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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.09.22 Rental Housing Advisory Board Special Meeting MinutesRental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 1 Rental Housing Advisory Board Special Meeting Minutes March 9, 2022 Present: Lynnsey Erickson, Linda Jevaltas, Todd Hutchison, Timothy Ernst, TJ Hobbs, Donn Lord (Alternate) Excused: Lydia Christensen, Alec Gulan Staff: Kelly Nieforth; Community Development Director I. Call to Order Ernst called the meeting to order at 3:33 pm. II. Roll Call Roll call was taken and a quorum declared present. III. Citizen Statements There were no citizen statements. IV. Approval of Minutes – February 9, 2022 Motion to approve by Erickson. Seconded by Hobbs. Lord stated that he wanted to provide a clarification on his comments on page three of the minutes. Most of the time he is approached by local investors, but he is starting to notice more investors from out of state and out of country. He also did have qualms about renting to Afghan refugees because he couldn’t vet them and there was a language barrier, but he wanted to add that pretty much all of them have been settled into homes now. He doesn’t think he said things the way they were presented and that maybe he was misunderstood. Nieforth replied that they would review the recording and revise for clarification. The minutes of the February 9, 2022 meeting were approved as written with direction given to staff to update the minutes for clarification if needed after reviewing the recording. (Erickson/Hobbs) V. 2/22/22 Council Appointment Nieforth stated Mayor Palmeri appointed Hobbs from an alternate seat to the regular seat that was vacant. Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 2 VI. Meeting Format Ernst stated that RHAB was unsure exactly what the role of the alternates are and what power they have in terms of voting. He asked if there is clarification in the board materials. Nieforth replied that RHAB will need to determine the procedure for which alternate votes. At the last meeting City Attorney Praska explained that alternates should not be involved with discussion for items requiring a vote if the full board is present of if it isn’t their turn to vote. They only have one alternate currently, but will need to have something in place if a second alternate is appointed. Ernst asked if the end goal is to have one alternate member present and participating if needed. Nieforth replied that some boards and commissions have their alternates take turns. Ernst asked if staff lets the alternates know which one is voting after they RSVP. Nieforth replied that board members should let them know as soon as possible if they’re not able to make it to the meeting so that staff can try to get an alternate to attend for voting. Ernst replied that it seemed to make the most sense to do a back and forth approach between two alternates, with one alternate being on standby until the second is appointed and letting them know before each meeting if they’ll be needed for voting or not. The obligation will switch from month to month, so the alternate will be on every other month. Hutchison asked how many board members and alternates there are. Nieforth replied there are seven members and two alternates. Hutchison asked if it would be possible to list on the agenda or meeting minutes who the seven board members are and then designate the alternates as Alternate 1 and Alternate 2. He suggested Alternate 1 doing every odd-numbered month and Alternate 2 doing every even-numbered month. Nieforth replied that Lord is the only alternate at this time. The other alternate seat is vacant. Hutchison asked if Lord would always be the alternate as long as there is a vacancy. Nieforth replied affirmatively. Hobbs stated that they wanted to second Hutchison’s suggestion. They didn’t know they were an alternate the last couple of months, so they think that new and existing members would find value in having that listed on the agenda or minutes. Jevaltas asked if alternates are called if they’re needed at the meeting or if they can just come. Nieforth replied that they can come, but they can’t be an active participant for voting items. Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 3 Jevaltas asked if alternates are supposed to be relatively silent. Nieforth replied that they’re present to mainly observe for voting items. Hutchison asked if alternates count toward a quorum. Nieforth replied that alternates can vote if they are needed for quorum. Ernst stated that when they first appointed alternates, his understanding was that they would be needed for when quorum is not met. Nieforth replied that alternates attend to round out the whole board. Ernst stated that to summarize, they will post the regular board members and alternates on meeting materials. Once they have two alternates appointed, they will assign Alternate 1 and Alternate 2 and the alternates will take odd and even number months respectively. Alternates can attend meetings, but they can’t vote unless needed for a quorum. He asked if alternates can speak at meetings. Nieforth replied that they shouldn’t be engaging in the conversation or discussion for items requiring a vote. Hobbs replied that it is crucial that alternates know if they’re voting or not before the meeting so they know if they’re able to participate in discussion. Nieforth replied that that’s why it’s important to confirm attendance with staff so they can indicate who will be voting on the agenda. Ernst asked if they can post on social media that RHAB is looking for another alternate. Nieforth replied affirmatively. Ernst asked if anyone is in disagreement with the approach. Jevaltas replied that she agrees. She asked if staff are tracking attendance because of the history of this board. Nieforth replied affirmatively. Jevaltas asked if staff will let RHAB know when someone has missed three meetings so they can find someone else to replace them. Nieforth replied that the Mayor is responsible for those appointments and RHAB isn’t involved in that. Jevaltas asked if staff would let them know when they are looking for someone else. Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 4 Nieforth replied that they can let them know when terms are coming up and expiring. Staff reaches out to figure out if they’re still interested in serving on the board when their terms are close to expiring. Jevaltas replied that people have been assigned to this board and only showed up for a single meeting. For the longest time she didn’t know who was on the board and what their process was for someone who stopped showing up for meetings. She asked for clarification on that process. Nieforth replied that it’s up to the discretion of the mayor. Staff let the Mayor and City Manager’s Office know if they think someone is having attendance issues. It’s not up to this board to find new members. Jevaltas replied that she is aware of that. They had a discussion about this a few meetings ago because she had some concerns about people not showing up. Nieforth replied that there isn’t a written rule saying that they’re dismissed from the board if they miss two meetings. It varies and is at the discretion of the Mayor. Jevaltas asked if the board will ever know for sure who is on the board and who is not on the board. Nieforth replied that they do know and that it’s on the City’s website. Erickson added that there are introductions on the agenda when new members are appointed. Ernst added that it’s also included in the minutes. Hutchison asked if they could provide the roster on the agenda moving forward. Nieforth replied affirmatively and added that it’s also included in the minutes. Nieforth stated that all boards and commissions have been directed to meet in-person moving forward. Hybrid options are not allowed. Ernst stated that he suggests moving to monthly meetings given the new housing study information. Nieforth replied that if RHAB started meeting monthly, the meetings would need to take place in Room 406 and they would also need to amend the ordinance through Common Council. RHAB has had a few quorum issues in the past and it’s a lot of work for staff to put together the packets and get everything ready if the meetings to be poorly attended. She just wants to ensure that folks that are committed to coming to meetings now that they’re meeting in person. For the time being, they’re going to be discussing the housing study and she doesn’t know if she will have monthly updates from Council for that. Now that COVID is hopefully easing, they are going to start sending out mailers for the Rental Registry program again. They haven’t stopped updating the rental registry, but they will start the inspection mailers again. Unfortunately, they’re not getting the impact that they had hoped Rental Housing Advisory Board Minutes 5 for when this board was formed. Out of the 100 mailers they send, they’ll get maybe 5 people allowing the City to inspect their property. Those are just some things to consider and discuss. If they are looking to make the move to monthly, she would recommend calling special meetings in the near future as a trial run instead of moving forward with amending the ordinance right away. Ernst replied that he liked the special meetings idea because it seems to allow for the best of both worlds. Erickson replied that she liked the idea to see how it goes. Jevaltas replied that it’s sort of a decision that’s hard to make right now. Her perception is that this board has everything to do with the housing study and that they could come up with policy, programs, and all kinds of ideas to contribute to some of the things the study has addressed. In her mind they have plenty of work to do. She sees the work. She doesn’t know if anyone else sees it, but she does. This board is setup to do that type of work, so she would suggest that they meet monthly. She’s been on the board for over four years and she’s attended every meeting and there’s always been a quorum as far as she knows. For now she thinks it’s okay if they do special meetings and see where they go. In her mind, they’ve got work to do. That’s just her opinion. Ernst replied that he agrees with Jevaltas, but he is sympathetic to the time of staff and their needs and ability to put everything together for them. He thinks the need to meet based on the study right now, so they can parse some of that out in this and the next regular meeting in April. Doing that might give them a better long term vision of what they need and the amount of time involved. They can call a special meeting for May if needed. Hobbs replied that they don’t think the housing crisis will be solved in the next year, but they are happy to meet in the middle. They want what will work best for everyone as long as it allows them to have monthly meetings because you will see that they need those meetings and they will make that clear in those meetings. Ernst replied that it seems easiest for all parties if they stick with bi-monthly for now instead of amending the ordinance. They will be calling special meetings probably in May and July depending on how the discussion of the housing study goes and how much progress they’ve made by then. Ernst asked if this time still works for board members. There was no response from RHAB. Ernst stated that they will keep things as is for now with the option to call special meetings as need. Clarifying the alternate procedure and listing the roster on meeting materials will be beneficial in keeping the board organized. He is looking forward to meeting in-person again too. VII. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:25 PM. (Jevaltas/Lord)