking at our three entitlement grants. They include community development CDBG community development block grant our home investment partnership Program grant and also hopla right missy some of us Don't speak in the code of governments. Yes, sir Yes, sir. So hopla would appear to me to be an indian village Yes, sir. And you know and I have that Written out in some of the other pages. I apologize that it's not here up front So hopla where you know cdb june. I know you know that one And then home Well, you said hopla so how hopla is housing opportunities for persons with AIDS And it is on one of the other slides where it's written out for you And then also their congressional appropriated grants which is cdb g cb Which came out of the came out of the cares act Um, there's cdb g disaster recovery. What does the cb stand for? Uh, coronavirus And that that block of money came out of the cares act And then there's cdb g disaster recovery cdb g mitigation Home arp And then hopla cd So, um, those are the grants that we're currently administer administering Just to give you a little background on community Development or cdb g the primary objective of cdb g funds are to provide decent housing and a suitable suitable living environment and expand economic opportunities and there are sundry of things that fall under that definition The goals and funding are principally to benefit low to moderate income persons and most vulnerable populations And again note that the cdb g regulations require that grantees expend not less than 70 percent of cdb g funds For activities that benefit, uh, low moderate income persons In addition, the grantee must expend no less than one and a half percent of entitlement and revolving loan funds annually No later than may 2nd to meet timeliness and i'm going to take a point of privilege right now To say that as of yesterday may 2nd the city did meet timeliness for their cdb g funds. So very good I do have one quick question and this is um Just my me being naive, but I love this language Because when i'm talking about people deserve quality housing great housing Stable housing is that a technical term of decent housing? Is that like A federal term because i'm going to start using it if that is a People deserve decent housing Because you know I have said different words Well, what? Yeah And then you may like it. I like decent housing. Yes, and you may also hear decent safe sanitary Those type things, but yes And so home our home investment partnership program the primary objective of home The home program is the development of affordable housing for rent or home ownership Providing funding to again provide safe quality and affordable housing for low to moderate income households Expand the capacity of non-profit and for-profit housing developers Strengthen the ability of state and local governments to provide housing And leverage private private sector participation And home regulations also require that the funding assists low to moderate income individuals Which means 80 of the area AMI and that is provided annually By hud When you say expand the capacity of non-profit for What do you mean by expand the capacity? Well, what what is meant by that is working with non-profit or For-profit developers who perhaps aren't that familiar with Using federal dollars A lot of people have the attitude. Oh, no, I don't want to use federal dollars because it takes too long Um, so what we do there is work with them provide technical assistance, you know help them You know navigate and understand that's that's training not cash Or is it cash? Well with training and then the capacity meaning the home dollars that are Awarded through no fuzz and things of that nature. Can you just Give me an example of somewhere In columbia that just so I got something identified to what expanding it where we expanded the capacity of either a non-profit or a for-profit Well, there's one that we're going to talk about later In terms of a non-profit developer that typically did business in greenville development of affordable housing for sale and for For rental that actually came to columbia and did their first project here So I do know personally that that particular developer is wanting to expand statewide To create additional So how do we how do we expand we recruited them or we trained them or we gave them equity money for For the for them what we we provided funding for for a project that they completed here Using home dollars and like when we separate we we provide equity amounts or the whole amounts or I'm just curious I don't well we provided in that particular instance gap funding. So they were able to obtain Funding through a private Vendor and the city came in to help with that project by filling the gap of about 600,000 dollars Was that a loan or was that a grant? It was a combination Part of it was a grant and part of it No, I was like you say I just I mean She was curious of an example and that's One of our development corporations at the time had no I mean no comment on the thing. I just was looking for For an example of how we did it so I could Sometimes it's easier for the way Ms. Wilson and I have the same brain wavelength according to the consultant. So it helps me To think like y'all think on these and learn by example And I learned to hearing your questions, you know to prepare my answer So So here we have housing opportunities for persons with AIDS hopua The primary objective of hopua of the hopua program is to establish or