Committee on Intergovernmental Relations

Regular Meeting

Lansing, MI · October 3, 2018

Minutes

DRAFT MINUTES Committee on Intergovernmental Relations Wednesday, October 3, 2018 @ 8:30 a.m. Council Conference Room, City Hall CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 8:36 a.m. ROLL CALL Council Member Kathie Dunbar, Chairperson Council Member Brian T Jackson, Vice Chairperson Councilmember Peter Spadafore- excused OTHERS PRESENT Sherrie Boak, Council Staff Jim Smiertka, City Attorney Mark Dickens, Realtor Association PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS No Public Comment MINUTES MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER SPADAFORE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM SEPTEMBER 5, 2018 AS PRESENTED. MOTION CARRIED 2-0. DISCUSSION Greater Lansing Realtor Association Council Member Dunbar recapped that at the meeting with the LSD IGR Committee there was a discussion and interest in talking about the needs for students in safe affordable housing, and working in collaboration. Mr. Dickens did not have statistics at this time and asked for guidance on what the Committee was looking for. The Committee and Mr. Dickens discussed affordable housing issues not just in Lansing, and Mr. Dickens opinion was that the market works on supply on demand, not “if you build it and remodel to increase the value, others will come up to that”. The group discussed the buying and cost of building a new home, including the current difficulties which include labor shortage, the large cost of new construction, material costs, and material delivery delays due to new DRAFT trucking standards on driving. The Committee inquired into the possibility of an ordinance that would regulate all the homes being bought for rentals. The Committee asked Mr. Dickens to look into trending of people buying homes to flip or use as rentals, trending stats on those, and price. Mr. Dickens admitted they do not regulate the “purpose of the sale”. Mr. Dickens offered to include in his information the average home sale price (low and high), explain what that property is; broken down by neighborhood, and the number of houses on the market. Mr. Dickens was asked if when the realtors do open houses if they could market the schools, providing a list of neighborhood schools. Mr. Dickens was not able to confirm but offered to ask. The Committee then asked Mr. Dickens to include in his information at the next meeting information on new builds and what they are selling for, including multi-units. Mr. Dickens pointed out that another concern with new builds is that the cost to build is higher, but if they do not appraise high, the bank will only finance what it is appraised for, so it could be better buy to remodel. With the new tax credits, Mr. Dickens acknowledged it appears it is better right now to rent then to buy. Council Member Dunbar invited Mr. Dickens to attend their meeting with the LSD IGR Committee on October 29th at 1 p.m. Mr. Dickens accepted but stated he would have to speak to his supervisors before he could commit. Council Member Dunbar asked what other factors the realtor’s database held that could be provided to the Committee. Mr. Dickens confirmed he would gather what was asked so far and get out to Council staff within a week. He again stated, in his opinion there needs to be a collaborative effort of labor, builders, realtor, and education to see if there are funds available. The question might be if it apartments are the best option to market for the schools, and he also stated in his opinion the Landbank has homes they will not sell, and they do not need to have all the properties. He suggested the Landbank tear down some homes and do something good with a vacant lot. Council Member Dunbar reiterated an earlier statement though, that it is costing more for new build, so maybe it is better to do the rehab to have the density in the neighborhood. There is no benefit to the other abutting neighborhood homes to get the vacant parcel, because their taxes are then increased. She suggested at a future meeting having the Landbank come to speak on their homes, numbers and maintenance. Mr. Dickson stated if the realtors got homes they would market them. Council Member Dunbar asked Mr. Dickens if there was anything the City Council can do. Mr. Dickens stated they need increased collaboration on how to solve the issue, not just in Lansing, but the tri-county area. Council Member Jackson asked if they believe the City could create and support a neighborhood of new $200,000 homes, and Mr. Dickens said no, stating the comps because they would not appraise for what they cost to build. The meeting on October 17th will once again be with the Realtor Association who will provide information. Adjourned at 9:30 a.m. Submitted by, Sherrie Boak, Recording Secretary, Lansing City Council Placed on File

