Order. Roll call, please. Jost? Here. Kim? Hooey? Baker? Here. Coleman? Here. Yang? Here. Chair Johnson? Here. There are five present, two absent, that being Commissioners Bowie and Kim. All right. So we started a few minutes late today because the public safety meeting we had before went a little bit further, which is fine. We do want to make sure that we are able to start them at two, unless there's something that really prevents us from doing so. But that's not why we're here. We're here for a few different things and also to welcome our new commissioner to the HRA.
So I was really excited to attend the inauguration and the swearing in of Councilmember Coleman. We now have that similar, swearing in here to welcome you to the board on the HRA. So before we do that, I will hand it over to I see Sherry's here from our city council office as well. And I'm sure you'll be on administering their oath. So, Commissioner Coleman, you can feel free to go over. Okay. Raise your right hand when you're keyed after me. I state your name. I have Molly Coleman. Do solemnly swear Do solemnly swear. That I will support the constitutions That I will support the constitutions of The United
States Of Of The United States. And the state of Minnesota. And of the state of Minnesota. And I will discharge faithfully. And that I will discharge faithfully. And perform all the duties. And perform all the duties. Devolving upon me. Devolving upon me. As a commissioner of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority. As a commissioner of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority. Of the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. On the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. To the best of my judgment and ability. To the best of my judgment and ability. And to deem myself. And to deem myself faithfully in office faithfully in office.
Congratulations. Yay. We're back here like we never left. Well, welcome, Commissioner Coleman, to the HRA. Wanted to see if you had any remarks for us at all for this board. I know you gave a few at the inauguration, but wanted to be able to turn the mic to you if you would like. I'll just say I'm really looking forward to doing the work of the HRA and excited to get started. Thank you so much. Wonderful. I was really excited to get a chance to connect with you and hear that housing is a pretty key priority for you, so I look forward to your partnership in this work. We will have a few different items, and I know that we've had a chance to check-in a little bit to discuss them.
But for, the first piece, I'll let them be read into the record. Item number one is a staff report staff report SR twenty five dash one hundred and twenty two, introduction to the Saint Joseph's Point project at 200 Wilkins Street, Alrighty. So this is just an introduction. And, for the sake of just folks knowing, we'll have an introduction on this item with actions, the following week on the third. So I'll hand it over to still Deputy Director McMahon. Chair, commissioners, we have people here from PED, individual Hannah Chon, here to give an update and information on the Joseph's Point project.
Welcome, Ms. Chon. It is. Okay. Yes. Good afternoon, Chair Johnson, commissioners. My name is Hannah Chung, a project manager in PED, and I'm here to give you an introduction on Justice Point at Upper Landing, rehabilitation project. So just a quick overview. Joseph Point is an existing multifamily building located at 200 Wilkins Street, District 9 in Ward 2. The developer is Shafer Richardson, and they are requesting city assistance with recapitalization and rehabilitation to address deferred maintenance issues
that have arisen in the past twenty years of building service. There are a total of 90 units with a mix of two and three bedrooms, 88 subsurface parking lots, and 10 surface parking stalls. So the building is currently affordable at 60 percent of area median income and 15 of those units are reserved for project based vouchers for families, making 30% of AMI. So as you see here, this is an aerial view of the building, and it's located at the near Sheppard Road and Smith Avenue.
The building is approximately 1,000 154,000 square feet. And these are this is what the building currently looks like now. This is a two bedroom unit, has in unit washer and dryer, community room, underground parking garage, community playground that's near the property, but it's not owned owned by the property. And then, a view of what, of one of some of the, units have in the building. And just a little bit about the site history. So, Joseph's Point was developed in 2004 by Shelter Corporation using Low Income Housing Tax Credits
or LIHTC, which restricted the rents to 60% of AMI for an initial compliance period of fifteen years and another fifteen years thereafter called the extended use period. The building, in 2019, the building entered that extended use period which will terminate in 02/1934. And Chestnut Housing, limited partner, a Shaffer Richardson related entity acquired the partnership interest in 2021 and they've been operating it since. So a little bit about Schaeffer Richardson.
They are a developer based in the Twin Cities, and they've developed multiple properties in the area, including the sole apartments on Robert Street, right across the river, and that was one of our first ARPA projects. And they've also developed the NOVA SP on the East Side. Katie Anthony, the vice president of development from Shaffer Richardson is here today to represent. So the proposed plan is, is that Wilkins Street, LLLP, a new limited partnership, will acquire and rehab the property. So rehabilitation includes a new roof,
sealant replacements to the windows, sealant replacements to the exterior brick to maintain the building's structural integrity and prevent water penetration, HVAC replacement in common areas, water heater replacements, elevator replacements in the common areas, and various various mechanical, plumbing and electrical work, and more. All this rehab will meet the city's sustainability goals and will help to improve the building's energy efficiency. So with the requested finance that I will talk about, affordability will be able to be maintained until 02/1966.
So in order to accomplish what I just talked about, Schaffer Richardson is hoping to capitalize with new financing. So recapitalization will help ensure that affordable housing remains affordable, while being while still being able to address the deferred maintenance issues that have come up. Otherwise, after the expiration of the extended use period I mentioned earlier, affordability will be at risk. So, the request is for a not to exceed bond amount not to exceed amount of $13,000,000 in multifamily conduit revenue bonds.
