[0:00] Okay.

[0:02] All right. Let's call the meeting for the Florence Urban Renewal Agency to order

[0:08] August 26th, 2026. Can we have the roll call, please?

[0:11] Yes, of course. Dr. Miller?

[0:14] Here.

[0:14] Dr. Wantz?

[0:15] Here.

[0:16] Dr. Ward?

[0:17] Here.

[0:18] Dr. Meyer?

[0:19] Here.

[0:19] Director Postgate?

[0:20] Here.

[0:21] And Chairperson Webb?

[0:22] Here.

[0:22] And then just for the record, Director Braly, Director Ercolini, and then our

[0:27] newest director, Rhonda Kleppinger, are all absent at this meeting, and I'll turn

[0:32] it back over to Chairperson Webb.

[0:33] Awesome. Thank you very much. Do we have an approval of the agenda?

[0:37] Are there any items you'd like to have added?

[0:40] I want six to be the first. I'm just kidding. I would move to approve the agenda.

[0:45] Do we have a second?

[0:46] Second.

[0:47] Roll call, please.

[0:50] Yes, of course. Dr. Miller?

[0:52] Yes.

[0:52] Dr. Wantz?

[0:53] Yes.

[0:54] Dr. Ward?

[0:55] Yes.

[0:55] Dr. Meyer?

[0:56] Yes.

[0:57] Director Postgate?

[0:58] Yes.

[0:58] And Chairperson Webb?

[0:59] Yes.

[1:00] Motion passes.

[1:01] Excellent. Do we have any public comment?

[1:04] We do not have any public comment this evening, Chair.

[1:06] Thank you very much. And has everybody had a chance to look through the minutes?

[1:10] Yes. Yep. Very extensive.

[1:12] And motion to approve if appropriate?

[1:14] So moved.

[1:15] Second. We have a motion by Director Ward, second by Director Meyer.

[1:20] Call, please.

[1:22] Yes, of course. You guys go so fast. Director Postgate?

[1:25] Director Meyer? Director Meyer?

[1:30] Aye.

[1:30] Director Ward?

[1:30] I wake up. Aye.

[1:32] Director Wantz?

[1:32] Aye.

[1:33] Director Miller?

[1:34] Aye.

[1:34] Chairperson Webb?

[1:35] Aye.

[1:35] Motion passes.

[1:37] All right. Let's move on to reports and updates. It looks like we have Mr.

[1:40] Baum with us prepared to give us an update on the Quinta Street Hotel.

[1:45] I want to.

[1:50] It's summer. We moved up north.

[1:52] The sun is out. Sun's out. I was so delighted by the 73 degrees when I got here

[1:57] today. It was really fun.

[2:01] I'm happy to be here and presenting with you.

[2:03] As always, I want to open with gratitude to, FIBA and the city staff who've been

[2:09] stalwart advocates for this project.

[2:13] Where we are right now,

[2:16] we are working through the internal construction.

[2:19] You folks came from the board last month to tour.

[2:23] Really appreciated having the visitors come through and get to take a look.

[2:27] Things have continued to advance through that.

[2:30] The event you came to was what's called the topping out ceremony, which in

[2:34] wood-frame construction isn't quite as notable as it is in steel construction, but

[2:38] it's really where we note that the structure itself is complete, and we are moving

[2:43] through envelope and finishes, which is where we're continuing now.

[2:50] So again, 86-room hotel. The fourth floor is framed and sheetrocked.

[2:56] The subflooring is in, which is the sound barrier between it and the floor below.

[3:01] They

[3:03] finished painting on the fourth floor.

[3:05] They're painting the third floor, starting, I believe, on Monday.

[3:09] The envelope itself is complete. If you were to drive by today, you'd see that

[3:13] they've got most of the exterior paint coming in.

[3:17] We also recently found, and created some savings in the construction budget to

[3:23] perform a mural. So there will be some public art that will be engaged there, which

[3:28] was requested by Land Use in our first exchange, I don't know, three years ago or

[3:34] so. But we just need to create savings for that.

[3:37] We also had to find savings for a porte cochere type entry.

[3:43] It's not really a true porte cochere.

[3:44] It doesn't extend over the driveway, but we do have a much larger welcoming zone to

[3:49] help with those Oregon winters.

[3:52] So those are some of the value adds.

[3:54] We've also, I think I showed this to you last month,

[3:57] contracted to bring in a fire pit to the south patio.

[4:03] So we want to continue to invite folks to use that as a community space and

[4:09] for it to be a little gathering for the folks who come through to use the foreign

[4:12] event center or get to come here. So in the future, we may be looking to partner

[4:16] with local artists to provide music or other types of expression that just welcome

[4:22] folks to the hotel.

[4:24] Yeah, that'd be cool.

[4:25] We also, in the last week and a half, began a reach out to local artists to figure

[4:31] out how we can strike a balance between the overall construction budget, and the

[4:36] needs for some art in the rooms. It's not very ornate, but it's something that's

[4:40] pretty simple. 86 pieces. There's a corporate mass-produced art that is a part of

[4:46] the brand style. We'd like to use something that's a bit more local and a

[4:49] reflection of what Florence is. So we'll be working on that over the next few

[4:55] weeks to get that out and begin those selections.

[4:58] As far as what the critical next dates are,

[5:04] we will be wrapping up substantial completion in mid-December.

