REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
November 17, 2020
FROM
GARY HALLEN, Director, Community Development and Housing
SUBJECT
Title
Public Hearing for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report for the Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnerships, Emergency Solutions Grant Programs and Citizen Participation Plan Revisions
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Conduct a Public Hearing to review the County’s performance and accomplishments for the fifth year of the 2015-2020 County of San Bernardino Consolidated Plan, as presented in the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report on file with the Clerk of the Board.
2. Approve and authorize submittal of the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report including Public Comments, to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
3. Authorize the Chief Executive Officer or the Community Development and Housing Department Director, upon consultation with County Counsel, to make any necessary non-substantive changes to the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report required by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
4. Approve the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development requested revisions to the County’s 2020 Citizen Participation Plan.
5. Direct the Chief Executive Officer or the Community Development and Housing Department Director to transmit all related documents to the Clerk of the Board within 30 days of execution.
(Presenter: Gary Hallen, Director, 387-4391)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Ensure Development of a Well-Planned, Balanced, and Sustainable County.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this the Citizen Participation Plan (CPP) and Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). Activities listed in the attached CAPER are supported by federal block grant funds provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Department (HUD).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
As a condition of federal funding, the County of San Bernardino (County) must prepare and submit a CPP and CAPER to HUD for their review and approval. The CAPER is the annual document that evaluates the County’s overall progress and measures its performance carrying out the activities identified in the 2015-2020 Consolidated Plan. The 2019-2020 CAPER assesses the County’s fifth year of progress by completing the goals identified in the 2015-2020 Consolidated Plan as detailed in the 2019-2020 Action Plan.
The CPP is the County’s document that sets forth the grantee’s policies and procedures for citizen participation throughout the development of the County’s consolidated planning documents and is prepared every five years. As a related document to the Program Years (PY) 2020-2025 Consolidated Plan, approved on April 21, 2020 (Item No. 25), the CPP document has been conditionally approved by HUD with the condition that the CPP include new language to define the public hearing process for the approval of the CPP, Consolidated Plan, and related documents.
The 2019-2020 CAPER summarizes how the County expended the following HUD block grants:
• Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) $7,581,115.49
• HOME Investment Partnerships Act Program (HOME) $4,227,177.96
• Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) $540,193.23
The grant funds were invested in the County unincorporated areas and the following cities:
|
Adelanto |
Barstow |
Big Bear Lake |
|
Colton |
Grand Terrace |
Highland |
|
Loma Linda |
Montclair |
Needles |
|
Redlands |
Twentynine Palms |
Yucaipa |
|
Town of Yucca Valley |
*Chino Hills |
*Rancho Cucamonga |
|
Unincorporated County |
|
|
*These cities participate in the County HOME consortium only.
These federally provided block grant funds were used to further the Countywide Vision through the provision of affordable housing, expansion of economic opportunities for low-to-moderate income persons/areas, and the improvement and development of public infrastructure/facilities. The following briefly summarizes some the accomplishments noted in the CAPER:
Community Development Block Grant Activities: A total of $7,581,115.49 in CDBG funds was invested to provide various activities throughout the County. Of these funds, $1,577,374.42 was used to support reasonable administrative and planning costs and $6,003,741.07 was expended to assist with the following projects:
• CDBG Public and Neighborhood Facilities: $2,809,789.26 was spent to acquire, improve and rehabilitate 31 public facilities. These improvements provided low-to-moderate income residents with increased access to community and senior centers, parks, museums, and other recreational facilities.
• CDBG Public Works Projects: $2,305,814.25 was spent on 33 public infrastructure projects. The projects included curb, gutter, street and sidewalk improvements that upgraded and increased access for residents in low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods.
• CDBG Public Service: $567,315.06 was spent on 24 public service projects with agencies receiving funding to provide services to 32,105 low-to-moderate income County residents, including seniors, children/youth, and disabled persons. Types of services included adult literacy, emergency food distribution, transportation, tenant/landlord counseling, fair housing education and referrals, health services, and childcare for children of women who are victims of domestic violence.