And that includes, 4% an automatic 4% low income housing tax credits and additional, dollars 1,600,000.0 in GAAP financing, which will consist of $1,300,000 in community development block grant funding and about $241,000 in remaining funds from the American Rescue Plan Act Emergency Rental Assistance Program. And affordable housing acquisition and construction are allowable uses under this, ERA II program is what we're calling it. And Sarah,
will give an overview about the ERA II funding. Good afternoon. I'm Sarah Zorn. I'm the, supervisor of the multifamily housing finance team here at PED. And, in response to some questions that we discussed chair Johnson on Monday about the ERA program, funds that are remaining. I just wanted to come here and give you some background and some information about, that source of funding and kind of why we've ended up with the two forty one that Hannah just mentioned. So in response to the pandemic, Congress had passed two acts, the Consolidated Appropriations Act and the American Rescue Plan Act in 2020 and 2021,
respectively. And they contained allocations of emergency rental assistance totaling $46,000,000,000 St. Paul received two separate allocations, and we received, just under $21,000,000 between those two. The city participated in two pathways to deploy that funding, a multi jurisdictional landlord initiated program that we called the zero balance project. And that was done in cooperation with the city Of Minneapolis, counties of Hennepin, Ramsey, and Dakota County, and then the Saint Paul Ramsey County tenant rental assistance program in partnership with Ramsey
County. And that was a a sort of a tenant access for that program. On the zero balance side, we contracted with Family Housing Fund to administer the program. Family Housing Fund then partnered with Housing Link and Clifton Larson Allen. And then on the tenant program side, we worked with Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties along with four local field navigator organizations to help spread the word and work with tenants to complete applications. Residents participating in these programs had to be at or below 80% of area median
income and demonstrate that they'd experienced hardship directly or indirectly related to the pandemic. This would mean a loss of employment, a reduction of hours due to a business shutting down, or the need to care for a family member with COVID, or the need to per purchase, PPE or childcare, for a child that was home from school due to closures. So the nexus between the pandemic and the hardship is the most significant misalignment with the current rental assistance program, and that's the reason we're not using these dollars for our,
city emergency rental assistance program that we're working on getting off the ground. By the time these programs closed, the ERA dollars received by the city had assisted more than 3,700 households, which doesn't account for funding administered by the state of Minnesota or by Ramsey County that also benefited many more residents in Saint Paul. Due to the complexity of the funding and the multiple partnerships involved, reconciling program expenses ended up taking a significant amount of time, more than we had anticipated, after the programs had
We did several projections. We tried really hard to find the right date to get this balance to zero. And we got fairly close, but we weren't we didn't hit it exactly, which is why we ended up with this $241,000 there were several reporting corrections that had to be made after the fact. We had to do some shifting around of funds. There was a lot of back and forth with Ramsey County to ensure that applicants in each program were actually eligible. So there was a lot of kind of shuffling after the programs had closed, which sort of added to the timeline.
By the time all of this was complete, our contracts had expired and the infrastructure needed to actually run that program and deploy additional dollars was no longer in place. So as part of the regulations, US Treasury has a provision that allows ERA funds to be spent on affordable rental housing serving very low income households as long as the units are subject to either home or LIHTC regulations. And in this case, they'll be subject to the LIHTC regulations, as Hannah noted earlier. So the Joseph's Point project was an excellent candidate for use of the remaining funds,
which will secure those 15 units at 30% AMI that she mentioned earlier. So the remaining funds, need to be obligated by September 30, and that can be done through the signing of a development agreement, and that's the path that this project is on. And those funds need to be spent within one hundred and twenty days thereafter. So if there's any questions on that particular source, I'd be happy to answer them. Commissioner Kim? Just really quickly, it sounds like it, but do you have any there's no concerns over the spending timeline? It sounds like the obligated funds will be fine,
but just like the spending timeline of the dollars. Commissioner Kim, we're on track if we can deploy them with the Justice Point project. Can you just, as a I guess as a carry on or carry back to that, when you say that we're on track for that, can you just define spent in this case? So is that a situation where the owners would have to expend on the project at one hundred and twenty days? Is that something that we would have what does spent in this context mean? Chair Johnson, spent would be, yes, that those dollars need to actually be off our books,
out the door, and that can they can be used for acquisition. And so, I suspect what'll happen is that once the HRA authorizes the signing of the development agreement, we'll sign the development agreement, which completes our obligation by the September. And then as far as spending, Hannah and the Schaeffer Richardson team will close on the financing for the project, and those funds will be sent to the title company, to Schaeffer Richardson, for the acquisition of that project, and that will be considered spent.
Okay. Thank you. And I guess as a follow-up, just one, I really appreciate you all adding some additional context surrounding this. For my colleagues. This was a question that I had posed mostly because it's using emergency rental assistance funding in a different capacity, and we have an existing emergency rental assistance program at the city that is working to get started up again. Could you just clarify as well for both, like, folks that are curious but also just for, in a little bit of more detail of what you shared with me in our office about the distinction and why the emergency rental assistance program that we currently have
or are trying to operate within the city does not qualify as an alternative? Sure. So, Chair Johnson, the biggest thing is that connection to a pandemic related hardship. And so that was one of the requirements of that U. S. Treasury put in their regulations is that there had to be a direct or indirect connection to the COVID pandemic. And that's just a it's a justification that's sort of hard to make at this point in 2025. And it's like I mentioned earlier, we tried really hard to get that balance as close to zero as possible. And I'm feeling comfortable that we are with this is from our entire grant,
from both grants where this is 1% of the grant amount. So it it feels big, but it's also in the grand scheme of things. It's very small, and we know that we've spent the bulk of those dollars in the way that we had intended to and feel good about those results. So, it really is, again, just that connection to the pandemic related hardship that we can't make at this point with our emergency rental assistance program. And then in addition to that, there's a layer of federal reporting that goes along with it. And at this point in time, even if the,
emergency rental assistance program opened tomorrow, we would have to have, in order to fulfill that obligation, to obligate the funds, we would have to secure approximately 100 residents who are eligible and sort of, we'd accept those applications. And we would have to have that money assigned to several residents before within the next month. So the timing is challenging. Yeah. No. That's really helpful. And I just think that that's really interesting. I think most of it most of my curiosity peaked from, one,
not knowing that these fundings were still, like, available or still needing to be spent and then learning of them as they were allocated to a project already that we deemed eligible. And I'm sure there was plenty of conversations that went prior to it coming to the HRA. I'm just not sure if that was ever shared, that that was what would be the pathway forward. And so could you share a little bit more about what happens when there is PED funding, ARPA funding specifically, either in this relation or others that maybe have a pivot? Like, at what point do we typically hear about,
in this case, of, external, like, ARPA funding or EA funding that would have needed to be spent on September 30 or obligated by then to be spent one hundred and twenty days thereafter. Could you just share like what at what point we probably should have known about that? Or Chair Johnson, that's a good question. I think, what was so challenging with this particular funding source is, like I said, the time it took to reconcile these accounts. It was there was a lot going on. There was a lot of back and forth. There was a lot of essentially moving applications from one program to the other to
ensure that they were eligible. There was, some sort of last minute spending in order to make sure that we were deploying funding, along with the guidelines that were established for this program. And I think it really took us eighteen months or so from program close to get to knowing what that final number was. And as I mentioned, we did not anticipate that it would be 241,000. We thought we were much closer to zero. And so with all of that shifting at the end, that's where we ended up finding out what that number actually was.