maintain stable housing Reduce the risk of homelessness and improve their access To health care and other support services And just so you all are aware the city of columbia administers Hopua funding as a formula entitlement for the columbia eligible Metropolitan statistical area, which are the following counties Calhoun fairfield kershaw lexington richland and saluda A lot of people didn't know that so I just want to make sure We pointed that that we expand beyond the city limits with that particular program And when I look at the funding on the next page that we have a million 593 there abouts for hopua funding This past year Yes, sir I know their grants Yes, um pretty much sometimes they do fluctuate a little bit And you know it may increase by a few hundred thousand I don't know cbdg's probably that's I mean, that's our biggest probably grant ass Actually hopua is the larger one that we receive an entitlement Well just this past year we received one a one million five ninety three And Not that that's cdbg mitigation Yes There's a kind of one-time ask for For the cdbg mitigation. Yes, that's a congressional appropriation specifically for mitigation type projects And then I just want to clarify too though our hopua is 1.5 million But that includes what we also pass through to other counties Or is that what we keep here in the city? Well, we actually we pass it through through sponsors Um that serve those counties. So, yeah So we but this oh 1.5 million is not spent and allocated to city Are those sponsors nonprofits or are they armed with the local government? They they are they're they are mostly non non they're nonprofits Yes Yes, sir, that's that oversight no one likes here we go with the Funding and accomplishments continued We covered cdbg And here we have the home funding for the past year with six hundred ninety thousand eight dollars And here we talked again about one of the accomplishments was that we Actually held a ribbon cutting last month during cd week For the homes of hope project, which is a total of 29 units and the city funded eight of those units In the amount of six thousand six hundred nine thousand nine hundred and forty nine dollars Also here we see the funding for hopua again and there are six sponsors Um, and they were funded one million four ninety three nine seventy three And then we're also showing what those Accomplishments were in terms of who who was assisted The question on homes of hope, um, well did that go through one of the development courts or It went through the one from The developer non-profit developer from greenville. Okay And they take care of marketing. That's what I was trying to figure out Do they help us so that we don't have to market? Oh, we do not they responsible for the Day-to-day management, they have a property management firm That handles that for that we get the revenue off of the eight one the eight that we built or is that Was that a part of their plan? We'll get the payment off the portion that was loaned Oh And so, um A hopua proper project sponsor, which is we call them sponsors with hopua not sub recipients Um, is defined as a non-profit organization or or i'm sorry It's a typo or housing of a state or unit of local government that contracts with a grantee to receive assistance Here we have some additional Accomplishments and some of the programs that we are offering community development We do provide action grants to City neighborhoods and to date we funded seven neighborhoods in a total of 5 826 dollars We provided four virtual workshops With bank on columbia and start fresh We had 52 participants in these first workshops, and we also partner with first horizon bank operation hope and richland library We do realize that we can't do all of these things ourselves. So having partners To help us reach the populations who are you know looking for Assistance in training with budgeting and financial type items credit repair These folk are very helpful in partnering with us and we do appreciate it We also have a kids save account Columbia kids saves this program actually has been suspended for the past year due to covet But when the program was started, we were able to get Corporate sponsorships in the amount of $15,000. This is not federal money or city money And these funds are used to match any savings from children at two of our elementary schools in columbia And To date it shows that the city has matched $476 and that children have Oh, I didn't put that amount here, but the children have saved about $5,000 so far in their bank accounts So what's the match because I see that the city's year to date matches It's a dollar. It's a dollar for dollar up to $50 and then we also administer On behalf of the columbia of water the Debra christie customer assistance Program and to date 320 individuals have been served This program is designed specifically for low and very low income individuals that's those individuals who are at 50 or below the area a mi and To date 106,719 Dollars and 14 cents has been used to assist Columbia water customers with me um It's voluntary donations Yes Where do they come from? So I see you're about to answer would you would you like to answer missy? We have the water sewer warranty card There's $575,000 on account Yes, that's the number that I the most recent number that I And then again, I mentioned operation hope earlier That's a nonprofit as well operation hope they provide credit counseling oftentimes when we Receive calls and work with