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383 <br /> <br />Ms. Hamilton said she would prefer to call it school achievement. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown asked about the flexibility in the use of CDBG funds, and Mr. Tolbert <br />read the list of eligible categories. He said school achievement would fall under social <br />programs. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said we might be able to work school achievement into economic <br />development, making sure there is a path from education to the job market. He said he is <br />still amazed at the number of people who do not know we have housing assistance <br />programs, and they are not used as often as would like to see them used. <br /> <br /> Mr. Tolbert pointed out that we are current out of money available for this type of <br />assistance. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown asked if there are other things we can do with the funds to help <br />maintain the stock of affordable rental housing. <br /> <br /> Mr. Tolbert said that rental rehabilitation can be done with CDBG funds and <br />target neighborhood funds can also be used to help. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown said he is not sure the City should step in where landlords fail to step <br />in and does not want to let owners off the hook, but is supportive of making affordable <br />rental housing more of a priority. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said that the private market place is not responding particularly to <br />low income rental. He said if a program is designed correctly it can offer incentives to <br />landlords but also be beneficial to renters. He said he thinks this is one of the biggest <br />problems we have in the City. He said he would support focusing on two big problems: <br />low income home ownership and low income rental rehabilitation. He said he likes <br />designating priority neighborhoods. He said the Rose Hill neighborhood partnership with <br />Piedmont Housing Alliance was a good example. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said he would like to find a way to get at affordable housing in a <br />strategic way that gets at some of the rental issues. He said the Housing Authority is one <br />of the largest providers of low income rental housing and would support making them the <br />designated neighborhood next year. He said their properties could be in better physical <br />condition. He said funding for Friendship Court is a example of how City funding was <br />leveraged, though this was not done with CDBG funds, it did maintain affordable rental <br />housing. He said he would like for the City to serve as a catalyst on projects, not do <br />landlords' jobs for them. <br /> <br /> Mr. Tolbert said Section 108 loans can be used and funding can be pledged over a <br />number of years for a large project. <br /> <br /> Responding to a question from Ms. Hamilton, Mr. Tolbert said that target <br />neighborhoods have received $200,000 per year for a three year period in past. <br /> <br />Ms. Hamilton said she assumes this is the cycle we would be using. <br /> <br />Mr. Lynch said he would be fine with that. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling asked about the process for deciding where the money goes if a <br />priority neighborhood is not designated. <br /> <br /> Mr. Tolbert said if a neighborhood is not designated those funds will be part of <br />the RFP process administered by the CDBG Task Force, with a performance <br />measurement process, then the Task Force will rank order them and make <br />recommendation for funding. He said the Task Force takes Council priorities and makes <br />recommendations. He said if there is a priority neighborhood, a separate neighborhood <br />task force is appointed to make recommendations which then go to the CDBG Task <br />Force. <br /> <br /> <br />