So then to your question about knowing kind of when those sources are out there even, I don't know how to answer that. I it may come up in budget discussions. It may, I'm not sure where it would have come up in the process. Yeah. Yeah. Transparently, I'm I don't love that. And I but I definitely think I'm supportive of the project. I think looking at the project in its broader space, like, there's a lot of really great opportunities that can come from that. I don't love the aspect of putting it towards putting emergency rental assistance funding towards anything other than that.
I genuinely kind of am struggling with the aspect of putting resources into a renovation that would most likely increase rent for tenants than it would necessarily be to provide support for them and use emergency resources to keep them in their homes. So that, to me, was just a little thing that I wanted to, for sure, just highlight and just once again reiterate just how important some of these resources that we have to dedicate towards it. And it's not to negate or take away at all from all of the work that I'm sure the team has been doing and all the work that you guys had to do to get this started up at the same time.
It just definitely was something that kind of piqued of an interest to our office in particular because of how much we have been working on trying to provide additional resources for tenants and renters specifically and not have those fundings go directly towards redevelopment or development opportunities. And this is a primary example of that. So while it may be an eligible use, and I'm glad that we'll be able to make use of these funds versus having to return them versus having them go to waste, I don't love this as an alternative scenario at all. But I just wanted to be able to share that specifically.
Commissioner Kim? It's tangential to this, but one of my potential policy recommendations, I'm that person and went back and reviewed. Do you remember when we had the Ehlers person come and give us policy, financial policy kind of 101? And one of my budget policy recommendations that I'm really hoping to look into with our new policy officer and our budget officer is we have current policies that where the administration and staff have to report changes to the general fund, but not other funds.
And so I would love to work with you as the HRA chair to kind of look at what funds of interest we would have or what categories of buckets of money that we have in the city that we'd like to be notified because that is a financial policy. And again, that's not to say that there hasn't been incredible work to shift resources to find like the next best opportunity, but just on sort of that notification front, I think it'd be worth looking into. And I appreciate all the staff work on this because I'm sure in spite of
also I don't love the idea, but in spite of that kind of shifting resources, finding a next best project and kind of on your toes is never easy. So just really appreciate the work that went into it. But yes, we'd love for it to have stayed in rental assistance, but that's not on the cards for us today. So Yes. Thank you, Ughmay. If there's not any other questions regarding these slides, you can feel free to proceed. Thank you, Ms. Sorna. I appreciate you being here today to talk about this specifically and for adding these specific slides upon request. Thank you. So, to move on,
this will be the unit mix and affordability levels based on the proposed funding. So there are seventy four two bedrooms with 12 of those units reserved for project based vouchers and families at 30% of AMI. 16 are three bedrooms, and three of those units are reserved for PBVs and families at 30% of AMI. So although the rent limit that you're seeing is represented at 60% for these project based voucher units, the families in these units will not pay any more than 30% of their income
to rent as regulated by HUD. And Ms. Chong, would that be in this case with the extension until 2066 as well? That's a good question and, clarification, Chair Johnson. So the PBVs are regulated by a HAP contract with the St. Paul Public Housing Authority. And they are, renewed every twenty years. But there's always a chance that they may not be renewed at the end of twenty years. It was renewed in, 2024. So that will go until sorry,
2024. So it'll go until 2044 at least. Thank you. And I quickly saw a hand from Commissioner Kim. I'm so sorry. Thank you, Chair Johnson. Just Just a quick reference question. So looking at this, it's the HUD guideline, you're using AMI. Is it the Bloomington, St. Paul Metro AMI? Or is it the St. Paul specific AMI? It is the, Twin Cities Metro AMI that HUD uses. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. So the permanent capital stack, will consist of a HUD first mortgage, syndication proceeds,
and that's the tax credit equity from the 4% credits, the two city loans, available cash flow during construction, deferred developer fee, a general partner loan and interest earnings. The uses consist of acquisition, the rehab, contractor fees, contingencies, soft cost developer fees, syndication fees, other financing fees, along with reserves. So, as Sarah talked about earlier, the full financial closing and construction is anticipated for mid October and then, construction is anticipated to be completed by 2026.
And these are just some pictures of what the project will look like, after rehabilitation. The main lobby, common area, fitness center, upgrade to community room. So this project will come back to the board for a bond hearing and action next week, but we're still awaiting completion of the environmental review by HUD. So the public hearing will most likely have to continue into the following week. Commissioner Meeker? Thanks, Mr. Johnson. Thanks so much for the presentation. And I have a couple of questions, but I first want to say high level. I this is about putting additional public dollars into an affordable housing project to keep
it affordable till 02/1966, which, I strongly support. And the questions that I have are both to just make sure all of us are on the same page about this decision and also just some specifics that I'd like to know. So first of all, I think this is a question we've been asking more and more often, and I think it's an important question to ask. What would be the outcome if we did not approve this funding? Right. Well, the outcome would be in 02/1934, the 60% units will no longer be 60%, but the 30%, project based voucher units will stay project based voucher units until 02/1944.