Agenda

AGENDA Committee on Intergovernmental Relations Wednesday, October 3, 2018 @ 8:30 a.m. Council Conference Room, City Hall 10th Floor Council Member Kathie Dunbar, Chair Council Member Brian T. Jackson, Vice Chair Council Member Peter Spadafore, Member 1. Call to Order 2. Public Comment 3. Approval of Minutes  September 5, 2018 4. Discussion/Action: A.) DISCUSSION with the Members of the Greater Lansing Realtor Assoc. 5. Other 6. Adjourn MINUTES Committee on Intergovernmental Relations Wednesday, September 5, 2018 @ 8:30 a.m. Council Conference Room, City Hall CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 8:35 a.m. ROLL CALL Council Member Kathie Dunbar, Chairperson Council Member Brian T Jackson, Vice Chairperson Councilmember Peter Spadafore OTHERS PRESENT Sherrie Boak, Council Staff Rachel Lewis, Lansing School District Gabriel Lawrence, Lansing School District- arrived at 8:47 a.m. Guillermo Lopez, Lansing School District – arrived at 8:36 a.m. Jim Smiertka, City Attorney- left the meeting at 9:30 a.m. PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS No Public Comment MINUTES MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER SPADAFORE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM AUGUST 15, 2018 AS PRESENTED. MOTION CARRIED 3-0. DISCUSSION DISCUSSION with the Members on the Lansing School District Intergovernmental Relations Committee The Committee and Lansing School IGR Committee discussed items that they can assist each other with and potential partnerships. Topics included the future of Hill, what plans could occur for Pleasant View, which currently houses Dwight Rich students K-6th. The groups also discussed community centers in the area of Pleasant View and the work at Willard Walker Park. Ms. Lewis asked who appointed the LHC director and was informed the LHC Board does. Mr. Lopez how the Council, and this IGR Committee planned to work with the Mayor, since previous years the Mayor did projects and Council was not aware. Council Member Dunbar assured the group that the new Administration and Council are working closely in tune with what is going on and there is open dialogue. Council Member Spadafore added that the School District and the City could put out a collaborative process between the two to show all groups are on the same page. Council Member Spadafore then asked the District representatives is there is a location near Pleasant View that the City can assist them in establishing or continuing Pleasant View, based on an earlier concern by Council Member Hussain. The group discussed current properties of the School District and City Park property where the two groups could collaborate in the maintenance of, and shared facilities. This could include joint services such as payroll, HR, Information Technology and printing services. Ms. Lawrence voiced her concern with shared services in payroll. Council Member Dunbar suggested starting with future collaboration on facilities and purchasing powers. The group continued discussions on other options to collaborate on including the City becoming part of the Pathway for Vocational Training, and a future City Junior Council to work with the District Junior Council. The group move onto an overview of their processes when it comes to suggestions, funding, tasks and action. The District members stated if they have suggestions they will present to the School Superintendent and if the School Board then approves it, they will forward to the City. Mr. Smiertka outlined the City process which would be for IGR to make a recommendation to the full Council, the Council if it so chooses would adopt a policy, the Mayor would look at the policy, then can propose budget for it, in turn the Council would have to approve budget, and then it would go back to the Mayor to implement it. Council Member Spadafore made one suggestion to consider, which would be for City employees to get paid time off to volunteer at the schools. Mr. Lopez brought up the suggestion that the City and the schools should find ways to have summer jobs for students to give them incentive, and Mr. Smiertka added in information that Mott in Flint works through their foundation to pay for those jobs, and it would be an option to consider. Council Member Dunbar confirmed that Parks and Recreation already hire high school kids for summer camps and summer programs. The group discussed other options for job opportunities including a similar program to what BWL does and job shadowing in City departments. Council Member Dunbar pointed out that if the program with the City was established Council would also have to establish a budget for training of the students. Council Members encouraged the School District to encourage the Superintendent to have the City become part of the Pathway. Council Member Dunbar suggested meeting again to go through the Pathway Program coordinates to see where the City would fit in and what they wanted to do. Ms. Lawrence suggested a collaboration with the City Sister Cities and the schools. Council Member Jackson stated he would initiate the City Junior Council proposal and bring back to the Committee. Ms. Lawrence invited the group to attend an upcoming event on September 21, 2018 at Eastern High School for the viewing of the Rudy Valdez documentary “The Sentence”. Council Member Dunbar invited the district representatives to an energy work group that the IGR Committee established that is working on climate control and mitigation. Mr. Lopez suggested speaking to Ms. Camul-Caanul, Superintendent, on the best representative. The Committee’s agreed to meet again on Monday, October 29, 2018 @ 1 p.m. at the School District Administration Building. Council Member Dunbar requested that Mr. Dickens with the Greater Lansing Realtor Association be invited to the October 3, 2018 meeting. DISCUSSION – FY2019/2020 Budget Policies & Priorities No discussion. Adjourned at 9:39 a.m. Submitted by, Sherrie Boak, Recording Secretary, Lansing City Council Approved by the Committee on_________________