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4. Community Development Block Grant Year XX AllocationsI MEMORANDUM CITY OF � CHANHASSEN 690 COULTER DRIVE • P.O. BOX 147 0 CHANHASSEN, MINNESOTA 55317 (612) 937 -1900 • FAX (612) 937 -5739 TO: Don Ashworth, City Manager FROM: Paul Krauss, AICP, Planning Director ' DATE: March 7, 1994 I SUBJ: Community Development Block Grant Year XX Allocations BACKGROUND Action by City Admtnidttetot Endorse d-� Meditkrf Rejette Date Submitted to Commb tort Date c•.. : t l to cowell Thanks in large part to the efforts of the Mayor and City Manager, Chanhassen has a Year XX ' Block Grant allocation. Now we must face the annual task of allocating the funds. As always, there are a large number of conditions on utilizing the money. In general, we can only spend ' it on projects that serve low /moderate income households, the elderly and the handicapped. As before, there is a preference for spending money on projects that actually buy something rather than pay for services. The overall program has a 15% cap on service type expenditures. Chanhassen has typically exceeded this amount but the overall Hennepin County average has met the goal and allowed us to do this. Their staff has informed us that this flexibility is unlikely to continue. Thanks to increased federal funding for the CDBG program, Chanhassen's allocation has increased to $48,544. The funds will be available for approved projects in July of this year. ' A formal public hearing must be held on the proposed allocations. This has been scheduled for your March 14 meeting. Should you desire to discuss this further, you can continue the item to ' your March 21 meeting. However, you must act on the allocation prior to the end of March to m -' she required schedule. ' PROPOSED ALLOCATIONS C6aAassen Senior Center Operations For he past year, CDBG funds have been used to support the staffing of the Chanhassen Senior Center. Dawn Lemme has been assigned to the role which occupies 50% of her time. We are Don Ashworth March 7, 1994 Page 2 ' proposing to continue this funding at the Year XIX level since this appears to be adequate to cover expenses. FUNDING: $17,000 South Shore Senior Center ' The city has used CDBG funds to support this center for many years based upon the premise that many of our residents use it. When we opened the Chanhassen Center, the annual allocation was halved. Yet it was continued since many residents continue to use their services at least part of the time. We have received a funding request for Year XX of $6,000, which represents a $2,000 increase ' over last year (refer to the attached letter). Staff took this request up with the Chanhassen Senior Commission. In recent months, they have expressed reservations with the lack of communications and support we have received from their parent organization, Senior Community Services. ' Staff advocated continued funding, albeit at a level somewhat lower than is being requested. Submitted information indicates that a number of our senior residents continue to use that center. They are a very mobile group and may visit several centers regularly based upon program offerings and friendships. We also pointed out that we would have lost our CDBG funding entirely if it was not for the support of the city of Shorewood. Their support was predicated upon the fact that Chanhassen has had a history of funding programs that served their community ' as well as ours. We believe we owe them a good faith effort to continue this support at whatever level is deemed appropriate. The Senior Commission agreed. They proposed a funding level of $5,000 but with several conditions attached. They wanted South Shore and their parent organization to meet at least four times a year to discuss coordination and program integration, and they also wanted to see improved communications and transportation. Staff is recommending that this funding level be approved with these conditions and that South Shore be so notified in writing. It was clear that the Senior Commission expects progress on these conditions during the year. Failure to meet these goals will jeopardize funding for the program in the future. FUNDING: $5,000 Sojourn Adult Day Care In the past, Chn ; Sias funded a number of items for this vital service. However, they had to relocate outs 6- , ,::,;.sae community and have not requested funding this year. Staff has held preliminary discussions with them concerning their starting a new program in Chanhassen in the future. The new senior housing project is one possible location. Thus, we hope to be able to help support theiF , M the future. Don Ashworth March 7, 1994 Page 