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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-10-2009 cII-Y oFaa* HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE MINUTES wns HINcTON March 10, 2009 1. CALL TO ORDER The March meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m. in Conference Room three, located on the second floor of Auburn City Hall, 25 West Main Street, Auburn, WA. Committee Members present: Chair Suzanne Limric, Barbara Derda, Marian Thomas, Virginia Lloyd, Gary Masterjohn and Tony Ladner Not in attendance: Michael Harbin and JoAnne Walters Staff present; Human Services Principal Planner Michael Hursh, Community Services Project Assistant Kirsten Reynolds and Emergency Preparedness Manager Sarah Miller Guests present: Gladys Paulus II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Discussion of minutes: one sentence was requested to be removed under item #3. Committee Member Ladner moved to accept the February 17, 2009 minutes as revised; Member Masterjohn seconded the motion. The February 17, 2009 minutes were approved as amended. III. INTRODUCTIONS Special guest Gladys Paulus, President of Citizen Corp, discussed the partnership between Human Services (HS) Committee and the Citizen Corp Council (CCC). Members introduced themselves and explained their roles and responsibilities. The HS Committee explained they are responsible for making recommendations to the Mayor and City Council on how to appropriate Human Services funds provided by HUD and the City of Auburn. Every two years the HS Committee reviews funding applications from local agencies; the Committee has defined four agency funded categories: child abuse and neglect, health care/drug abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault and poverty reduction programs. Agencies are asked to give presentations before the Committee makes their recommendations. The White River Valley Citizen Corps Council (CCC) is a non-profit organization that supports the Cities of Algona, Auburn and Pacific; providing public education, training and volunteer opportunities to support community and family safety. CCC has sponsored a new group called COAD which is specifically focused on planning for emergency disaster recovery. It was discussed that at least one member of the CCC also needs to be a member of the Human Services Committee; it will be vital for the finro groups to recruit at least one member to be involved in both. CCC Members are asked to sign a commitment form; they meet monthly on the 3`d Tuesday at Associated Ministries. Communications Manager, Dana Hinman, is preparing a media piece asking for interested parties to serve on either Committee/Council. When the media release is completed it would be good to get the word out to service clubs, the Auburn Reporter and possibly even promote the open positions on Channel 21. IV. DISCUSSION / AGENDA A. Human Services HELP Human Services Manager, Michael Hursh, announced Julie Mehl was brought on for the contract position that was created to assist with the Housing Repair Program; this position is funded by our federal grant Auburn receives for Human Services. Julie Mehl will be assisting with the Consolidated Plan update, the Annual Action Plan, as well as finalizing the Human Services Committee packets and other communication tools for Auburn programs. Mr. Hursh explained Auburn's Housing and Urban Development (HUD) contract should remain the same and/or may increase. Last year the City received $409,000 - 2009 funds should be approximately $420,000. The HS Committee will be making recommendations how to best utilize the additional funds. Over the past two years the City has banked funds to be used for projects down the road, the money to be received in 2009 must be expended in 2009. B. CAPER Review Mr. Hursh explained the Committee will be reviewing the CAPER (Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report), which is an overall review of housing and community development activities undertaken in 2008 by the City of Auburn as a prerequisite to receiving federal HUD funds. Emergency Preparedness / Citizen Corp Council: Emergency Preparedness Manager, Sarah Miller, and the President of Citizen Corp, Gladys Paulus, talked about the restructuring of the Citizen Corp Council and other emergency preparedness efforts they've been working on. Ms. Miller talked about the possibility of Auburn flooding and the situation with the Howard Hanson Dam. Before the Dam was built, the north part of Auburn would usually flood; the Dam was built as a way to control the flooding. The Corps of Engineers found a depression on one of the banks along side the dam during the major `09 winter storm. When they put water and dye into the depressions it showed up in the Green River on the other side of the dam. They've since dropped the water to its lowest level possible to still allow water to come through. The Corps said they cannot raise the water level as they have done before until they know what caused the problem and figured out how to fix it; they need money to fix it which could take years to fix. In the mean time, efforts being done to prepare for the next storm are underway. In the event of a flood the storm drains will operate for a while but once a certain amount of flooding is reached the pumps will automatically shut off. Residents who are not located in the flood zone could be affected if they have basements or low points on their property. The community has been told to buy flood insurance regardless if their home/business is located in the "flood zone". If people are not directly located in the flood zone insurance should be inexpensive. Planning has been happening both regionally and locally to prepare for the next flooding season. Recovery will be the hardest effort; there are approximately 3,500 houses that could potentially be uninhabitable. In efforts to coordinate recovery the White River Valley Citizen Corp Council (CCC) is sponsoring the COAD group. COAD has eight active members so far; the goal is to get COAD up and running by the end of summer 2009. Grant funding has been secured for a coordination position that will serve as a staff member for COAD so the group can move forward. COAD will identify gaps and needs in the community; they'll host a database that will include who has access to skills and basic needs, where items can be stored and how supplies will be distributed. COAD will ensure people the ability to maintain their lives before financial assistance is available from FEMA, i.e. lending items like washers, dryers, etc. Once FEMA offers financial assistance residents can then return any borrowed items for the next person(s) use. Ms. Miller explained they currently have blankets and cots for 150 people being stored at GSA. Staff has located 300 additional cots that can be borrowed from the Seventh Day Adventist Church any time other than during their annual camp in June. They anticipated having issues with storage so one of COAD's objectives will be to maintain connections with businesses to store items and/or get items donated. V. ADDITIONAL TOPICS VI. NEXT MEETING Human Services Committee Members want to discuss the transfer switch needed to operate the emergency generators; they are aware of the decision to build the switch and generator into the design of the Community Center. The next meeting is scheduled for April 14, 2009 at 4:00 pm. VII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 5:11 p.m. APPROVED THE 14 day of Apri1, 2009. r Suzann Limr air Kirstq~ff Reynolds, C mu ty Services Project Assistant