[MissoulaGov] committee update 6-10-09

[Jed Taylor]

There are 3,500 qualifying properties in Missoula that will come under
historic preservation control?  If that number is not a typo, is this a
function of some rather large districts where individual properties get
scooped up by one net?  How does this work dovetail with the zoning rewrite
work?
 
Also, is there any information available somewhere to estimate just how many
Missoula residents make 80% or less of the AMI?  What is the AMI?  These
numbers would be rather revealing as to how income is distributed, how it's
likely not a bell curve, and how many people - council members included -
would qualify.
 
Also, am I to fear this rabble that seeks affordable housing in a town where
many are getting by working two or three jobs at $10 / hour?  Or should I
reserve my concern for local legislators this out of touch with what's going
on in their own city and seem to be afraid of pretty much everything that
comes before the Council, and who apparently assume someone who isn't
pulling down six figures is an untouchable sure to ruin the neighborhood?
 
It's the casual public comments I find to be the most revealing.
 
 


  _____  

From: missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com
[mailto:missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com] On Behalf Of Bob Jaffe
Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 23:33
To: missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: [MissoulaGov] committee update 6-10-09



Greetings,

First I want to thank the folks who contributed comments last week regarding
the cost of developing housing in Missoula. The information was very
helpful.

 

In Conservation this morning we reviewed the plan for the development of the
new Silver park at the Mill Site.  Nothing really new from past Millsite
presentations I have seen. There will be some loop trails and a central
patio type structure.  There was some discussion about reducing the amount
of turf grass and incorporating native grasses and other low water plantings
where appropriate.

The plan is still to put in the parking lot near the stadium and complete
the connection to California street this summer for sure. MRA is also
looking at putting the whole park out to bid to see how it comes back. If
the stars align they may just go ahead and build the whole thing this year.

 

In PAZ we heard a presentation about historic preservation from Jennifer
Buddenborg of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The gist was
that historic preservation makes a place unique and desirable. It is green
and sustainable. It creates jobs, increases tourism, and is good for the
economy. Our next item was to consider sending the new historic preservation
ordinance to the planning board. This is an amendment to the zoning code to
incorporate an extra review process to protect historic assets.  This came
before us a while ago but it had too many problems to move forward. The
current version is much closer to something that could be adopted so we did
vote to send it on.

The basic idea is that there will be an inventory maintained of all historic
assets. These are properties that are on the historic register, qualify to
be on the register, or are contributing properties to an historic district.
Currently there are about 3500 such properties identified in Missoula. In
order to get a building permit to do anything to the exterior of one of
these properties there will be an extra step where the preservation officer
will need to review the application to confirm that the project is
appropriate. Some projects will be able to be confirmed by the preservation
officer, some will need to go to the preservation commission. Approval will
be based upon a number of factors including design standards to be developed
for each historic district. It will be very interesting to see how this
progresses through planning board.

 

After lunch we reconvened for A&F. We looked at a project being put together
by the Rocky Mountain Development Group to purchase the old Missoula
Athletic Club.  The MAC went under a couple of years ago. The property has
since been foreclosed on by the banks. Fortunately this qualifies the
property for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).  The NSP is the
piece of the bailout funding that went to help foreclosed homeowners. There
are the traditional set of strange rules and hoops to jump through but in
the end Montana gets about $19 million. Rick Wishcamper and his partner Mike
are the local experts on how to put together for profit real estate deals
with the government's money. For this project they are requesting $5 million
in NSP money plus an additional $400,000 or so from another federal pot.
That covers about half the cost of the $10 million dollar project. The other
half also comes from the feds from some kind of HUD loan program. They are
going to build a 115 unit complex on the 3.5 acre site and rent the units to
folks who are at 80% area median income. The way the rules all work out that
means they could rent a two bedroom apartment for $722 including utilities.
It sounds like a pretty sweet deal for the developer but I guess that's what
public private partnerships are all about. The feds are dumping all kinds of
money into getting properties out of foreclosure and creating affordable
housing. That's exactly what these guys are doing.

As a side note, Renee voiced concern about the hazards of putting 115 low
income households all in the same place. She thought it was ironic that the
funds were for neighborhood stabilization when this many poor people in the
same place was likely to destabilize the neighborhood. She appeared to be
having trouble finding the right word to describe the element that would
live in such housing. Jason pointed out that he himself was the element
since he easily qualified. Stacy also noted that her family purchased their
home through assistance programs from HomeWord. Renee conceded that it was
likely she herself may fit into the 80% AMI category.

The discussion reinforces the point that most folks can't afford housing in
this town. I imagine that just about everyone on council would be hard
pressed to purchase a home in today's market if they didn't already have
equity. This was the point of the video the Mayor's office put out last
year. To show that the folks who need assistance in housing are not
destitute and impoverished, but are just like you and me. So no reason to be
fearful of "affordable" homes in your neighborhood.   

We voted to authorize the mayor to send the application on to the state to
compete for the NSP funds.

 

In public Works we set the public hearing to establish SID 544 to install
sewer lines in a chunk of the middle rattlesnake. Will Snodgrass was there
and made much fuss about the legality of the whole process and again
challenged the integrity of Steve King and Bruce Bender. He seems quite
certain that these two are pulling off some kind of nefarious scam against
the people of Missoula. If I understand him right, his complaint is that we
should not be using federal funds to install the sewer unless we have first
fully evaluated alternative methods of disposal.  I take it he thinks the
alternative methods are superior and we haven't given them due
consideration.

 

Once we were full on into the bored and sleepy part of the day we took up
the budget again. Still not really a whole lot going on there. Everyone has
cut back on all sorts of stuff. The administration has come up with a scheme
to fund what's left. We're not really in a position to argue whether some
department's office supply budget is appropriate.  I'm sure there is always
a little more we could squeeze out of the departments but sitting on council
all we know is what they tell us. If they are asking for new money we can
debate whether we think the new thing is worthy of the taxpayers money. But
this year they were all requested to find 3% to cut from their budgets. They
are presenting us with the list of how they have tightened up to get there.
So far these lists appear well thought through and I haven't seen much to
challenge.

 

Thanks for your interest, 

    

 

Bob Jaffe

Missoula City Council, Ward 3

1225 South 2nd West

Missoula, MT 59801

(406) 728-1052

 

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