MEETING MINUTES - JUNE 2021
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
MINUTES
June 17, 2021
A. Organizational Matters
Call meeting to order – Meeting called to order at 3:00 p.m. by L. Daily
Attendance – Members: L. Daily, J. Surace, K. White, A. Church; Absent: P. Halyeko, D. Potack, A. Niles, R. Monteverde. Quorum was established. Others: J. Welles, A. Filosa, E. Levenson, Intern, D. Mangaser, E. Talbott, D. Chafizadeh, T. Venning, New Board Member, J. Welles. Guest: Susan Weinrich, NYCON
III. Review & Approval of May 2021 Minutes – Accepted Minutes with one change.
IV. Review & Approval of Financial Report June 2021- Accepted Financial Report.
V. Review & Approval of Updated 2022 Budget.
VI. Introduction to Strategic Planning Process with NYCON Consultant – Susan Weinrich.
1. Susan Weinrich of NYCON who has 18 years at NYCON and worked with NCLB four or five years ago stated that she and J. Welles had been in conversation this past week during the New Executive Director Retreat and that they have established a framework for the strategic planning process. She asked the Board to give some thought about key strategic issues they want to see addressed. She described the process as meetings with leadership to set up a planning committee to survey (with the Board and staff) priorities for the Landbank. The first will be a fact planning session. The second will be Action Planning, working on writing the plan; she will then help with implementation plan and possibly fundraising plan; by-laws; Board development plan, etc.
She is planning a half day or full day retreat for the Board to help understand what the focuses and challenges are and the financial issues; and what the key strategic issues the Board may want to follow.
S. Weinrich asks the board members what they want included and how the Board could be more efficient and effective.
J. Surace states that there should be a Board Orientation for new Board members to give a history of the Land Bank.
L. Daily states that the culture of the Land Bank, why it was started and what its intent is should be revisited.
L. Daily expresses the need to redefine the Land Bank especially in terms of procurement of properties.
A. Church stated that the City doesn’t own that much In Rem property right now and thinks that the Land Bank may have to start looking at bank owned properties and foreclosures and other acquisition sources.
L. Daily stated that there are not a lot of properties to focus for the next year. She also wants to get the Board Members involved on a regular basis. She wants the Committee to look at how to get the Board involved.
K. White wants the land bank to address issues of gentrification and says there is a concern for the current residents, vacancy of properties and the impact on the community
L. Daily stated that since our inception we thought we would be a permanent fixture or work our way out of business; and asks are we there now?
J. Surace asks if there are other Land Banks that successfully went out of business or changed into a different type of organization and did anyone have any examples
S. Weinrich stated that due to the legislation for Land Bank, the Land Bank as a straight non- profit could be more fluid, but due to the legislation it would be limited. She would like to collect ideas, models and what has worked what hasn’t worked at the Land Bank. Asks if the Land Bank will compete in the market with other housing- based organizations for the same properties as well as compete with developers and other non-profits.
L. Daily states there is a need to streamline organize the groups; with the Distressed Properties Committee; she wants to know if we are a leader or a member.
S. Weinrich asks if there is any outside information or data to help to plan for the future. L. Daily states there is the recently produced Leviticus funded Housing Needs Assessment conducted by Kevin Dworka and the Pace Land Use Law Center which the City Council has adopted.
S. Weinrich wants to set up a strategic planning committee to meet over the next couple of months to help drive it. L. Daily can be available as part of that. K. White can be available. J. Surace suggests waiting to ask the absent Board Members that were not at the meeting if they want to participate.
S. Weinrich will meet with J. Welles to lay things out and to put together a sub-committee meeting.
J. Welles stresses the importance of the Leviticus report that can guide and shape the meetings, but also wants to do some community engagement with residents and/or with community developers to help in the process, especially with the future role of the Land Bank.
L. Daily would love input from others. S. Weinrich wants to know who the other stakeholders are and asks who the business owners, and other non -profit development organizations are.
A. Church is concerned that we not compete with other local housing organizations and wants to have them invited engage in the process.
S. Weinrich will set up a time to meet in July.
B. Property Related Matters
New development/2 Family renovations:
House to Home update:
27 and 43 Johnston: E. Talbott updated Board: completion anticipated September 2021. 43 Johnston schedule ahead of 27 Johnston St. finishes with wood floors and doors anticipated next week, completely sheet rocked; framing at 27 Johnston completed, plumbing, sheet rock and is waiting for inspection.
ii. 115 and 150 Lander: J. Welles reported that demo has started this month. New roof has been installed after demo and moving along well.