So in order for the building to cash flow cash flow and work on the deferred maintenance, they'll have to bring the building to market rate. So renovations that are being proposed now wouldn't happen and that those would be the dates at which affordability would end for those groups? Yes. Okay. And then, I know that Wilkins LLC is the purchaser. Is that Schaeffer Richardson under a different name? Yes. It's a limited partnership. It's how these bond projects and tax credit equity projects are structured. And is Shaffer Richardson the current owner? Yep. Chestnut Housing Limited Partnership,
a Shaffer Richardson entity, is the current owner. So I'm curious and maybe we can get some help understanding this, but why a $12,000,000 acquisition cost for Shaffer Richardson to sell the building to Shaffer Richardson? Right. There is an $8,800,000 loan on there that would need to be paid off. But I'll, have Katie come up to explain the partnership, structure. Welcome, Katie. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having me. I apologize in advance. I have a little cold here. But, Council Member Naker, Chair Johnson, thanks for having me here today.
Specifically on that point, our company purchased the partnership interests, three years ago from Shelter Corporation, as Hannah mentioned. And that that's a process. So instead of purchasing the building, we purchased the partnership interests in order to preserve per IRS regulations, tax credit basis for the acquisition. So we stepped into the existing partnership. The acquisition price that you see here is be it's basically what we purchased the partnership interest for. The sale that will happen to a new partnership is the official change of deed. And that way,
the partnership can take advantage of using low income housing tax credit basis. So to boost the equity, the tax credits up and the equity up. So it's basically what we purchased the partnership interest for, three years ago. We intended to do this project previously but needed to get the property up to a point where it was, operating kind of in an efficient manner. So it's sort of, if I could share, just call it the delayed purchase price from three years ago. Right. Okay. That makes sense. Thank you. And then lastly, I looked at the pictures of what's going to be improved, which is great. I also looked at the picture of the playground,
which is and I know that there are which is I know it says it's not owned by the project, but I can only imagine. I know there are dozens of families in this building and lots of young kids. And this is one area that is just really cut off from other parks, both by Shepherd Road, and just this is really it. And I think about winter, summer, it looks like most of the improvements are to spaces that are not necessarily family oriented or at least the improvements aren't. I'm curious if there were any consultations with tenants about the improvements that would be made, and if any of these are more geared towards the families that are in the
building. Councilmember Naker, it's a great question and a great point. As you mentioned, the playground is not owned we do not own the playground. I think a logical step would be to work with the park and see if there's anything that they can do there. The building is entirely three two and three bedroom units, which, as you know, are rare. And so 90 units of family size housing in this location is it's important. And And you're right. There are a lot of kids there. In terms of the, the renovations, I mean, we're working with a fairly limited footprint of common area, so we're not expanding the common area footprint at all,
in order to maintain all of the units as they are. And there's fairly limited common space. You know, the fitness room is really it's it's not geared to young kids, to your point. I think what we have done in previous buildings is to put kind of kid areas within that fitness room that's kind of allows a child to play while their parents might be exercising or something else. We haven't really worked that far into the programming, but I think it's a good point. The the community space, the community room is an existing community room. Again, having some some amenities or fixtures in there,
games, puzzles, things like that in that space as opposed to having a separate space, would be part of kind of the finishes and furnishings of that. As far as resident engagement, residents have been they're aware that there's a project coming, and we'll continue to do more community outreach and information and community meetings as the project gets closer to kicking off and starting. Great. Thank you. And I'll reach out and maybe we can talk more about that last question before the next vote. Thank you. All right. And then just for clarification, are there any upgrades that are happening to the actual units themselves?
Yes. Chair Johnson, there are so all of the units will be getting new water fixtures. Utility costs are a real barrier for this project. We've seen high escalations. As mentioned, the building was delivered in 02/2004. So water in particular is a very high cost and very inefficient fixture. So all of the water fixtures will be upgraded, lighting as well, new HVAC systems in all of the units. We've gone through some of the units have been updated as they've turned, but for units that have the original finishes, we've looked through what needs to be replaced for,
kitchens and baths, cabinetry, flooring, all of those finishes. So that's kind of on a unit by unit basis based on what's needed. But all units will have new, fixtures put in, new HVAC systems, new appliances, etcetera. Thank you so much for that. And thank you for being here today as well to answer questions. We always love to be able to kind of go directly to the source with anything that's specific. So we do appreciate that. Commissioner, next, Chair Jones. Thank you, Chair. I just have a question. It says that this site was developed in 02/2004. Does that mean that that's the age of the building,
or is the building older than that? The building opened in 02/2004. Okay. That's what I thought. Thank you. Yep. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, miss Chung. Thank you. Welcome, Deputy Director McMahon. And we prefaced this a little bit. You had a continuation of what you had earlier presentation somewhat related. I know that she has had a chance to reach out to some of us about just any one off conversations. I shared with her that our office will be meeting with her afterwards. So by no way is this presentation the beginning or the end of this conversation. So appreciate you taking the time to put this together and to come back before
us, deputy director. And welcome. Thank you so much, Chair Johnson and commissioners. Yeah, appreciate the opportunity and ability to be back before you with another update on HRA real estate. There have been a few. And as you mentioned, Chair Johnson, they will continue, and there will be more in the future. So always happy. Again, as you mentioned, met with some of you who had an opportunity prior to this, happy to meet with folks after this, and really just to continue that conversation to really delve into specific parcels within each of your individual wards, this being more of a a city wide and almost,
you know, a work status update on everything that we have been doing in PED. Alright. Starting just with briefly an overview and a reminder of the work that has been done to date. And I'm going to pause actually. Can you all see is it showing up as just a slide or can you see the stuff on the side of the slide? It's we can see the side panel. But Okay. I'm not sure how to get rid of that. Distraction. Okay. I'm just gonna keep going. Somebody's more technologically adept than I am. They can maybe come come fix it if needed. But again, a reminder, sort of a brief reminder of where we've been just to help frame up the
work that we continue to do and we'll do moving forward. So that phase one Thank you. Thank you. Phase one really being that initial phase. Right? Looking at the project to actually identify and itemize all the HRA owned parcels, thank you, within the city of Saint Paul. Right? Title isn't always clear or easy. And so it took a lot of staff time to really be able to identify all those HRA owned parcels and really to then next look at the applicable laws, regulations, and the specific and unique characteristics of each property. How big is it?