[5:09] Substantial completion marks the contract completion date for

[5:15] open permit items. So it means that from the AHJ, the

[5:20] Authority Having Jurisdiction's perspective, it's ready for occupancy.

[5:25] Then we'll be taking a couple of weeks off for the holidays, and then early

[5:29] January, we'll start getting earnest on what we call FF&E, which is fixtures,

[5:33] furnitures, and equipment. So that's the panels that go inside the rooms, the beds,

[5:37] the TVs, the internet service, the furniture, and some of

[5:44] what you consider typically non-attached finishes that go into the building that

[5:47] aren't a part of the permit structure.

[5:51] Then in the late mid-January, I believe our date right now is January 18th,

[5:58] we will complete final completion of all those components.

[6:03] In late winter, sorry, late 2026, so probably December, maybe as early as

[6:09] November, we'll be bringing on a general manager, and begin hiring our staff.

[6:16] One of the things I shared with Siusa News when they toured is the employment

[6:22] numbers. We're looking at about 10 to 12 FTEs, full-time equivalents, for the

[6:27] project or, I'm sorry, for operating the hotel.

[6:30] But in real numbers, that comes out to 22 to 24 people.

[6:35] Of course, it's highly seasonal.

[6:37] The people we bring to Florence are the people we keep employed.

[6:41] One of the ongoing concerns that we have as business operators in these rural

[6:46] communities, particularly destination-oriented communities like Florence, is

[6:52] housing costs and affordable housing.

[6:55] So one of the reasons I'm excited to see on your agenda right now are your efforts

[7:00] towards expanding housing in this environment.

[7:03] We want to have livable communities that we serve, and we want the folks that work

[7:09] with us in housekeeping and in management to also have a high standard of

[7:15] living that's sustainable. So that's something that we're pretty interested in, and

[7:19] we're trying to make sure our business model, of course, reflects that.

[7:23] We're not interested in being a food stamp company.

[7:26] Beyond that, we will be working on site work coming up.

[7:32] We've already got our landscaper engaged, a local landscaper named Nick Williams

[7:36] with Cutting Edge. He works out of Florence and Eugene.

[7:40] He did a design build application.

[7:42] He's already begun roughing in some of his stuff.

[7:44] Earthwork will be continuing with the last pieces of making berms and digging out

[7:49] some of the storm treatment facilities.

[7:53] Concrete starts next week, the site concrete, that is.

[7:56] So we'll start seeing curbs put out there, and we'll start putting in sidewalks and

[8:02] the pieces that make the edge work and boundaries of what site work looks like.

[8:10] Other than that, I think we're rapidly approaching

[8:14] the beginnings of what it looks like the end of the project for construction.

[8:21] We're on budget. We still maintain a great relationship with the contractor, with

[8:26] the design team, with the city. We always have bumps to

[8:32] pick and little nitpicking at this, that, and the other, but we have been working

[8:35] through it. We're projecting some savings back to the project, which is great for

[8:38] the investors. We've been blessed with a great year as far as weather's concerned,

[8:43] so a lot of the things we would've set aside for weather damages, we're beginning

[8:49] to realize those savings, which is why we're able to pour some of those savings

[8:54] back into these value adds that I mentioned earlier.

[8:59] Other than that,

[9:02] the economy is a little bit bumpy. We're still hoping that drive-through

[9:05] destination

[9:08] Places like

[9:10] Phoenix continue to be a high attraction.

[9:13] But folks are feeling optimistic that this is going to be a great project, and

[9:17] we're excited to be here. Appreciate, again, the continued support of the city.

[9:21] And if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer those.

[9:24] Just for the record, let it be known that Director Bradley is here.

[9:29] Any questions for Matt?

[9:31] Matt, did you say that you were putting out a call for art, or how are you handling

[9:37] the-

[9:37] We'll do an RFP, a request for proposals. It'll be kind of a two-part.

[9:43] There will be a pricing and selection.

[9:48] And so we are price sensitive, because it's called the micro-tel.

[9:52] We did something that's a very efficient, small footprint, type of construction.

[9:58] So we are sensitive to pricing. It's a really important part of the business model

[10:02] to be efficient.

[10:04] So that'll be one point, but we also want tasteful art that reflects the community.

[10:09] We're looking for something that is modern, but also reflective of

[10:14] the community and where we're serving. So we want to be relevant and affordable.

[10:19] So that process will be, we'll put an advertisement into Siuslaw News where we'll

[10:23] write about what it is that we're looking for.

[10:26] We'll nominate what our budget is, and then we'll invite folks to submit.

[10:30] I know there are co-ops and communities here.

[10:32] There's a whole bunch of people who are interested, so as we've begun those

[10:35] conversations and asking questions,

[10:38] we've kind of begun to formulate what that plan might look like.

[10:42] We want it to be fair, but we also want to balance those principles

[10:48] that we're looking for.

[10:49] Okay.

[10:49] So.

[10:50] Thank you. I would love to be in touch with you about that.

[10:53] Yeah, you bet.

[10:55] I'm the president of the board for the Nonprofit Arts Alliance.

[10:58] Wonderful. Well then-

[10:59] So

[11:00] ... will you please send me an email?

[11:01] Because that would definitely be a group we'd want to advertise through.

[11:04] Yeah.

[11:05] And then, so we'll probably be looking to make selections in the next 45

[11:11] days, 60 days, so that we can make those final art selections and start the

[11:15] printing, and it would be part of the move-in process that happens after the new

[11:20] year.