applicants who are interested in getting home loans and they're not ready We refer them If they need assistance for six or more months, we refer them to Operation hope so that they can receive credit and budget counseling for mortgage readiness we also Have the cd lender to an employee loan program over the past Year or we fund it to employee loans Tolling 135,276 and there was $250,000 of budgeted for the year Um, there are additional loans in the pipeline that we won't be able to serve all based on what's budgeted here But we're going to serve as many as we can Is that 250 new money from the journal fund or is that res payments? Recycled in the camp that's from the revolving loan fund. It's not new money from So can you remind me it's been a minute the difference between city lender to So we had a sentence What's the difference so your city lender to That program is for individuals whose income exceed 80 percent AMI So we can not employees or Well, 80 those who exceed 80 percent AMI and then the employee loans that doesn't matter Regardless of their income The women city too is For those who are 80 and above the AMI And then for the employee loans, it doesn't matter and then What about the regular just the regular city loans? The city lender ones. Yes. Yes. Those are funded and we're going to talk about those a little bit Further on in presentation But those are the ones that we fund with either CDBG or home because they meet the income requirements Okay, so here we have the CDBG dr status update And so just to give you a little background information The city of columbia received a congressional allocation for cdbg disaster recovery The first the first Entitlement was received in 2016 totaling nineteen million nine hundred eighty nine thousand dollars And then there was a second allocation received In 2017 totaling six million one sixty six Which is a total of twenty six million one hundred and fifty five thousand dollars for cdbg dr We recent the initial action plan was approved On january 24th 2017 um, and then fast forward of the city Transitioned the program back in july 2020 When the decision was made to actually look at getting a Different program manager and also a sub recipient And so the city has selected a new program manager and sub recipient And once that was done the program was Revaluated that has been completed and the program has been rebooted and there are Moving forward. They're actually Activities construction activities underway as we speak And also we recently the city completed a substantial amendment Substantial action plan amendment number six and received approval on april 4th 2021 There is a grant deadline for the completion of the dr grant and that is january 24 2024 And to date based on what's in the hud's dr gr system That's the disaster recovery grant reporting system The city has expended fourteen million thirty seven thousand eight hundred and twenty three dollars, which is 53 percent 53.7 percent of the total Award I do have a question because this was a time period that wasn't here. Does that mean that between When we made the change that there was a point where we weren't we had no work going because we were switching the consultant There there was a period of time Which also included when we were in the middle of covid So um, so during that transition there was a period of time It was you know 2020 um, and so yes, there there were some There was a period of time where You know, we had to regroup and revamp and reboot But the new new group has been on any work any since before The new new group came on their agreements were signed the end of 20 and they began the revaluation of Files and restructuring and things of that nature In january of 2021 and it took quite a bit of work To go through, you know, all the files and make sure everything was in order And determining, you know Based on the remaining funds how we were going to be able to serve those individuals with those priorities So here we're just showing you in this frame The accomplishments in various programs The Elevation program the hmgp program the srrp program Those awards that were made in addition to the small business disaster recovery program As well as two multifamily projects that were funded and completed So where we are today, we there are still Two active programs that we're working within they're both housing programs There are chat the columbia homeowner assistance program and the minor repair program And here we're showing what our projections are At this point in time and based on what was submitted to HUD in the action plan That was recently approved And so here just for reference for me these this was This is what we're we're saying we're going to do with the remainder of the 26 million dollar that is correct And based on our action plan, we are projecting to have these Housing projects completed By the end of the year Barring no unforeseen circumstances like bad weather and things like that that you know that can cause delays But our our strategy and our timeline is to complete construction of projects by the end of the year We're talking about the fiscal 20 This is calendar 22 them calendar 22 we're going to finish 48 project 25 plus 23. Yes That is the projection And they're 18 that are currently in some phase of construction currently You got to start and finish And it's aggressive, but we felt that was necessary to make sure we can push forward To make sure we you know meet the needs and assist the remaining