What is the zoning? What other characteristics apply to each one? Are there steep grades that would, you know, impact what sort of development could happen? Infrastructure needs. Neighborhood contacts. Has it been used as a community garden? What was there prior to what is there today? And so on. Moving then into phase two was really taking all of that data all of that data. Right, significant amount of data, and creating this cross division group within PED. And so taking a group that included individuals from economic development, from planning, and from housing, and putting them together literally physically in a room and spending the hours and doing
the work collaboratively across the different divisions. Instead of I think sometimes you'll have an individual from here or from there being able to say, you know, someone can raise their hand. Oh, but that zone is if we did zone at that, you could get that much more. Somebody with the housing financing expertise. If we're looking at housing, what are potential resources we may or may not have available for a specific parcel? And economic development, what's really the best market outcome that would support development on the site? So using all that information, again, with the overall goal of disposing of property, wanting to ensure that, you know,
we understand retaining ownership of parcels usually costs the HRA money. We have assessments, maintenance, etcetera, and isn't always the best and highest use of the property to be a community asset, to provide housing that we desperately need for retail or commercial or other opportunities. And so really taking those parcels and categorizing them into the best ways that we can think of for disposing them and then determining that best method of disposition. Again, a reminder for the method of dispositions, the HRA sale of property is governed by state statute, Minnesota statute 469.029.
That really governs, you know, notice, public hearing, determination, terms and conditions, etcetera. Within that, we have our methods of disposition within our, HRA policies, which allow for board review, public notice, and HRA approval of any disposition. So individuals making an offer to purchase HRA property, this is actually a really efficient way to dispose of property. And it's one that we haven't necessarily, I would say, utilized as well in the past as we intend to moving forward. So that's part of the strategy, is taking that and looking at sites that are well suited for an RFP,
which would be perhaps several parcels that create a larger property or parcels that we have specific funding sources that were used to acquire it. So there's specific outcomes that are necessary by law and being able to move forward with both and do both at the same time. Again, with the goal of disposing of property as efficiently and effectively to the best community asset that we can provide for it. All being done again, looking at the unique characteristics of each parcels. And this is where I pause and I do a reminder for myself as as well as anything that there's a reason oftentimes that these parcels end up being publicly
owned. If it was a parcel that was easily developable, that there was sort of a clear and easy use to move it forward, it probably would have. And so often there are a lot of unique opportunities, But also challenges and characteristics with these properties when looking at disposing of them. I know you've seen this slide before. I just wrote it off as a reminder of the different categories of properties. Some of which that we do hold onto. Some of which we're looking at actually transferring to city ownership. Because it's better suited for parks or public works that may actually already be maintaining them. Some splinter parcel side lot sales,
garden sites. And those top two ones are really the ones to focus on this next phase of work, which is the ones to dispose of. Of. To do so via the offers solicited by offers unsolicited by third parties or the request for proposal stage. So looking at this update with implementation of that phase three, I'm really excited for this next phase that we're moving into. Again, building on awful all of that work that's been done before. So looking specifically at marketing efforts to accept offers via third party.
That's really an ongoing multiyear effort across that combined with RFPs. So identifying that land to move forward, to take that and to look at how do we move it forward? How do we let folks know? If you're living in the community and you're looking for a place to rent or a home to buy, there are resources. You can go look on the MLS. You can go look at websites. You can walk through the neighborhood. You'll see a sign for rent, for sale. Right? And everybody seems to have easier access to that same information. We haven't made that available as well as we could for HRA property,
and I'm really excited to be able to do that moving forward. So what we have planned is an interactive map on our website. The cyber attack has slowed down a little bit of the efforts to move that forward into live real time. I was hoping for a little demonstration. We don't have that available. But on the HRA property website, to have an interactive map, You pull up the city of Saint Paul just like you would if you're going to, you know, a realtor's website and looking at the city for a house. What are the parcels that are HRA owned? Color coded, identified, interactive. You click on it. It pulls up the information. All public information that's accessible.
But traditionally, in the past, maybe a more sophisticated developer, somebody with experience doing this, knows where on the county website to go get information, where in the, you know, city records to check the zoning, and has that, you know, time, perhaps, and ability and effort to do those multi stages. We wanna do it for them. So everybody has the opportunity to look at that information at the same time. So you click on it, and you have access to all of that. It's also really transparent. Everybody's looking at the same thing that we've provided. To have the ability from there to know what to do to make an offer
on the property. And so that if we put out there, here's what we would need to look at and evaluate an offer on this property, everybody's able to provide that information, and we can compare more of an apples to apples. Right? It's a lot more transparent. It's a lot more equitable. We're coming in and we're not evaluating developer A. Developer A with a history can put the shiny product that they've done before and they know what can be successful. And potential developer B may not have that experience and that opportunity. So let's make it so they both come to us in a form where we're looking at it in that more equitable way.
One creative idea that I loved was to put a sign in the yard. And so maybe a small pilot program where we take some signs and put it in yard. Because, again, if you're looking for a place to live, you can see it for rent. You can see it for sale. What about a sign with a QR code that can send you to get that information? Oftentimes, right, our community members are our best resources. They know the neighborhood. They know what neighbors want on a property. They know what can be really successful there. And they might know somebody in the community can move forward and help with that property. And so that is that, again, that phase three and moving forward without accepting offers for sale via third party is
making doing all that work to make it easier and more transparent, while at the same time also knowing that there are sites that are better suited to move forward for an RFP. And so taking the categories and the parcels and properties that we've identified as well suited for an RFP and being able to really pull those together and say, what what is ready to go, closest to ready to go, that we can do in the next one to five years? What's a category that really might be more of a five to ten year outlook for that? And so doing that and having that strategy, we are well suited if offers come in.
