Peoria Standard

City of Peoria Housing Commission met March 4.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

I. CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Boswell at 11:04 AM.

II. ROLL CALL

Present: Commissioner Peterson, Commissioner La Rue, Commissioner Morgan, Vice Chair Boswell, Commissioner Genzel, Commissioner Hayes.

Staff Present: Liaison Nicole Morrow.

A quorum was established with those present at the start time of the meeting.

III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: February 5, 2024

Motion to approve the minutes made by Commissioner La Rue. Seconded by Commissioner Hayes. All in Favor.

IV. PUBLIC COMMENT

James Hinchee is a resident of the Uplands and President of the Neighborhood Association. James has been at his home in the Uplands for over 25 years. James came in to discuss the outcome of Zoe House, which was a project with Dream Center Peoria to serve as a healthy environment for new moms in need. James stated that The Housing Commission should have a more active role in promoting “non-standard” housing arrangements inside of residential neighborhoods. James is also asking that the Commission engage with the neighborhoods early in the process of the projects. “Single family residential housing is the bedrock of this community and people move into these neighborhoods understanding that. It’s important to protect these neighborhoods.”

Commissioner Muehlbauer entered the room at 11:08 AM.

James stated that when these projects come about, they should live harmoniously within the community that they’re in. The different housing arrangements should be equitably distributed throughout the City.

There were no other members present from the public at this time that wished to comment.

V. REGULAR BUSINESS

A. Planning and Zoning Monthly Summary Report

The Planning and Zoning did not have any new business that was coming before them this week, so no new applications so there was no report for this month.

B. City Council Update

Councilman Riggenbach was not able to be present, however Staff Liaison Nicole met with Councilman Riggenbach the prior Tuesday before the City Council Meeting. The two items that Staff Liaison and Councilman Riggenbach discussed were related to the property at 1541 Lincoln, the old Hostess Bakery and the concerns brought up during the last Housing Commission related to the zoning of the property as commercial inside of a residential district, as well as the plans for the Commissioners to be meeting with City Council in small groups. Staff Liaison asked that the groups come prepared with questions for City Council.

C. Staff Department Update

i. Current utilization of Rehabilitation and Down Payment ARPA Funds with expenditure deadline of 12/2024

The Housing Commission received a breakdown for both the Rehab and Down Payment Assistance Programs showing when the funds were first available to the community, the current amount spent, the percentage remaining, the deadline date, the number of households assisted, the average amount given to each household, and the zip code utilization distribution. Both Rehab and Down Payment Assistance Programs have a deadline of December 31, 2024.

Commissioner Sanders entered the room at 11:22 AM.

When the Rehab and Down Payment Assistance Programs rolled out, the City met with the Peoria Area Association of Realtors to grab feedback so that with the Down Payment Assistance it would be a product that would be friendly for lenders to utilize. The thought behind the Rehab program was that after the first year, it would be reevaluated to see what the utilization rates were and if there should be any modifications to the parameters. These funds are from the American Rescue Plan, so if the funds aren’t all utilized, they will have to be given back. Currently, both programs are being publicized in the weekly correspondence from the Mayor’s office as well as the Neighborhood Associations.

Vice Chair Boswell is in the process of utilizing the Rehab Program and raised some concerns with the format of the program. Vice Chair Boswell believes that there should be a better way for the contractor and the homeowner to work together. Currently, the program has the homeowner provide their half of the payment to the City, who will then provide the City’s half and the homeowner’s half to the contractor upon completion of the project. This means that the contractor is having to pay for any supplies up front out of their own pocket before being reimbursed for the project, which can make it difficult to find contractors who are willing to work under the program.

For both programs, the funds are only available to those that are in the Qualified Census Tract (61603/61604/61605/61606 area codes). For the Down Payment Assistance, a lot of the homes in the QCT are mostly rentals.

Commissioner La Rue suggested the Housing Commission propose that the cost of the homes that are eligible for DPA to be increased as well as the actual amount that is provided for DPA to help incentivize people to buy. With inflation in the last couple of years, this would help reflect the costs of the houses on the market.

As for the Rehab Program, it was suggested that the match be reduced so that it’s no longer a 50/50 match. There should be a tiered system so that if you’re low income, the match portion would be scaled accordingly. The threshold should be raised so that there could be more work done on the home if necessary. Commissioner La Rue also suggested that homes that are enrolling for the Rehab Program get a free energy assessment to determine what a home needs to help lower the energy bill. This way homeowners would have an idea of what needs to be addressed first and how much it would cost. Commissioner La Rue also suggested having a member of staff reach out to contractors with the project for a home and get several quotes for the work rather than leaving it up to the homeowner to get the quotes from contractors. This would help the applicants that may have little to no experience with contractors. Commissioner La Rue also asked that the request for triaging properties by coordinating with other funding pools and letting the homeowner know that they may be eligible for other programs as well be added to the requests. Staff Liaison Morrow will make these suggestions to the appropriate Community Development staff.

ii. Fair Housing and Housing Case Annual Report from Housing Coordinator Staff.

