CC Minutes - 05/26/11 Joint Elected Officials

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III. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Sustainable Communities Grant Mr. Stewart explained that the Board of County Commissioners had recently heard a presentation about the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Partnership for Sustainable Communities grant. The presentation had raised questions for some commissioners. The meeting was an opportunity for the joint elected officials to discuss the value of the grant and the commitment it represented to Lane County, Springfield, and Eugene as participating agencies. Andrea Riner of the Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) introduced Chris Jones of the University of Oregon (UO) Sustainable Cities Initiative, Greg Mott of the City of Springfield, Stephanie Jennings of the City of Eugene, Tom Schwetz of the Lane Transit District, Bob Parker of the UO Community Planning Workshop, Larry Abel of HACSA, Sarah Majesky from Lane County, and Megan Banks from LCOG. They represented some of the agencies participating in the Lane Livability Consortium. Ms. Riner provided a PowerPoint presentation entitled Lane Livability Consortium. Copies of the presentation as well as a document entitled Recommended Changes Lane Livability Consortium Memorandum of Understanding and a brochure entitled Partnership for Sustainable Communities —A Year of Progress for American Communities were provided to those present. Ms. Riner's presentation included information about the HUD Partnership for Sustainable Communities Program and its goals. The program targeted resources through grants and other programs to help states and communities create jobs and strong economies by developing more sustainably; removed regulatory and policy barriers at the federal level to make it easier for states and local governments to access federal services and resources; and aligned agencies priorities and embedded Livability Principles in each agency's actions so that transportation, housing, and environmental protection efforts were coordinated. The program included several new grant opportunities, including the HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants. Ms. Riner reported that the region applied for and received a Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant in the amount of $1,450,000 to better integrate regional transportation, economic development, and affordable housing, to prepare the region to compete strongly within a new federal funding network, and to fund regional projects that provided jobs, transportation choices, and affordable housing. Ms. Riner noted the consortium of agencies and organizations formed in Lane County to participate in the grant, which included the City of Eugene, City of Springfield, Lane County, University of Oregon Sustainable Cities Initiative, University of Oregon Community Planning Workshop, Lane Transit District, St. Vincent DePaul Society of Lane County, Eugene Water & Electric Board, Central Lane Metropolitan Planning Organization, Oregon Department of Transportation, and LCOG. Ms. Riner identified core objectives of the grant, which were to advance interagency collaboration to successfully address complex regional issues; to build capacity for efficient and effective collaboration; to develop more effective strategies for affordable housing, economic development, and transportation; and to help the region identify, promote, and fund priority infrastructure investment strategies. She anticipated that three regional plans would be impacted by the process: 1) Regional Transportation Plan, 2) Eugene - Springfield Consolidated Plan 2010, and 3) Regional Prosperity Economic Development Plan. Ms. Riner noted some of the concerns that had been raised about the grant. Those included concerns about responsibility for decision - making and regional policy setting; concerns about accountability to elected bodies; concerns about added bureaucracy, slowed processes, reduced efficiencies, restrictions, and constraints; concerns about the addition of future new parties; and concerns about the impact on staffing. MINUTES —Joint Elected Officials— May 26, 2011 Page 3 Lane County, Eugene, and Springfield