Or if somebody's interested in an individual parcel, we can be flexible and move within, but be able to say, guess what? We've got an RFP coming out. This is fantastic. Prepare and tell everybody else that you know as well. And then again, in the space three, continuing with that development assistance team. It's an incredible amount of work that they have done and has been really focused and strategic. And so keeping keeping those folks at the table, working together so that all of the work that's been done to date doesn't just go on a wonderful, beautiful website and get lost.
But so people are looking at that and again, continuing to move it forward. So I'm gonna kinda fly through the next few slides. It is just a static picture of the wards and properties within, but it maybe gives you a little bit of a sense of this and a larger overall map interactive on the screen is what you would be seeing. So you can see color coded and again, visualizing your mind, the clicking on it, the pulling up, the information, etc. And that's really the update of the work that's been done. And, again, like I said, the work moving forward, and we are excited to continue this and partner with all of you.
You you all know your communities intimately. You know all of these parcels so well. And so we're excited to work with you to be able to move them forward towards disposition in that partnership. Thank you, Deputy Director. I saw Commissioner Maker's hand. Thanks, Chair Johnson. Deputy Director, really appreciate this update. It probably won't surprise you to hear that I really feel a sense of urgency about this work. All of the property that we own and are essentially sitting on but also paying to maintain is property that's not on the tax rolls. And so in my mind,
the lowest hanging fruit to expanding our tax base, which I know is a priority for all of us, is to get these properties back onto the tax rolls and into productive use so that they can be homes for people, businesses for people, etcetera. I know you know that. But Mr. Bistadu started this work, I think, at least one point five years ago, maybe two years ago. We're now at the point where I know it's not presented today, but you were good enough to brief us beforehand. And I think afterwards, we actually do have significant progress where each of our awards not just has the properties, but we also know what you're recommending to do with each of them,
which is great. And I know when we talked, and just for my colleagues to know, something I really encouraged the department to do was put all of the properties on the market, put all of the properties out there, make those signs available everywhere because whether RFP it, if someone comes along and makes an offer in the meantime, we can consider that. We can do the forty five day notice. But why not let people know that these properties are available? But I guess what I'm curious about is that future stage. So when will we have the next step ready? When will we know these are the next processes that are going out for RFP or these are the ones that are going to be marketed more aggressively than others?
Kind of give us paint us the picture of just the rough time frame that you're thinking of for, like, that next phase of the work. I'm actually going to also look over and see if Daniela Lorenz doesn't mind coming up and tag teaming on this one, really being a leader in the effort on this. I would say, like I said, hope is an interactive map and not to put my our team in PED and OTC on, you know, on hook for specific date post cyber attack, in the next month or two as system as systems come back on. Because again, the data that we're pulling to put in there,
we're pulling from our own sources and we're pulling from other sources. And so in the next few months, maybe for that, not interactive, math, and ready. And then for the RFPs, in terms of specifically looking at 2026 and what will be ready, I'd say, again, in the next month or two, having that this is 'twenty six, this is 'twenty seven, this is 'twenty eight laid out. Great. Okay. Thank you for that. And I will just share that I think one of the things that really does excite me about this as well is just the aspect of we have several awards
that also have properties in them. And so as we continue to have these conversations, I welcome feedback of, like, what it would look like, especially in the chair role and also just trying to make sure that this continues to be our priority. We share that with you. So we're definitely mission aligned in trying to get as many of these properties back on the tax roll, but also built and, like, adding to their community. And we own a lot of lots and a lot of grassland and a lot of open spaces, a lot of quirky spaces, in some cases. And so just being able to have, some of that work. I will share, just for, like, a personal, note or thought,
too, one of the things that I'm also really looking into and passionate about is making sure that folks who don't always have an opportunity to build with the city get a chance to build with the city. And so if there's potential partnerships for emerging developers, developers of color, first time developers, people who are trying to break into that development piece and that development space. I know we've seen a few different new developers that are building on the East Side and throughout the city in different ways or shape or form. But we've had several different folks that have reached out, at least to our office,
about, like, what's the city owned like, what city owned property? Where can we potentially be? And so I think that that website will be really, really helpful. And putting all of the properties in the market will also be great. But I hope that there's some intentionality just to reach out to some of these developer programs since we don't have one here. But, like, partnering with the city, with the county's program, communicating with their office about just the fact that that's happening, potentially getting in front of just some of the different fellowships in other places that are working to develop future developers in our city, and across the metro. Because I think people are always looking for where to start,
and so some of and that's some of the hardest parts of, like, where to begin. And you may not be ready to respond to a citywide RFP in forty five days, but you might if you know that it's coming a couple months in advance. And so that's something that I'd really like to see and continuing to try to outreach to folks that I know are looking to build but may not always have the access to that information. So I'm excited for that. I'm excited for that partially because now we have a place to direct folks when people are asking about what is who owns this?
Is this city owned land? Or this is HRA owned land? And I hope it's for both. So Yeah. Sherry, I really appreciate that. We're really excited for it too because we get a lot of the, hey, what does the HRA own? Or what might be enough? And so even for us to have the ability to be like, hey, here's a resource to look and to check out everything and really appreciating all of your comments and your willingness to really be open to using all of our methods of disposition. I think there's been sometimes a reticence or an offer comes in and it's a little bit like, we've got one. I don't know.