• CDBG Community Projects: $320,822.50 was spent on community code enforcement and demolition programs. Code Enforcement activities help improve the health, safety and quality of life for residents and resulted in over 714 code enforcement related inspections at 2,083 locations.
• HOME Affordable Housing: A total of $4,227,178 in HOME funds was invested to develop affordable housing throughout the County. Of these funds, $234,620 was used to support reasonable administrative and planning costs and $3,992,558 was expended to assist with the financing of the following projects:
a) Loma Linda Veterans Village, resulted in the development of 87 housing units (86 affordable housing units and one manager’s unit) in PY 2018. For 2019 these very-low and low-income units were leased to eligible veterans and veteran families.
b) Golden Apartments affordable housing development resulted in the creation of 39 housing units (38 affordable permanent supportive housing units for chronically homeless persons and one manager’s unit). Project construction was completed in PY 2019. The leasing of these units will be completed in PY 2020.
c) Arrowhead Grove Phase II affordable housing development, will create a total of 184 housing units (147 affordable housing, 35 market rate and two manager units). Project completion is set for fall 2021.
d) Bloomington III affordable housing development will result in 98 housing units (of which 20 units are designated as Permanent Supportive Housing for homeless residents) and a 7,700 square foot community center. The project is currently underway and project completion is scheduled for summer 2021.
e) The Las Terrazas apartment community will consist of 112 affordable units and a 2500 square foot preschool building, located in the unincorporated area near the City of Colton. The Project will also include 12 permanent supportive housing units for homeless, special need clients with mental health conditions for whom the Department of Behavioral Health will provide the supportive services. The project will start construction in fall of 2020 and completion is scheduled for 2022.
• ESG: $540,194 was expended by seven service providers to assist 1,169 extremely-low-income homeless individuals and persons at risk of becoming homeless by providing emergency shelter, rapid re-housing, and homelessness prevention services.
After submission of the PY 2019 CAPER, HUD may require minor revisions to the annual report. Recommendation No. 3 would authorize the Chief Executive Officer or the Director of Community Development and Housing (CDH), upon consultation with County Counsel, to make such minor changes. The amended annual report will then be submitted to HUD and to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors within 30 days of execution of the amendments. This will meet HUD’s short turnaround time requirements.
Reporting Requirements and Deadlines
Recently, CDH staff substantially amended the County’s PY 2015-2020 Consolidated Plan and PY 2019-2020 Annual Action Plan to receive $12,962,385 HUD Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to respond to and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 among low and moderate income residents and to support a variety of homeless prevention, economic development and public service activities to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. Because these funds were recently received by HUD, the accomplishments of activities supported with CARES Act funding will be reported separately and will not be represented in this CAPER.
The federal requirements state that each grantee must submit a performance report (e.g. CAPER) to HUD within 90 days after the close of the grantee's program year. Given the outbreak of COVID-19 and the extenuating circumstances placed on state and local governments, and citizens, HUD has determined that there is good cause for waiving this provision. CAPERs are now due within 180 days (December 27, 2020) after the close of a jurisdiction’s program year.
Public Hearing Notice
To meet notice requirements the County published a public notice in the following publications: Big Bear Grizzly, Daily Press, HI-Desert Star, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, La Prensa Hispana, and The Sun. The County also posted notices and any applicable supporting documentation on the County’s website at <http://sbcountycdha.com/community-development-and-housing-department/hud-plans-reports/> for no less than 30 days. The public comment period began on October 16, 2020 and will conclude once all comments are received at the November 17, 2020 Board meeting. Any comments received during today’s public hearing will be considered and included in the County’s CAPER submittal to HUD.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Julie J. Surber, Principal Assistant County Counsel, 387-5455) on October 19, 2020; Finance (Kathleen Gonzalez, Administrative Analyst, 387-5412) on October 26, 2020; and County Finance and Administration (Robert Saldana, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on October 26, 2020.