The Commission meeting packet included the Illinois Department of Human Rights annual statistics. Their fiscal years ends in June of 2023. This report shows all fair housing cases that were filed at the state level, with four being in Peoria. Of those four cases, none of them were ran through the City’s EOO office, so it is uncertain as to what those four cases were and their outcomes. Staff Liaison Morrow informed the Commission that they should be meeting with IDHR soon to see what they are noticing in the Peoria area, but this was not able to be scheduled before the Commission’s March meeting.

The other report in the agenda packet is related to the cases that the Housing Coordinator has been tracking. These cases aren’t necessarily fair housing cases or none of them were deemed necessary to file with IDHR, they were able to be handled through local referrals and resources. Additional cases were able to be mitigated between a landlord and tenant or were redirected to Code Enforcement and/or Prairie State Legal. Fair housing information was provided in multiple encounters, but due to the nature of the situations the inquirer wanted to see the issue resolved prior to pursuing any legal actions of filing with the state office. The Housing Commission and Staff Liaison made mention that the City was not often viewed as a resource for those facing housing discrimination, and that other avenues to find information would likely be pursued prior to calling the City. As in years previous, Staff Liaison Morrow noted that this report to the Commission was not designed to have the Commission searching for issues related to housing nor to minimize the problems with Fair Housing in the City, merely to track the types of calls that do come to the City and what areas of concern are addressed.

iii. 1541 Lincoln

This property was addressed by City Code Enforcement, with no violations reported at the time of the visit. Staff Liaison Morrow reached out to District Councilman Jackson to gather her thoughts on the property that could be presented back to this Commission.

VI. NEW BUSINESS

A. Presentation: Co-Response & Nuisance Update, Jennie Urquiza-Whitiker and Shamim Jaleel

The recommendation to Council was to hear more about the Co-Response model and how it assists with properties not moving into a chronic status and helping resolve issues more comprehensively other than the initial police response and follow up.

Jennie Urquiza is the Grants Writer for the Police Department. Co-Responder will be a separate unit from the Police Department. Currently there is Support, Traffic, Investigations with the next unit being Co-Responder. Co-Responder will focus almost entirely on victim advocacy. The Police Department looked at all the 911 call

data and realized that much of the data when it is put into quotients, fits in an area where police did not necessarily need to respond but someone did, maybe more of a mental health advocate needing to respond. Jennie cited the at Police Officers are not equipped to handle any sort of social-emotional issues, which is why the Co-Responder unit was built. The funding runs out June 30th, but Jennie is certain it will be granted again or extended. There has already been a director hired, one social worker, adding three LCSW’s and four LSW’s and they will be housed at the Wisconsin Street Substation. The Police logo will come off the Substation and it will be indicated as the “Social Services Unit” so that people can walk in and get the help that they need. In this budget is funding for rental assistance, housing assistance, and relocation assistance which will be available to the victims. At the Substation will also be Social Workers available 24 hours a day, diapers, clothing, and everything a family might need where they can just go in and get what they need. The Police Department is really focused on the root cause and not just covering it up.

Commissioner Sanders asked why the Police Department isn’t utilizing or certifying people to be Community Health Workers. Commissioner Sanders suggested that the social workers, LCSW’s and LSW’s could also be trained in Public Health.

With this new unit, the Police Department is trying to change the purview of victim and make them feel empowered.

Commissioner Morgan asked Jennie if residents that live on the South side of the City would need to commute to the Wisconsin Substation to seek services. Jennie informed the Housing Commission that in their grant budget, they purchased two moving rehabilitation vans so that social workers can commute throughout neighborhoods and sit there for the day so that citizens can come to them to get the help that they need.

Commissioner Sanders asked how the Police Department is getting the word out about this service that they will be providing. Jennie let the Commission know that Chief has done a few press conferences about the unit, but the unit is still in the process of being built. As the unit gets closer to being complete, there should be more press about what the unit offers. However, the reality is that it would be nice to have the unit more on the down-low so that the citizens don’t feel uncomfortable or embarrassed for receiving help. The mobile vans that the Police Department purchased for this unit have tinted windows so that no one else can see into the van.

There will be a total of eight social workers, each with their own take-home vehicles. The unit is having a difficult time finding social workers, but the information for the position is available on the Carle Health website.

To contact Jennie, her information is below:

Jennie Urquiza-Whitiker, M.Ed., Doctoral Candidate

Grants Coordinator

Peoria Police Department

(309)494-8331

jurquizawhitiker@peoriagov.org

B. Fair Housing Month- April 2024

Staff Liaison asked for biographies from the Commissioners to share for Fair Housing Month. In the biographies, Staff Liaison asked for Commissioners to answer questions she sent out regarding why each Commissioner joined the Housing Commission and their background in housing.

Another date Staff Liaison wants everyone to keep in mind is either March 26 or April 9 for the Housing Proclamation. This needs to be accepted by a Commissioner, the more available to attend the better. Staff Liaison will send out information on date selection to each Commissioner to respond with their availability.

VII. OLD BUSINESS

A. Nuisance Recommendation to Council

B. Additional Community Comments

Staff Liaison Morrow addressed any members of the community present for additional comment or feedback. There were no community members present that wished to comment at this time.

VIII. ADJOURNMENT

Commissioner Muehlbauer made a motion to adjourn at 12:20 PM and this was seconded by Commissioner La Rue. All in favor, meeting adjourned.

https://il-peoria.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_03042024-582