We should maybe do an RFP and see what else and this and that. And so I I think that has over over the years kind of slowed things down. And so it's really exciting to hear an openness to, like, yep. We we are going to take offers. We're going to evaluate them and willing to move forward with those, really, with, again, that goal of disposing of property and making community assets. Thank you so much. And Commissioner Buley, I saw your hand. Thank you, Chair Johnson. Thank you, Deputy Director. I really appreciate our call that we had, where we were just giving a a brief overview. When we had, left that call, I just had so much more,
like, ideas and, innovative approaches and appreciation for all the work. I know it took many years for us to just think about how we're gonna increase invisibility when it comes to, our property. When I think about, this not an initiative, but just, like, this approach, I really center around, like, this is a community development activation, like, you know, effort. And especially in Ward 1, there is quite a quite a lot of city owned properties that people, don't know are city owned properties. And make things it's just,
like, signs of blight or vacancies. So we do really have a lot of potential. I just wanted to highlight, with my colleagues, one of the things that my office is really focused on is really, you know, innovating some of that disposition process and make sure it's mirroring, like, a user friendly experience. One of the things I had, asked about is, you know, with our listing platform, you know, how can we make sure we're not reinventing the wheel of, existing listing platforms that we already know? Like, for example, like Zillow, there's LoopNet, there's a lot of different commercial development,
for sale sites. So that was one of the things I would want to ensure that we mirror, some of those, like, savvy user experiences. Also looking into, what are some, like, public and private partnerships and platforms that, you know, people are already using. That way so we're not functioning within, like, a vacuum. Like, how are we making sure we're utilizing majority of our emerging developers and even our most seasoned developers, you know, they live online, and they're looking at deals and properties online. So just making sure that we're at deals and properties online.
So just making sure that we're really, champion and having a a digital presence, which which is really important. We're trying to make sure that people are meeting the demands of the market. Thank you, Ms. Kimberly. All right. Well, any other questions before we let Deputy Director McMahon come back up to the front here and sit there? Thank you so much for your presentation. All righty. And as you guys know, I am currently the vice chair of Heading Home Ramsey's continuum of care. And I think one of the things that we've been talking about a little bit but briefly was the familiar families update. If you remember from the budget to actuals presentation, there was a line item of $500,000
that came out the housing trust fund. And at that time, there wasn't any it hadn't been spent. And some of the things that we had learned about was just the procurement process and the overall role that so much has played from Ramsey County space as well, so as the city partnership. And so we have asked for Ramsey County to come and join us today to give us an update on their end around the pilot program and familiar families. And so I'm welcoming to come in to talk to us and the and the board about that. So thank you so much for your patience. And we had three presentations today,
so I appreciate you just kind of sitting through it. I hope it was insightful for you. I'm just kidding. But Jane, thank you for your patience as well. And thank you to, staff for and just getting getting you here today. So I'll hand it over to deputy director McMahon and then no other words. Excited to hear from you. Thank you so much. Good afternoon, chair Johnson and commissioners. I am Jonty McCoy. I serve as a planning specialist with Ramsey County's housing stability department. Specifically, my role there is the communications and engagement lead for Heading Home Ramsey. I'll talk about that briefly in just a moment.
I do wanna also share a little bit about my role as far as the work that I do. I do support several work groups that are part of our structure of Honeycomb Ramsey. And so that being said, Honeycomb Ramsey is a HUD mandated entity. And so geographically, across communities, they are required to have a community wide collaborative that supports and identifies ways on how to create communities where homelessness is rare, brief, but nonrecurring. And so that being said, our structure is what you will say sometimes, maybe, depending on who you talk to.
It's quite complex. And so we do have a governing board that is the ultimate decision making body, the steering committee, which has a variety of individuals who serve as project directors or management and programmatic staff and they really drive a lot of the work and more so our work groups. That's where a lot of the ideas and policy changes and programmatic ideas come from. And so I represent the family shelter work group as part of our complex structure and I also support our youth advocacy and our youth advisory board work groups as
well. And so that being said I just wanted to briefly talk a little bit about the innovative pilot program which to provide a little bit of context before I kind of get into some of the details this was a presentation that actually came before the governing board in October 2023. We are heading into the 2025. So just hearing that and remembering how much we've been advocating and championing for this pilot program, it's been sort of a a little while. And so that being said, I hope that the information provided to you,
reminded to you today, as well as where we're at in the process, we can continue to recognize the importance of the project. And forgive me. I'm not technologically savvy, but, hey. I trust it. It's correct. Alright. So that being said, just a little context as far as the family shelter work group. Right? What was once an idea that came from just a conversation, a simple conversation, this dream of how we can support our families in need really sparked this innovative pilot program. And so particularly with that being said, recognizing that there are things that are actually working in family shelter.
And so we have that increased length of stay limit at the family shelter family service center that's ran by Ramsey County in partnership with Catholic Charities. And then we also have Project Home which continues to have a no limit stay. We take a look at the other opportunities. Right. Weekly nursing staff, mental health staff, on-site homework help for the littles. We also have enrichment programming that existed for families and children to access. And then of course that required budgeting and savings program which is immensely helpful for
families to support their stability post getting out of shelter. And so we do have a plethora of opportunities, right, that is working in family shelter. Also, thinking about the recent hotel acquisition through Interfaith Action and Project Home and then also with Ramsey County. So there are things that are available and programs and shelter that's offered for families. We also recognize though there there are gaps as well. Right? And so there are areas of improvement. One of them being the wait list for shelter being too long.
And so as of August, we had 50 families on the shelter wait list for the family shelter service center. And so when you think of 50 families, sometimes it may be a challenge to think of the individuals. We're saying 50 families. And what that means is that's 63 adults and 108 children. So those are a lot of individuals who are waiting for family shelter. We only also have 165 beds that are designated for family shelter through the coordinated
access to housing and shelter program or, process. We also identify a gap as far as needing more mental health services and support for all of those who show up as a family at the shelter. And then of course AA and NA meetings to support the sobriety of, families and then or the adults. And then also after school programming and for school age children, also identifying a gap with there are families who, yes, a they're in shelter and recognizing that there are many challenges or barriers as to
how they are unable to move forward and how they are needing a lot of different supports in order to reach long term stability. And all that to say that the ability for them to reach that stability and then also waiting for permanent supportive housing is quite long. And so to add additional before you move forward, I did need a hand quick, so I just wanna Okay. Come in. No worries. Commissioner Kim. Hi. Just a clarification question. So you you gave the numbers for the number of adults and children. Adults, I'm assuming, being anyone over over the age of 18?