[11:21] Sure.

[11:21] Mm-hmm.

[11:22] Okay.

[11:22] Yep.

[11:25] Anything else?

[11:27] Is the mural going to be an outside, outdoor mural?

[11:30] Yeah, so we've contracted with a gentleman named Dan Cohen-

[11:34] Okay

[11:34] ... out of Portland. He's a very well-known muralist here in the Pacific Northwest.

[11:40] He lives in North Portland. He's done quite a bit of work.

[11:43] I welcome you to look him up. It's C-O-H-E-N.

[11:47] He's already done the preliminary research on permitting requirements and the

[11:52] public code requirements here in Florence. We've established our budget.

[11:56] We went through, we want this to be more of a discovery type of art instead of this

[12:01] bold statement kind of art. And if you see his stuff, you'll see a lot of bold

[12:04] statement. But he's a talented guy, talented artist.

[12:08] So-

[12:09] Okay

[12:09] ... we did the initial findings this last spring, just to see how feasible we

[12:14] thought it might be. And then as we were able to create project savings, we've

[12:18] begun to fund that. So it'll probably be installed next March,

[12:24] because he doesn't feel like he can get through the art, the selection, and the

[12:28] paintings after... He's busy. He's a very busy guy. He's in demand.

[12:34] So probably looking at February, March to have that complete.

[12:40] Okay.

[12:40] And then we've got full buy-in from the financial side, too.

[12:43] That was a big deal, working through how to use-

[12:48] Okay

[12:48] ... project funds for art. Yeah.

[12:51] Any Purple Deer or anything like that?

[12:53] I will not speak to Purple Deer or not.

[12:55] I love Purple Deer, so but don't tell Dan that.

[12:59] We'll just let him come up with his own ideas.

[13:01] Just a mural boy.

[13:02] Yeah, relative to that, I guess this is a really good question for city manager.

[13:08] Will that art piece come through the Public Arts Committee, or does it go through

[13:14] planning and... What's the process for either approving or

[13:20] not approving or whether it even requires approval?

[13:24] So as Matt was speaking to their consultant or his professionals are following the

[13:29] city processes, and our city processes are through city code and through

[13:35] the planning department, and it will actually go through city council.

[13:42] Well, for the final approval, it come through the council?

[13:45] Mural goes through city council.

[13:48] Good.

[13:48] Director Boski.

[13:52] You said that on the south side, you guys were doing a fire pit and community

[13:57] space, and you had mentioned bringing in bands and stuff.

[14:00] Who would be in charge of that? Is the hotel going to be running that community

[14:04] space as well?

[14:05] Yeah. Thank you for bringing that up. I want to be clear with the language.

[14:09] When I say community space, what I mean is a gathering space for people who...

[14:14] It's not a bar. It's a place where people can buy food and

[14:18] listen to music and have drinks on the hotel property.

[14:22] So it's not truly a nonprofit community space like you might have here.

[14:27] It's really an idea of saying there's nothing else within a quarter mile or eight

[14:31] blocks of that place where people can relax and have a nightcap before they go to

[14:36] bed. We are really oriented towards the Florence Event Center as one of our

[14:42] primary partners, and so we want to have a place that reflects people coming in for

[14:48] business, people coming in for other things, too, and we'd like to keep them safe

[14:52] and around the area, and we want to provide a environment or location where that

[14:58] can be done. So when I use the word community, I mean a gathering space, not

[15:01] necessarily a nonprofit, "Hey, give us RFPs.

[15:05] We'd love to host the Boy Scouts."

[15:08] Not the Boy Scouts. I'm a Boy Scout myself.

[15:10] It is a business proposition, but it's one we want to be welcoming to folks to come

[15:15] in. We'd love to have

[15:17] local food cart. We'd love to have local musicians-

[15:20] We do

[15:20] ... to come in and do those things. This is a community that really celebrates art.

[15:26] Anything else?

[15:27] No sir. Sounds great.

[15:28] Thank you very much for the update. Thanks, folks.

[15:30] Thank you.

[15:33] Now we're moving on to a presentation from Homes for Good.

[15:36] I assume-

[15:38] Yes, we do

[15:38] ...

[15:39] Have

[15:42] Marissa here, and I'm already forgetting your name. I promise, Justin, thank you.

[15:48] Well...

[15:52] They get set up, as Matt was just explaining.

[15:56] Thank you very much for our viewing audience.

[15:59] We also have some members listening online.

[16:01] The hotel across the street from the Florence Event Center is on Quint Street.

[16:06] The hotel is on the east side of Quint Street, directly across the street from the

[16:11] Florence Event Center. And the property that Homes for Good is going to be speaking

[16:16] about is directly south of the Florence Event Center on the west side of Quint

[16:21] Street. Just for some orientation of those who might not be as familiar with

[16:26] Florence and what we're talking about tonight.

[16:29] While this property is not owned by the Florence Urban Renewal Agency, has never

[16:33] been owned by the Florence Urban Renewal Agency, it is within our district

[16:37] boundaries, and it is seen as very important catalytic piece of property

[16:43] within the agency. And housing has been an important aspect of the city

[16:49] council for a goal for our city, and it's important to have these

[16:55] updates. So thank you for being here tonight.

[16:58] Good evening. Thanks for having us. My name is Marissa Johnson.