applicants, you know in the program Sure They're very much in You know a lot of that transitioning the program manager had to work So The city manager is absolutely correct, which is different from before we approach this with a two-pronged approach where yes There's a program manager that is really helping with the overall oversight But then you know more importantly We have a sub recipient That's on on board to specifically manage the construction phase. So that is their role money through friday To make sure the project the construction moves along in a timely manner When I just just for my clarity So the columbia homeowner assistance program the chat program Are those the situations where we are demolishing and rebuilding is that a distinction? Correct Some but now some some of the chat may be rehab Okay, but it's it's based on the dollar amount that that we're spending Yes, it really is really based on the estimated cost of repairs. So we kind of way You know, does it make more sense depending on the condition of the home just to demolish and rebuild As opposed to rehabbing and so the homes that we're demolishing and Rebuilding i'm just curious about how much we're investing because that's a investing into On average to each of these homes What numbers up there would I how would I find the average? So to allocated nine and a half million god god 64 number of applicants into that nine and a half million So project Exactly and actually to miss wilson point When the when the estimates were initially done And we gave the presentation last year the council we used an estimate of a hundred and ninety thousand dollars per unit Okay, but that has fluctuated some due to the Current state of the economy Right So that the 190 is all in all in number because some of the some of the Applicants require temporary relocation Um, and also many of the houses because of the age requires some type of environmental Remediation due to lead based paint and in some cases asbestos So we used initially a hundred and ninety thousand But that that does fluctuate depending on you know the cost of you know supplies. There's been some shortages with labor And things of that nature You know where the numbers may fluctuate, but at the end of the day, this is this is our goal and this is our strategy This is what we're trying to reach a new average Is 270,000 dollars? That of 190 Yeah, it is higher. I think the last one I saw it was around 250 Um, but they're constantly re-evaluating and looking at the cost structure to see you know how Costs are moving It is I understand the relocation component of it plus money to do another Yeah budget update Well, you know, one of the things that we have found You know in doing the projects where individuals their homes did sustain storm damage Um, but there are some things in the house where there are there was deferred maintenance And that will in in some cases speak to to safety sanitary housing for housing. So those are some of the things that have to be Mitigated as well. And so that's why you'll see a fluctuation So are the is the homeowner allowed to find their own contractor to fix it? No, sir. They have to go through the approved contractor that comes along with this Yes, so yes, sir. So in this structure, um, is designed Where the sub recipient? For construction, which is sbp. They have the contract with the contractor And we found that that works a lot easier and a lot smoother. It's a lot of our applicants are senior citizens um, and then oftentimes to after You know, uh, the repairs are completed You know, it's a lot of responsibility to leave it on the homeowner to call a contractor back So the sub recipient has taken on all that responsibility Um We have the city hasn't put that in place, but I do know that sbp is doing that the sub recipient, but that could be something Yes, they are doing that. I mean, so that's something we we can certainly do Yes Found out they were because someone someone said, hey, we got we we got questions and you know about how the sub recipient is performing I think we've learned some things through this process. Um the you know At the end of the day, you know, when the programs were initially designed it was for rehab and reconstruction It wasn't for You know, hood has names or every single thing. It wasn't for, um acquisition That's just Um, what happens if we don't finish? April 1st, 2026 I ask one quick question No, can I ask a question back going back to your your first question? And that's 277 pure expenses. I mean, are we talking about are there some Administrative costs in there? Is that the full budget? But are you saying 277 into each construction? project So that that includes relocation that includes a lead based paint Abatement and yes, it also it also trying to put as much in there. Yeah, um really is It also includes activity delivery, which is what it costs to pay the sub recipient That makes the total number includes all that So that 277 is not just the money put into the home, but it's some of that extra stuff I'm just checking All in to put somebody back in their house. Yeah, it can cost up to that. Yes All right, when I said 22 We're saying now with our extension Or our recent improvement when will we be through with this program? Okay, so the grant expiration date is January 2024 That's when we must be complete and closed out We're projecting here that all the construction will be completed by the end of 22, but there's still going to be a closeout phase