3 Chanhassen Accessibility Improvements Chanhassen has recently completed an audit to review improvements to city facilities required under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We are proposing to use the balance of the funding to undertake priority level one improvements mainly in park areas. These improvements include such items as providing accessible trails, upgrading play areas and seating areas, providing fully accessible parking, providing tactile identification where appropriate and the upgrading of rest room facilities. STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution allocating Year XX CDBG funding as follows: Chanhassen Senior Center Operations $17,000 South Shore Senior Center $ 5,000 Accessibility Improvements $26,544 SENIOR COMMUNITY SERVICES 10709 Wayzata Blvd., Suite 111, Minnetonka, MN 55305 Phone 541 -1019 Fax 541 -0841 ' BOARD of DIRECTORS Tom Ticen President RECEIV February 15, 1994 ' Carla Pavone tst Vice President F E ].61994 Bob Zagaros Mayor on miel and Y CITY Ur l,t D Ch il d C of Chanhassen ' City Marty Guritz Secretary 690 Coulter Drive Chanhassen, MN. 55317 John Young Treasurer Dear Mayor Chmiel and Council Members: Daralyn Pester ' Senior Member-at-Large Community Services is requesting that the City of John Nelson Member -at -Large Chanhassen allocate $6,000 for the 199495 fiscal year from its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Year XX funds Robert DeGhetto Member -at -Large to support the Southshore Senior Center. We have recently reviewed the senior (60 +) population census information for Mary Anderson Lucille Crow the Southshore area (the six cities along with Chanhassen ' Karl Dansky includin g ee p . D haven, Excelsior, Greenwood, Shorewood & Alison Fuhr Tonka Bay) and the actual Center attendance figures. In both William H. Gray cases Chanhassen makes up a significant percent. Higuchi ' Alko Dwight Johnson Tad Jude Even since the City opened its own Senior Center, participation Kevin Krueger of Chanhassen residents at the Southshore Center has ' Senator Gen Olson Ryan Schroeder continued to ow. In 1989, our most current base year and William G. Weiler p r o p e ning, there were 62 p rior to the C hanhassen Center pe nin g as compared to 93 last year. The 93 participants ' participants Be n j am in d recc a to. c E o from Chanhassen represent 21.8% of the Center's unduplicated total number of participants for the year. Chanhassen residents PROGRAMS take a very active role at the Southshore Center as well. They ' make up fully one -third of the Center's fifteen member • Community advisory Committee, and significant numbers participate in Senior Groups regular Southshore activities such as congregate dining (11), ' - H.O.M.E. weekly crafts (4), card playing (9), exercise sessions (6), trips (13), health screenings & services (8), and weekly shopping trips (2) ' • Mutts - purpose Senior Centers provided by the r-71ter's van driven by our paid driver who is a Chanhassen Y,. • Senior Outreach The Southshore exea has a total senior (60 +) population, • Seniors Serving Business according to the most recent census, of 2,620 of which 715, or 27.3 %, are from Chanhassen. The original agreement among the six Southshov cities was to provide support for the Southshore Senior Center based on this percentage. The City of A United Way 1 A �� rec yckd paper Senior Community Services/ Chanhassen February 15,1994 Page 2 Chanhassen, since opening a senior center in its facility, has continued to provide some funding for the Southshore Center, but at a lesser level than full share. The amount requested is not the full amount based on this proportion, but about half- way between what the City's share should be and the City's level of support in CDBG Year M. For almost ten years now the Southshore Senior Center has served as the service and information focal point for the area's seniors. Classes, trips, congregate dining, transportation and information about a very broad range of topics are some of the activities available through the Center. The partnership of support provided by the cities has been the cornerstone that enables Senior Community Services to leverage other funds from the United Way, Title IHB (to subsidize the cost of transportation) and Title MC (to subsidize the cost of meals). This arrangement has served the area well and, with the possibility of new Center construction, can continue to provide a very cost effective way to provide these much needed services in the future. If there is additional information desired please let me know. Sincerely, jamin F. Withhart Executive Director cc. Paul Krause, City Planner J I x i• f