[17:02] I'm a project developer with Homes for Good Housing Agency, and this is my

[17:05] supervisor, Justin Ross. He is the project development manager.

[17:09] As spoken, I will be presenting The Field on Quint, an affordable housing community

[17:15] on Quint Street.

[17:17] Throughout, I will cover who we are, what we're proposing, what it could offer to

[17:21] Florence, and where we're at in this application at this time.

[17:27] So first, a little about Homes for Good. We are a housing agency for Lane County.

[17:34] Our primary work is helping low-income residents navigate

[17:39] logistics of affordable housing.

[17:42] We think of ourselves as neighbors to those in our community, and want to help

[17:48] ensure that they get the housing and assistance that they need.

[17:53] With that philosophy

[17:57] guides our project, and especially this one here in Florence.

[18:04] So as I said, we are Homes for Good. We are the housing agency here in Lane County.

[18:08] We have been operating since 1949.

[18:11] We were previously known as the Housing and Community Services of Lane County, also

[18:16] known as HACSLC. A little bit of an easier name change now with Homes for Good

[18:22] In doing so, we were hoping to share with the community an idea of what

[18:28] we're out to do. Today, we are serving a little over 5,000

[18:34] families in our community. We have an annual budget of about $60 million, and at

[18:39] this time we have approximately 130 full-time employees on our staff.

[18:43] Wow.

[18:46] Our work includes rental assistance, public and assisted housing, energy efficiency

[18:51] services, family self-sufficiency services, resident services, and the development

[18:57] of new affordable housing.

[19:01] So we are also not new to the Florence area.

[19:04] This map shows the other locations that we have in the neighborhood.

[19:10] So we would be building on existing relationships.

[19:14] This would not be a new

[19:17] property for us in this area.

[19:20] So we would look forward to continuing our work in Florence.

[19:24] Okay.

[19:28] Great.

[19:29] So our proposed site is highlighted here in red, 505 Point Street.

[19:34] There's approximately 6.88 acres, which is located in the strategic growth area.

[19:41] The

[19:47] property is currently vacant, and we are looking to improve that, make sure it has

[19:51] a use within the area. We want to improve

[19:57] neighborhood connectivity and contribute to the ongoing revitalization of Florence.

[20:05] All right. Our vision is to create a welcoming, flexible space for residents and

[20:10] visitors alike. We want to strengthen the community identity, support long-term

[20:15] economic vitality, and design for adaptability for future growth in Florence.

[20:22] There is a photo here. This is a current concept of what we are looking at.

[20:26] We are looking for a development with three residential buildings, for a total

[20:32] of 88 units. There would be a mix of one and two bedroom units within that.

[20:37] So it would be a total of 132 affordable bedrooms.

[20:42] Right now, currently, we are looking about 70, 73 affordable units at

[20:48] 50% AMI. And then the additional 15 to 18 would be

[20:54] for workforce housing in the area.

[20:59] Total space would be a little over 85,000 square feet

[21:04] all up.

[21:08] Okay. This is a map of our site plan.

[21:12] We are really hoping to make sure that this is community focused.

[21:15] We want it to be comfortable and safe for the people that are living there and for

[21:20] the people in the community. So we are hoping for a walkable, comfortable

[21:26] site. The site would include community spaces, garden and play areas, fenced dog

[21:32] runs, bicycle storage, parking spaces, and a connection to the Estuary Trail.

[21:38] So that we're looking forward to that as well.

[21:42] Thank you.

[21:42] Oh, you didn't want to-

[21:43] It's okay.

[21:44] Thank you.

[21:48] The site is intended to... Oh, excuse me. Sorry. Potential impacts.

[21:56] So not only would this be bringing housing to the area, we would also have

[22:00] construction jobs in the near term, and long-term employment opportunities to run

[22:05] the site once it's up and running. In this work, it would also increase property

[22:10] values in the area by not having vacant land just sitting there not being in use.

[22:15] It could also expand the local tax base and increase activity for businesses

[22:20] nearby.

[22:27] Thank you. The project also aligns closely with FURA's broader objectives.

[22:33] We would support urban renewal and revitalization efforts, encourage efficient use

[22:38] of underused land, reinforce Florence's long-term development vision, and promote

[22:43] economic vitality, and would also contribute to the vibrant, walkable environment

[22:48] that is important to Florence.

[22:53] Okay, I'm going to be moving on to funding.

[22:56] Right here is a slide that gives you the typical process from project concept to

[23:01] operations. Begins with project concept, followed by prequalification, intake,

[23:07] impact assessment, financial eligibility, commitment, financial closing,

[23:12] construction, and operations. Each phase has its own requirements and checkpoints

[23:17] throughout. This is generally the steps throughout.

[23:24] Right here, I've zoomed in on the Oregon Centralized Application, or ORA, process.

[23:30] This is really where we're focusing on funding.

[23:34] We have already completed the intake step.

[23:38] We are working on our application to submit for the impact assessment, and this is

[23:43] a really important part for us. This is getting our project in front of the Oregon

[23:49] Housing Community Services, letting them know what we're looking at, what we're

[23:53] wanting to do, and an idea of what our budget is looking like.

[23:57] They take that, they assess, and then we would move forward to financial

[24:00] eligibility. So this is a really important part and time to get us into that

[24:05] funding aspect of the project.

[24:10] Thank you. And this is a predicted timeline to financial closing.

