Pima County Housing Commission

January 17, 2006

 

Pima County Recreation Center

2805 E. Ajo Way Room 104

 

 

 

 

 

Members Present:         Members Absent:                        Staff & Guests:

 

Tim Escobedo                  Steve Craddock                             Hank Atha

Ed Taczanowsky              Frank Thomson                             Margaret Kish            

David Greenberg              Frank Moreno                                Betty Villegas  

Jon Miles                           Scott Place                                   Gary Bachman

Henry Boice                                                                             Marcos Ysmael

Ken Anderson                                                                          Daniel Tylutki

Kathleen Buske                                                                       Samantha Romero

 Elizabeth Cameron                                                                                                          Michael McDonald

 Pat Benchik

 Corky Poster

 Chris Fournillier

 Daniella Zepeda

Carlos Renova

                                    

3:10 P.M. - Just short of a quorum the meeting proceeds without official call to order or approval of the minutes.

           

I.                    Special Guest Corky Poster

Corky Poster, the director of The Drachman Institute, gave a Power Point presentation on Housing Cost and Affordability in Pima County to the Commissioners and Staff present prior to establishing a quorum.  The presentation provided some interesting points on areas where housing costs could potentially be reduced.  The presentation is being updated with current numbers and will be available to the public.

 

Welcome & Call to Order

Upon the conclusion of the presentation by Corky Poster, a quorum was established and the meeting was officially called to order by Vice-Chair David Greenberg at 3:40 P.M.

 

II.          Approval of Minutes from December 12, 2006

Motion by Henry Boice to approve the minutes

Motion seconded by Ken Anderson. 

Motion carried unanimously.

 

 

 

 

 

III.                Discussion on affordable housing construction cost index

Betty Villegas explained that the commission still needed to decide on a cost index to use for scoring applications.  Betty thanked those who provided numbers from the private sector to compare with Pima County’s numbers from past applications, and stated that there was little difference between the two. She stated that staff recommends that the Commission use RSMeans, and then asked Daniel Tylutki to explain RSMeans.

Daniel Tylutki passed out a handout that explained RSMeans in a little more detail and also allowed the Commission to see what RSMeans would allow staff to do. Daniel stated that RSMeans is a construction data supplier that is based on historical data that based on an entered description will give staff high, median, and low numbers for construction cost. Daniel explained that staff would be able to customize a usable, workable model that would give staff a uniform cost per square foot analysis to compare with the applications. He also stated that scores would be given based on which category (high, median, or low) the costs fell in to with the low costs getting the higher score, and that it would be incorporated into the threshold criteria and priority checklist.

Gary Bachman stated that the RSMeans data might also be used to underwrite the infrastructure costs. He also said that RSMeans might also be used for multifamily and rehab projects. 

Hank Atha asked for clarification on what staff was actually planning on doing with RSMeans. Daniel stated explained that RSMeans would be used for cost estimation.

Ed Taczanowsky asked where RSMeans gets their data and if it was from actual projects. Daniel responded that he thought the data came from actual projects from the private sector and also from city based projects. He also stated that he thought that RSMeans was inclusive of all construction types.

Ed Taczanowsky made the motion to authorize staff to use RSMeans as the cost index in scoring the application.

Ken Anderson seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

 

IV.                Change February Commission meeting date due to legal holiday

Vice-Chair David Greenberg stated that the February Commission meeting needed to be changed due to Presidents Day.

Betty Villegas stated that the meeting could be held on either Monday, February 13, Tuesday, February 21, or Monday, February 27.

The Commission decided to hold the next meeting on Tuesday, February 21 at 3:00.  

 

V.         Call to the Audience

Elizabeth Cameron spoke about the importance of keeping accessibility a priority in affordable housing bond programs. She asked to be put on the next meeting’s agenda to discuss housing accessibility issues.

David Greenberg directed staff to add Elizabeth Cameron to the February 21 agenda for a 15-minute discussion on housing accessibility issues.

Hank Atha asked staff to include a clear report of the difference between Enable 2000 and the Pima County code requirements.

Ken Anderson asked if it would be possible to get an estimate of the cost for meeting that requirement. 

 

VI.        Adjournment

David Greenberg adjourned the meeting at 4:15 P.M.