Yes, sir. And what happens if you run out of money? So What I heard you say was you've estimated Between 10 and a time We are the our sub recipient is tracking that very closely So We're tracking what's been spent and our program manager. We're tracking what's been expended So that we won't go over And start on a project that we run out of money on so we are tracking that very closely There will be applicants I mean, no, I see that When you've got 64 applicants and you're only gonna complete projecting 34 My point is what happens if you run out of money before you finish the 34? The place for that They will award individual projects. I mean, they'll they'll bid it and And then who is the sub recipient? It's SBP They originated out of New Orleans and through after Katrina And they've just grown to a large disaster response organization With national companies, yes, they are SBP at the time of the transition of the program was I mean, obviously we get a third and a pop-up They administered the state's program and done a very good job of that and at the point where we were we needed to have some Is that we were using someone Sometimes there's an advantage And I do I see them Times aren't quite as diligent as those that that have to live in amongst the community The bad story of the transition Okay, I just well I just wanted to add one thing and we won't be able to Resolve it today, but I do think that we have to do something more effective with respect to the folks who won't Get any work done I know that letters went out, but I also know that the folks Who call me don't understand the letter So if we can find a more personable way and if I have to help that's fine, too Um, I don't know if we need to meet with folks, but you know people in their 70s and 80s Just know the city said they were going to do something now. They can't and a letter I think does not serve the purpose. So However, I can assist Let me know But we do need to and I and I don't like the newspaper articles. So I think we need to tell our own story In any kind of way that we can tell it get ahead of it I think would be helpful to us um, because we don't have I mean, we just put the information out. It is what it is and we're trying to do our best to Keep it rolling. So I think we should just say that Moving on to cdbg mitt um, the city's the city of columbia's mitt action plan was submitted to HUD on may 1st 2020 and approved on june 29 2020 Currently we have an environmental assessment for the columbia canal head gates that's underway um, the olympia fire station project team They are performing their due diligence on land acquisition And the procurement and contracts is finalizing the generator project engineering proposals So there are three basically three infrastructure projects under mitigation That total grant for the year was how much for The total grant awarded is 18,585,000 We get that generally every year. No, sir. That's a one-time appropriation Yes, sir, we get anything not for mitt, but we do for cdbg, which we went over earlier But and that's our entire ass their money. Yeah, this is just disaster CDBG is around a million dollars This is a 12 year grant the grant period ends june 29 2032 And HUD requires that 50 percent of the funds Must be expended in six years and 100 and 12 years What are planning activities the planning oversight and monitoring? That's what's set aside for any admin Any costs that would need to be Um charged for any type plans that you know, may have may have to take place This is where we charge for any action plan work. That's done um That that's what that that particular category includes Administration covers the oversight and the monitoring that covers any of any of the staff salaries That's covered also under planning. I'm sorry forgive me Administration is for staff salaries over the 12 year period And then the uh planning activities again is for planning oversight and monitoring Yes, I think that should have been broken down in two different lines Councilman Taylor Where the oversight and monitoring should have been on the administration line. I'm sorry But that is a good question. I'm glad you called that And so the 1.7 million are we normally paying that out to a third party? I think that's what joe was at It would be if there are any costs in that area I I can tell you I do not anticipate that the planning costs for this grant is going to be that much so There could potentially be some Funding that could be reallocated To another line item And it's likely that we'll need it in one of those three projects Just out of curiosity How are those projects Funds came out of the disaster again Separate than dr, but mitigation The olympia fire station project has been a Public and council support At the time prior to receiving I guess staff and council agreed that this was a good opportunity Generator project again, that's a generator for our police services department And our cpb headquarters just recognition that those are projects that are pretty critical in nature and to be supported by The headgate That's the upstream end of the canal Originally, we have wanted to put that in as a Project that's Lots of back and forth and so we saw another opportunity because the way the funds to be used We saw an opportunity All of those I think it comes back to the eligibility requirement And And building resiliency in the event of any future disasters where you know generator project generators Provide for you know Electricity and