[24:16] So a typical timeline from impact assessment to financial closing is usually about

[24:20] one to two years. Financial eligibility to financial closing is usually about a

[24:25] year, and commitment to financial closing is approximately six to nine months.

[24:29] I say typical because the ORA application does not have a

[24:35] prescribed timeline for the wait list.

[24:38] Our wait list is first come, first served, and when funding is available, that's

[24:41] when we start to move up on the wait list.

[24:44] In current climate, if no additional funding is added, we are realistically looking

[24:49] about four years out, but we're hopeful that more funding would be coming through,

[24:54] and we could potentially push that up a little bit sooner.

[25:02] So our next steps, we are here presenting.

[25:05] We're wanting to gather feedback from you all.

[25:08] We would take that feedback to refine our project, take that back to our

[25:12] architecture firm, and really work through to see what we can do to ensure that

[25:17] this property would be a good fit for the community.

[25:22] And we continue to work on partnerships within the community and other funding

[25:26] opportunities that we have,

[25:28] or that could be available.

[25:30] Wow.

[25:33] Perfect. That was quick. But thank you for having us and letting me present today.

[25:37] I appreciate it. We're really excited to be here, and I'm open for any questions

[25:42] that you may have.

[25:44] Any questions?

[25:46] Director Briley.

[25:48] So this would be affordable housing, and if I understood you right,

[25:54] most of it would be at the 50% of the county average income level, people

[26:00] who are at that level or below. Is that right?

[26:05] Yeah. So we were, right now, with current concept, the three buildings, two would

[26:11] be for the affordable housing of the 50% AMI or below, and one of the buildings

[26:16] would be workforce, which is between 80 and 120% AMI.

[26:20] We're still working on those final numbers.

[26:22] And that refers to the cost per month for the renter.

[26:28] And so the property itself would continue to be owned

[26:33] by Homes for Good?

[26:35] Yes, it would.

[26:36] And is that

[26:40] then taxable land, or?

[26:44] No, not as a nonprofit.

[26:46] Okay.

[26:48] Hmm.

[26:49] I need some clarification on that answer.

[26:52] So the property would be property tax exempt?

[26:56] That's correct.

[26:58] And the reason for that is because it's a nonprofit that owns it, or are there

[27:03] special state rules that allow that exemption?

[27:07] No, it's owned by a nonprofit, so that creates its tax-exempt status.

[27:12] Okay, I still didn't hear that.

[27:14] It is a quasi-governmental agency.

[27:16] It's Lane County's Housing Authority, so it is not taxed land.

[27:21] Okay.

[27:21] It is owned by a not taxed entity.

[27:24] Okay.

[27:26] It is off the tax rolls.

[27:27] Okay.

[27:29] There's a variety of ways to say it

[27:31] So I'm big into childcare. We're going to be groundbreaking and ribbon cutting

[27:36] tomorrow for our Elm Park Early Learning Center, which is going to have a lot of

[27:40] kids in there. Did you give any thought to, or is there any possibility for

[27:43] providing childcare facility in this project?

[27:47] Yes, we have thought about it. There is discussion.

[27:50] We are working with our architects and looking at our funding sources to see what

[27:55] options are available.

[27:56] Okay.

[27:56] We are looking at different locations on our property, potentially different

[28:00] phases-

[28:01] Okay

[28:01] ... but it is something that is on the top of our list of potentially adding now or

[28:06] in the future.

[28:07] Yes. Thank you.

[28:10] Just curious, you said you're probably about four years out, potentially about four

[28:15] years out before you break ground or have the project completed?

[28:21] Before breaking ground.

[28:23] Okay.

[28:23] So right now we're looking to get on the wait list for funding.

[28:29] Last I heard, there is an ask for about $1.6 billion, which definitely goes

[28:34] over what is currently allocated for this biennium.

[28:38] If the same amount is allocated to the next biennium as the previous, we would

[28:41] still be running a little bit short.

[28:44] So there's a little bit of uncertainty on what the timeline is actually looking

[28:48] like. But potentially about four years if no additional funding is added.

[28:53] And I'm pleased to hear that you're thinking about childcare-

[28:56] Yeah

[28:56] ... because I don't know how you talk about workforce housing without including

[29:00] childcare as a component. And,

[29:04] I think the success of that is going to be demonstrated by the Elm Street

[29:07] apartments and how much more of a need there is for that in the area.

[29:12] May I ask a question?

[29:13] Yeah.

[29:14] Do you have current data on the need for housing, like an

[29:19] economic report for housing in Florence?

[29:23] Is that a part of the package that you put forth at the state level, like demand or

[29:29] need, rental data?

[29:34] It is not something that we need to submit with our application, but we did run,

[29:39] through Novogradac, a housing report.

[29:42] What's needed, what's here, what's it looking like, and suggestions of bedroom

[29:48] sizes, unit sizes-

[29:49] Mm-hmm

[29:50] ... and things like that. So we have reached out, and we do have that sort of

[29:53] thing.

[29:53] Is there anything that you can do to do like

[29:58] a dated enhanced forecasting, knowing that there is a new hotel going in and some

[30:04] economic needs, or especially if you have to resubmit for the next biennium with a

[30:09] change in need? I just didn't know how that all impacts things.

[30:15] Yeah. So once we're on the wait list, we definitely have an opportunity to go back

[30:19] through and update.

[30:20] Okay.

[30:20] So we can go back and get more updated information if we're on the wait list for a

[30:25] really long time or a significant amount of time.