Church of Holy Deliverance: 37 Chambers/Lander St lots update: L. Daily reports the subdivision was approved at the Planning Board 6/16/21. K. White asked if there were any sale agreements and or closings on Lander St.. J. Welles stated that the Church needs approval from the Attorney General’s office to sell an asset and D. Chafizadeh also agrees that it will go to the A.G.’s office to get approval. affordable housing in the form of either a condo or coop or 2 to 3 family town houses. The Land Bank would like to acquire the adjacent two (2) lots owned by the City, so there are five contiguous lots. Regarding 41 and 43 Lander St, the City still owns them and the Land Bank is expecting them to be transferred to them. The City Council had a positive response to our plan to develop owner-occupied housing there. J. Welles recommends the Land Bank develop a limited equity cooperative home ownership project with new funding recently made available by HCR (Housing and Community Renewal), specifically for cooperatives or condos. The recently adopted housing policy for the City of Newburgh recommends this type of development to increase homeownership opportunities that are of lower cost with less maintenance and upkeep by the buyers. The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC) could possibly be a lender, J. Welles will like look into this further.
151 Liberty/10 Chambers redevelopment ideas: L. Daily asked if the Land Bank owned 151 Liberty St. J. Welles states that the City owns 151 Liberty St. and that the Land Bank owns 10 Chambers St. and had discussed marketing the lots together. Remediation work was completed by DEC at both properties, but mostly at 151 Liberty where there was a former gas station. We are still waiting on the completion of the legal process required post remediation. A. Church states that Corporate Counsel’s recommendation is to wait for the completion of the legal process before moving ahead.
Sales of NCLB Development Projects:
104 Washington Street update– J. Welles reports that Mistral is waiting for the IDA decision on their PILOT application.
143 Washington Street to BJH update – Nothing new at this time.
RFA’s for 39 S. Miller and 38 Lander St.- J Welles states the Board did extend the application period for 39 S. Miller and 38 Lander Street to June 1st, but we didn’t receive any new applicants. However, with new funding available through the State, we can possibly develop at least 39 S. Miller.
NCLB pipeline and inventory: —J. Welles states that there is nothing new to add to the report that was sent to the Board last month. J. Surace commented that it was very helpful to have the report it the format provided.
Legacy City funding for House to Home projects – J. Welles reports that HCR announced a new source of funding this month called the Legacy City Access Program, which is targeted to NY State Land Banks There is $25 million available for NY Land Banks, to increase minority homeownership by utilizing vacant and distressed properties currently owned by Land Banks. The initiative provides for a subsidy from the state of up to $95,000 per residential unit for up to 10 properties per round for a total of 3 rounds of funding. CPC is the private lender providing the balance of financing needed. The program also involves transferring the properties to a minority developer who would complete the renovations and sell to eligible buyers. CPC has additional resources available to minority developers to help them get into the market.
We currently have six properties that would work in this program: 59 and 63 Lander St., 136 Lander St, 128 Dubois St, 140 Chambers St, and 39 S. Miller St. [C. Feldman enters the call. D. Chafizadeh leaves.] J. Welles states that she is also applying for HOME funding through the County to provide gap financing. The Legacy Cities initiative is similar to our House to Home program, with income restrictions of 80% Area Median Income and priority given to Newburgh residents who identify has members of a race that has historically experienced mortgage discrimination. J. Welles states NCLB could do outreach to local developers. K. White asks if this funding goes toward minority contractors. J. Welles states that it could be a contractor who is interested and able to take the next step of becoming a developer. The Land Bank is currently working with a minority contractor that might be a potential partner. J. Welles states that the CPC Access Program can also provide bridge loans and other financial tools to help with credit and other obstacles. She said that we will continue to get the word out and send out info to our contacts on social media.
K. White states that he would like to put this discussion on the strategic planning committee meeting’s agenda and would like to figure out how to address the issue of adding minority contractors to abatement and demolition work. He would like a solid plan to address during the discussion and strongly recommends that we address this issue.
Building Preservation Program/ Other
44 S. Miller demolition plan-update– J. Welles reports that staff met with the Engineer and they will be submitting their plan for demolition shortly, which staff will review prior to recommending an RFP be released for completing the work.
Creative Placemaking, Marketing and Design
Artist in Vacancy (AIV) Update – Diana Mangaser states that 2020 wrapped up and the season is over except for one project by Vernon in which one of the buildings is to be wrapped in a construction scrim; Ace Lerner’s project is still in development.
Studio in the park program with Dia Foundation and The Boys and Girls Club – D. Mangaser stated that the first workshop was held two weekends ago and it targeted kids in the neighborhood and had a good turnout.
ArcGIS Internship – S. Levenson, the Priscilla King Gray Public Service Fellow, introduced the new phases of the website. She has created a draft of a new home page for the website using ArcGIS story maps to create interactive maps which show customizable aspects of the mapping. She is mapping all properties in progress so that one can click on any property and see information about what work the NCLB did and when it was acquired, etc. To date she has successfully transferred the properties section into a more detailed map with the date the property was acquired, closing date, as well as maps for programs the NCLB has worked on with RUPCO and Habitat. She has started creating landmarks and heat maps showing tax revenue generated. There will be a new section showing Success Stories on a map, with the history of transfer, etc. All will have pins to be able to click on to see a property on the map. D. Mangaser states that there will be a new draft by the 2nd week of July. [A. Church left the meeting]. J. Welles closed the meeting at 4 pm.
D. Next Board Meeting July 21, 2021, 3:00pm