things like that, you know If you were to lose that and then again the olympia fire station is just So I wonder where the fire station would be built We are in the process of As soon as the site comes on And prices reached, we have a flood process to go through which is Pretty mind boggling to me about that What should have to jump through to We're probably six months away from getting approval for a specific site We do have a aiming firm already on board that is soon as We have approval for the property. They're going to be the best Then we'll have the now head dates It's in process of being designed that We have a FEMA is doing an environmental that I believe includes this project as part of the embankment project Yes And then the generators are left Then we'll we already bought the generators that that project should go out for bed and then The generators that saw it's already going out and Percurement and contracts are probably finalized right now We really have got to I can wrap it up. I can I can So Here's here's some other funding Accomplishments with the other grants that we talked about cdb gcd um A total of one million five eighty eight one eighty nine Um was awarded that was that's a one-timer as well actually We received two reward awards for The cares act totaling one million five eighty eight one eighty nine You can see here what we've Awarded thus far but we we will be looking at some other opportunities to Utilize the remaining funds for projects We also have the hopwa CD dollars and you can see here where we've served Um 40 individuals there and i'm kind of jumping around but you can see how many we served under cdb You said sure is that for housing? Yes, sir, they received five thousand dollars of individual here and five thousand dollars of individual earlier I'm sorry Oh well, you know this this this is for Um rental assistance so Yes, sir And that's what the It's for short term rental mortgage and utility assistance. So 40 people were for assisted there That amount varies And then also 40 individuals Provided supportive services And then under home arp. We just recently went through that process That's the thing we just approved. Yes, sir. So we're still waiting on that. Okay. Yes, sir Here we're talking about some of the other impactful activities That we're going through and here we're talking about assisting the columbia housing authority By facilitating their environmental reviews for their For their rats. I always have to look at what rat means, but it means something to cha So they are looking to Um Dispose of certain sites and they need environmental assessments to do that and here we're showing The number of Projects they need assistance with and the ones that we've already received From cha and where we've turned it over to our consultant to begin the review Other opportunities Under single family housing improvements for neighborhoods Um We're looking at a new program And this is hot off the press For you all to to look through But one of the things that we've found over the years is that our map program which stands for maintenance assistance Uh program, um, it's it's just not serving individuals at the level that we know is needed today And so we're looking at revamping our program so that we can provide more assistance um Through through tiered assistance and various programs so that we can help individuals with certain needs Some people only need a heating and air. Some people only need a roof Some people need a little more Rehab to their home and quite frankly due to the conditions of some housing. Some people actually need a rebuild And so we've done what we've done here is put together, you know, some Um Is it not more economical and sometimes just to put the house down and purchase a different house somewhere And I know people have sentimental values to where they live and so forth 276,000 bucks, which was a number earlier One That it would I do agree with that, but I think it would be very difficult to We would have a lot of challenges with trying to move people out of their communities Where they own their homes I'm just saying that 276,000 bucks communications for a house And a lot that may have only been worth The number I'm not disagreeing, but I think you would have people rather say keep your money Then take me away from my neighborhoods. I mean, is that the that's not the average number probably Of what type of minor You wouldn't end up spending You know, ma'am, that's why I was broken down in various different programs to show different amounts You know, um, whether they include weatherization or major system replacement, you know, those are capped And like I said, this is this is hot off the press. So if there are any Comments or anything that you all this this is not official just I should have put draft on it But this is something that the team has been working on because we know based on the calls that we're receiving There's a there's a lot of need in the community and we wanted to Make sure Again, we looked at opportunities to You know assist assist our citizens, especially those seniors most of them are senior citizens Or or individuals with disabilities things of that nature That we can help that we can help um It could I don't know who we would Include it in in that program per say because one of the things that we can do With our home dollars well, it says we could use with use this with cdbg your home I mean, but it is since we are still in the action plan process We