[30:27] We can definitely go back and get updated current numbers.

[30:32] Okay.

[30:32] And we can change those applications.

[30:35] And then selfishly, is that data you can share, that rental data income?

[30:41] That's just helpful for us in our talking points as we share economic data for the

[30:46] city and as we work on our housing goals.

[30:48] Absolutely. I can email it over.

[30:50] That would be wonderful.

[30:51] Yeah.

[30:51] Thank you.

[30:52] Yeah, thank you.

[30:53] Director Ward has another question.

[30:54] Yeah. I'm going to put my mayor hat on for a second and just say anything we can do

[30:59] as a city to support your project, be sure to let us know. Letters of support or...

[31:05] Because we've been

[31:08] excited about this opportunity ever since we heard that Homes for Good had the

[31:13] property and that it was going to be moving forward, and the idea of having

[31:17] workforce housing that is within walking distance of the work

[31:24] is a good thing for our community.

[31:27] Absolutely.

[31:27] Yeah.

[31:27] Director Berry.

[31:30] It sounds like

[31:32] that as long as Homes for Good presents a project

[31:38] that checks all the boxes and presents it to the state, that you automatically

[31:44] get added on to the state list, and just at the bottom and you have to work your

[31:49] way up. I guess a couple questions.

[31:53] One,

[31:55] are there priorities? Where's priority is this in Lane County?

[32:01] Is this your top priority, or are we like the third one down in line, or?

[32:07] For Homes for Good.

[32:08] Yes.

[32:10] Cool.

[32:11] I'd be happy to speak to that. I think this has been a big priority for Homes for

[32:15] Good for a long time. We have several projects in the works.

[32:20] One of the biggest ones we're wrapping up right now is Ollie Court.

[32:23] That has a childcare component that you mentioned.

[32:26] Okay. Where's that?

[32:27] That's in Eugene. It's on 13th and Chambers. It's 88 bedrooms.

[32:32] It's kind of a commensurate size to the field on Quince.

[32:36] And that one was built with three childcare entities wrapped up into one

[32:42] of the ground floors, and so that's been a great success.

[32:44] Excellent.

[32:45] It was a really hard endeavor, and it took individual champions outside of Homes

[32:50] for Good to bring a lot of the funds that made that happen.

[32:57] This is the biggest project that Homes for Good has on its radar right now.

[33:01] So-

[33:02] So you have some that you're

[33:05] either have done or are in the process of completing, and now this is the top

[33:11] one that you have planned to go next?

[33:14] Yeah. We have some downtown projects in Eugene that are small, but everything right

[33:20] now is dependent on the ORCA process, which is how we receive our funding from the

[33:25] state, OHCS.

[33:28] And that process used to be a competitive process, and it was referred to as a

[33:31] NOFA.

[33:33] And when it was a competitive process, Homes for Good always did very well, scored

[33:38] highly, and received competitive funds much quicker.

[33:44] They've removed the competitive component from that and allowed virtually everyone

[33:50] at this point to apply for state funds-

[33:52] Mm-hmm

[33:52] ... even your regular developers.

[33:56] And so that hasn't made the process any quicker.

[34:02] And so those are the delays that we're navigating now, is there are a lot more

[34:06] people that have a lot more access to the same amount of funds in a time that

[34:10] everyone needs them a lot more. And so that's part of the driving factor, but why

[34:15] this has been an ongoing discussion.

[34:19] Add to that, that we are almost always beholden to boldly rates or prevailing wage

[34:25] when you have federal dollars on a project, and that creates a time component where

[34:29] by the time you get back around to the funding, the price of the project has gone

[34:34] up. And so we're really looking for some homeostasis here, where just everything

[34:37] sort of levels out and we can be funded and move forward with the project.

[34:41] So the state agency, I think you said, is going to be asking legislature for $1.6

[34:46] billion?

[34:48] That's the current ask of the projects that are on the wait list as of right now.

[34:53] Okay. So that's the four-year, five-year. But how much of that is federal funding?

[34:59] Or is that mostly state funding or mostly federal, the pass-through money?

[35:05] That's a good question. I would say the vast majority of that is generated from

[35:09] in-state, but I'll follow up on that-

[35:13] Yeah

[35:13] ... and get back to you for an appropriate ratio.

[35:16] Okay, great.

[35:18] Director Wald. Curious to know, I saw the renderings of the buildings, and they

[35:22] look like they're two or three stories high.

[35:24] Mm-hmm.

[35:24] Do we have elevators?

[35:25] Three and four.

[35:26] Three and four. Elevators?

[35:28] Yes. One of the buildings is elevator served.

[35:31] And the others don't?

[35:32] Correct.

[35:33] Well, that's interesting. Isn't it?

[35:37] Yeah.

[35:37] Okay.

[35:37] Yeah. The larger building is elevator served, and that's one of the buildings that

[35:42] would be earmarked for affordable housing.

[35:45] Okay. Thank you.

[35:46] Mm-hmm.

[35:48] What happens when somebody gets a job and they're no longer eligible for subsidized

[35:52] housing? What happens to their rent?

[35:57] So it would be a voucher. There would be a project-based voucher.

[36:00] They pay 30% of their income. Once they hit a maximum number, I believe there's

[36:05] about a year that they have to work and have that...

[36:12] Excuse me, sorry. They can work with the rent assistance team, and there are

[36:18] steps that they can do. I don't know all of the details, but they have about a year

[36:21] of steps. And I know that it's based on 30% of their income is what they would be

[36:25] paying.

[36:26] So do they potentially lose their spot after a year?

[36:30] Wouldn't lose their spot. They would just potentially lose a percentage of the

[36:34] funding and the assistance that they're getting.

[36:36] They would be able to stay in the unit, they just would no longer have the voucher

[36:40] attached to it.

[36:41] I've always had a challenge with that, with subsidized housing.

[36:44] It doesn't seem to incent people getting ahead.

[36:48] So they're just losing their subsidy.

[36:50] Yeah.

[36:51] And they have a job, they're just going to pay more rent.

[36:54] Understood.

[36:54] Yeah.

[36:55] Just to me, it never seems to quite balance out.

[36:59] Anyway, I'm glad you're bringing the project to Florence. Any additional questions?

[37:04] Thank you very much.

[37:05] Thank you for your time.

[37:07] We'll see you soon.

[37:08] I just had one comment because they mentioned a couple projects that they have.

[37:11] If you go to the Homes for Good website, you can see the pictures of the projects

[37:15] current and past, so.

[37:17] Thank you.

[37:18] And while they're both here and Matt is still here, the mayor mentioned providing

[37:24] letters of support. I want to say publicly a thank you to both Homes for Good and

[37:29] to Bond Development. They provided letters of support to the Florence Urban Renewal

[37:35] Agency as we submitted our transportation grant management grant

[37:41] application for our Old Town Revitalization Streetscape project application.

[37:48] Thank you to Shantel Meyer and Megan Messmer and our team for getting that in last

[37:53] week before the deadline, and to our Old Town committee for working on that.

[37:59] So we're excited. Thank you for your support and seeing value in the project, and

[38:05] we will keep you posted as we think we'll find out results on that grant sometime

[38:10] by the end of September, beginning of October.

[38:13] Thank you.

[38:13] So thank you for your support.

[38:15] Yeah.

[38:17] As you leave town, don't turn right and go to Eugene.

[38:21] Turn left on 126, cross 101, and go down about a mile to the Justice Center, police

[38:27] station. Turn right, and you'll see the new Elm Park Apartments and the detached

[38:31] Elm Park Early Learning Center.

[38:33] We were just there a couple weeks ago. It's beautiful.

[38:35] We were? Okay, good. Yeah.

[38:38] Absolutely.

[38:39] I'm so proud of that. We are very proud.

[38:42] We'll still stop by on the way out again today.

[38:46] Thank you.

[38:46] Thank you very much.

[38:47] Thank you.

[38:49] City manager report.

[38:51] Thank you. I kind of quickly gave part of it just in case they ran out the door

[38:56] really quickly, but that was part of my city manager report.

[38:59] So thank you for letting me do that prematurely.

[39:02] Thank you, Marissa and Justin, for your report. We're always anxious.

[39:08] We never have... Patience is, I know, a virtue.

[39:11] It's not one of my fruits of the spirit.

[39:16] Anyway, I'll work on that. I know we kind of went over this quickly at the

[39:22] beginning of the meeting, but Urban Renewal does have a new member.

[39:26] Myrna Kleppinger is our new member.

[39:29] She did let us know that while she was appointed by Mayor Ward at our last city

[39:34] council meeting, that she was going to be unable to attend tonight.

[39:39] She may be listening in virtually.

[39:40] I didn't recognize any of the names on there, but she was going to be traveling.

[39:46] So Myrna will be at the next meeting that we have.

[39:51] As I mentioned, we were able to submit last week ahead of the deadline

[39:56] for the... We have such a long name for it, so I'm just going to

[40:02] read it,

[40:04] for the transportation grant management application for our Florence Old Town

[40:08] Revitalization and Streetscape project.

[40:11] It was a lot of very intentional work put in by Shantel Meyer, who's

[40:17] a great writer, with support from Megan and myself and the committee.

[40:23] And we had

[40:26] one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,

[40:29] eight, nine... Did we get any more after that? Nine letters of support.

[40:34] Very rich support. And like I said, two of them are here tonight, so even counting

[40:39] the city, one from the mayor.

[40:42] So- What? Silaram here? Was Rival to get in?

[40:48] Sorry. We tried.

[40:52] We had great support, amazing, and I think we have a really strong application, so-

[40:57] What will that grant get us?

[40:58] So this grant would give us around $200,000 with about $22,000 match from Urban

[41:04] Renewal Agency to support the Urban Renewal Agency in what we call

[41:11] 30% design

[41:13] plans and community engagement

[41:19] support to help

[41:23] design basic engineer plans of what could be possible

[41:29] in what will be determined an area.

[41:34] But we're going to say we're going to focus on the core area of Old Town, but it's

[41:39] going to have some radiating effects because this is a transportation grant, and

[41:44] there's no way to say, "Oh, you're only focusing on one area," because it's a

[41:47] transportation corridor, and create this refinement plan.

[41:52] That's what it's referred to in the transportation system plan, is we need a

[41:56] refinement plan for the downtown area.

[41:59] We have the fancy words, but really it's how do you create a modern,

[42:05] ADA, beautiful space, meets all of the things that

[42:11] everybody wants, which is wide sidewalks, great parking, beautiful

[42:17] pedestrian amenities that creates that economic vibrancy

[42:24] for your community, that also is great for transportation, that

[42:29] connects your downtown with all around town, that economic

[42:35] corridor. So there's a very focused area that's going to get a lot of

[42:40] attention, but it's not in a vacuum.