can budget a certain amount if this is We weren't this I mean this literally was just placed in my hand The other day so I you know that's something that we can can discuss I just wanted to to say moving, you know forward, you know, this is We'll have time to we'll take time to discuss this Sure And I would let me encourage you to take a look at that million street high rise I Don't want to board it up high rise in downtown columbia and and I think we need to engage I really do think you need to engage with the Columbia housing authority What I was told a while back Is that the best highest and best use for that building would be for it to be sold to a private developer who would retrofit it and and looking at the programs where you were talking to earlier about the ability to To contribute to broaden And I want to think about what you talked about on the edistoke court how you put some money into It may be very well that we need to do something along the lines of Whether it's mezzanine money grant loan contribution to make Sort of to rehabilitate you know to get that that project where it's rehabilitated into usable housing. I mean I mean For me, it's a much higher priority for us to to What's the word I'm thinking about to to recapture Empty units and put them back in the market that are in town That it is right now to go build new units. I mean, I mean an empty high rise sends a very bad message And and I think I really do think if we can that'll be one of our top priorities And whether it's workforce housing or it goes back to senior housing or or some type of You know again some type of market rate or whatever. I just I just really like to see us Do something with that And just to add to that too though joke so some of those other projects We have to spend the money within a certain amount of time So it it does make it more of a priority for Them because they if we don't spend it then there are consequences to the city Good I like for the fact that we got to spend it fast Right Just i'll just say so so they have to build those the new homes that we are working through because HUD is requiring us to I mean in our 22-23 plan, which is what we're talking about Right Um, again, it may have to be that that that big boy might have to be a two over a course of a two-year deal I just Um, let's do what we can do To get that thing addressed as quickly as we can and I think Again, I'm not well versed in the day-to-day operations as y'all are but I suspect That our best course of available money To do something with that building might be in the cdbg arena We have to see if it oh, I won't speak for them. Make sure it means that I would think home cdbg You got to spend so quickly, but if it's housing That's another that's another funding source That could be considered This is our last frame, but you know here, we're just issue, you know talking about the home NOFA that We're putting together to issue soon Also, we we will evaluate the employee loan program for sustainability We'll also offer more affordable housing loans to promote home ownership By providing first mortgage loans and second mortgage loan subsidized with forgivable provisions Based on affordability requirements Also issue a rfp for the king street redevelopment for home ownership And then work with leadership as feasible to address homelessness So that's our presentation and we do thank you for your time and look forward to future discussions Thank you And Joe wanted to do three schedules For may 17th at 10 a.m for a follow-up meeting Yeah, I want to yeah, let's see that that the reason is the follow-up What I like to do is here two things to just kind of restrict that follow-up meeting So it's not doesn't last quite as long as to number one the Economic development business activity make sure everybody's familiar with that and we have a city council meeting that day Say we can we can if If we're fairly close along and and mrs. Wilson has maybe sent some memos around We'll go over it that morning and she can break brief the whole council on it that same day. Is that okay with you? That's fine. Did you want to do obio that day or just this is just just on that? I'm just asking if you want obio that day we can do that. We could do it that day I would like to come back and read and I'd like to Challenge you guys to look at that Marion Street project as you're thinking about that That budget and see and maybe have a just a just a brief conversation with With the housing authority just to see what we can do on on that And we're just kind of limit the discussion to The obio presentation the briefing on the economic development Of our bit proactive business steps. Let's call it that and then just some a little bit more thought on that that high rise We agree with that sir. Sounds good to me Okay May 17th 10 a.m Erica you're putting that on all of the calendars Thank you There's just so you know, there's an administrative policy meeting at uh to that day in the city council meeting at four Ms. Herbert is training us all to schedule everything for Tuesdays. It's killing me too. Just so you know Well, here's the here's the question. I mean we don't have mr. Duvall or mr. McDowell I mean we could do this one earlier in the morning and not mess up the morning and the afternoon Or we can move them all to the afternoon. I mean Which I mean I mean Well, if that's the case any other things you would like to discuss today We discussed everything without will I will be there melissa