[42:44] It does connect to the other transportation aspects.

[42:50] And that's just the best way I can keep saying it. It will radiate out.

[42:54] It's not going to be just Bay Street, which is why we did not call it Bay Street.

[42:59] It is the Old Town project. It also talks

[43:04] about utilities. Transportation funds cannot be used for

[43:10] water, wastewater, and stormwater, and electrical utilities, but it can coordinate

[43:16] with the utilities, which is an important part of the project.

[43:20] So we need to still be planning and coordinating those engineered plans with what

[43:26] does the water, wastewater, stormwater, and electrical look like.

[43:30] And so we did make sure we talked about the importance of that.

[43:34] We also highlighted the importance of how Central Lincoln PUD wants to

[43:40] underground their utilities now.

[43:43] So this is an important part of why now and why is this important.

[43:48] And also the other reason why now and why is this important is because you did your

[43:51] five-year strategic plan, and you have about $11.7 million in tax

[43:57] increment financing available in about two years from now.

[44:02] And you need to know how to prioritize and figure out how you're going to best

[44:06] spend those dollars. And that 30% plans are going to help you decide how to

[44:12] best invest those dollars in partnership with the city, these partners like the

[44:18] Port of South, Central Lincoln PUD, Lane Transit District, and the City

[44:24] of Florence, and the utilities. So that's the hope.

[44:29] It would be work to come, and we did this before with Revision

[44:34] Florence. We had a contract with an engineering firm

[44:40] called Murray Smith Associates, and we did this exact same thing with them, and it

[44:45] resulted in Revision Florence, and so this is where we're at, at the beginning

[44:50] stages of taking a dream to a reality, and it's pretty exciting.

[44:55] So hopefully we are successful in this grant, and if not, we'll come back, and

[45:00] we'll talk about what other options we have to pay for that project.

[45:07] So that's that.

[45:11] I also wanted to speak to you about September.

[45:18] So the month of September, we are scheduled to-

[45:21] September coming up?

[45:22] Yeah. There's like-

[45:24] Almost felt it.

[45:28] September. So the month of September, we don't have any action items on the horizon

[45:33] for you, so we're suggesting that maybe the committees schedule and meet.

[45:38] I know we have some work to do for this Old Town committee, and we could probably

[45:44] reconvene and do a little bit of work on the North Quint Street committee

[45:50] and then just come back and meet in October for Urban Renewal.

[45:55] So I'll leave that for Chair Webb to think about.

[45:59] I don't see any objection to that from the current folks.

[46:02] Right.

[46:03] So, okay.

[46:04] And then look to hear from our committee leads.

[46:08] You have Lindsay leading the Quint Street property and

[46:13] Shantel leading the Old Town committee property.

[46:20] And then I'm going to look at Megan, see if she has any updates for the group.

[46:24] Lindsay? Okay. The Public Art committee

[46:30] had a great tour on Saturday, and all of our art pieces are in place, and

[46:36] we'll have some changes in movement in the future.

[46:40] So just stay tuned, follow us on social media for all the updates.

[46:44] We have a lot going on in the city, and that's a good way to know what's going on,

[46:48] is if you follow us on Facebook or Instagram. And then subscribe to our newsletter.

[46:54] The city's going to publish a newsletter next week because it's September already.

[46:59] Okay.

[47:01] And I think with that, concludes my report, and I'll turn it back over to you,

[47:05] Chair, to see if anybody else has anything to say.

[47:07] Thank you very much. Any additional questions for Erin?

[47:11] Well, I don't have a question for Erin, but I just wanted to encourage everybody to

[47:17] swing by the Elm Street Apartments, mainly to see

[47:22] the light poles that they have there now with the solar panels on top and

[47:28] the little whirly thing that-

[47:30] Uh-huh

[47:30] ... in the wind and-

[47:31] Those are the city's. That's part of our infrastructure project, actually.

[47:35] Is that right?

[47:35] Yeah, so the streetlights-

[47:36] Didn't notice that

[47:37] ... those are what we installed.

[47:39] Will you let Michael Allen know those are there?

[47:41] I'll leave that with Michael.

[47:43] Same that we have at Public Works building?

[47:45] Similar.

[47:45] Similar, yeah.

[47:47] Excellent.

[47:49] That was a part of our project.

[47:51] Well, thank you.

[47:51] Yeah.

[47:52] Any comments for the... Go to the order.

[47:54] 2:00 tomorrow at the Elm Street?

[47:57] What time is the Elm Street opening tomorrow? That is by invitation only.

[48:02] Oh.

[48:02] But that's okay. But I believe you're correct.

[48:05] Okay. We can stand in back, but won't get a seat.

[48:08] I don't want a seat.

[48:09] No.

[48:09] It's by invitation.

[48:10] He's got a long list of people.

[48:12] If you were invited, you're invited. We just... For the viewing public, right?

[48:16] Right.

[48:16] I'm just saying.

[48:17] Right. Yes.

[48:19] Seeing nothing else, do we have a motion to adjourn?

[48:22] So moved.

[48:23] All right. Meeting adjourned.

[48:25] Thank you, everyone.

[48:26] All right. Good job. Cheers

8.26.26- Florence Urban Renewal Agency

Agenda

Transcript