Yes. Okay. So then does the adult number also include adult children in the family? Adults meaning 18 or over, and then they are considered adults if they're 18 or over. So children meaning 18. Correct. Yes. But what I'm asking is in that number Mhmm. Are there children in a family that are 18 that are being counted as adults in that in that total? That's a great question. And through the conversation and information that I've received is that they are children who are identified in the public school system.
And so Oh, so they would be 18. Okay. Okay. I appreciate that clarification just because I know one of the barriers to entry, and it's really interesting having been at one of the coordinated entry, board meetings when they first started even thinking about doing coordinated entry. Now it's a model for immigration services as well. But is that adult children it's harder for folks that have adult children to access shelter services because they are now, like, an adult person trying to access family shelters with their family that has minor kids.
And so families were choosing or opting out because of that sort of barrier. They you want all your kids, regardless of how old they are, right, to be with you. So that that was the impetus to my question. So I really appreciate the information. Thank you. And I would add to that with the in the conversations that we've had, it's thinking about children, that are part of a family and that they may have developmental needs. And so they may be above 18. And so thinking about how are those children being supported as well while they're in
shelter. So thank you for that question, commissioner. Additional context I wanted to share with you all this afternoon would be the numbers specifically coming from Saint Paul Public Schools. And so originally when this presentation was brought forward to the governing board of Peddington Ramsey, in 02/2023, you had a little less as far as the students represented. So we're looking at a 350 additional identified students through the Saint Paul Public Schools who have been who have been identified as homeless in 2024 through the 2025 school
year. So So that's quite a bit of an increase. And on the chart, you can see that 50% have been homeless for a year. And then you'll take a look to see 25% for two at least two years and then going on throughout the list. And so you have several children who are represented, several families that are represented. And so the only other thing I wanted to add here too is that it does say that at least 50 families are represented when in reality it very well could be 100 out of the 100 sample that's represented in this list.
So there is definitely a need to support our families who are experiencing homelessness and getting them the right supports so that way they are able to obtain stable housing. Thank you. And miss McCoy, I was see Vice Chair Jost. Thank you, Chair Johnson. Ms. McCoy, I don't know if you'll be able to answer this question, but when you said that there's an increase of over three fifty identified students since 2023, that's like a 25% increase in identified students. And do you think that there are actually more homeless students or just more students
being identified? That's a really great question. And it's interesting enough because we also take a look at the data that's provided through the point in time count and so it's it's a challenge because if we look at the point in time count data it says that Ramsey County is doing well when it comes to family homelessness. And the idea though with that too is that it's not family homelessness isn't always counted as doubled up or or other circumstances that may be identified as homeless.
And so I do think that it is a multifold, answer. And so I think it very well could be the practices that they are performing when it comes to how students are being identified in Saint Paul public schools. And then also identify, how are we actually counting our students. HUD does not identify students who are cow topping as homeless whereas through other measures through our state or even through cow topping or being doubled up is considered homelessness. So I apologize for the unclarity.
However, this is a really great point for us to consider when we talk about what does that increase actually mean. And I see your hand, commissioner Kim, but I'm gonna put a little point in of a time check for us all. This is our third presentation. We have about ten minutes or so that I'm gonna try to hold us so we can have a quick break between now and the council meeting. So I'm gonna ask, commissioner Kim if it's okay to move forward and have, miss McCoy finish the finish the funding piece and the whole, like, update for familiar families. And then if we have questions, we'll we'll be able to take it at the end. Sounds great. So I am going to talk a little bit about the programmatic highlights or specifically
what the program is briefly. And so that being said with the innovative pilot program, we're looking to support five families at a time who have not been successful in traditional shelter because of multiple or complex needs, persistent needs, and whatever that may be. Persistent needs, and whatever that may be. Whether it they the needs are a result of trauma or it is a result or the needs are a result of supportive services that they may not have successfully obtained. Right? And so we are looking at families who meet the need of one or two priorities. One being a family with a history of a minimum of four or more years,
experiencing homelessness, particularly as I mentioned with that definition of McKinney Vento homeless. And then also families who have been restricted or banned from at least one existing family shelter. And so that's what we're looking at as far as who we are prioritizing with this first year of the program. And so if we're looking at specific numbers to meet within this first year pilot, we're looking at 60 individuals total, of course, breaking down approximately five families, 20 or so individuals, and then with a four month stay. The idea with that is to provide them with the shelter that they are in
need of and provide a robust wraparound services so that way they are able to obtain a pathway to permanent supportive housing. And then the additional note I wanted to make briefly would be that the wrap around services would exist beyond, that time for of the shelter stay for one year after they do obtain that that permanent, permanent supportive housing. And so that way they're able to transition whether it's those support to actually move in and then also the the money management we're looking at mental health services and
educational supports for the children, etc. As far as the funding, this is the information that I have present day. There have been several conversations that I'm not privy to. I am a representative, and I am passionate about family shelter and making sure that our family and children have a fighting chance of getting stable housing. And so this is what I have for you all today. Specifically, the city of Saint Paul has reallocated dollars from a previous program from what I believe may have sunsetted. And so there's that allocation of $500,000 from the city of Saint Paul.
And then it was advocated for us to gain philanthropic dollars as well. And so the funding pledge from the Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation came from the amount of $250,000 So for a total of $750 for the pilot program. At this time, the status that I would like to let you all know would be that it is hung up in procurement. And so at this time in Ramsey County and with our procurement, specifically housing stability, we have multiple things on the docket at this time, which include our family homeless prevention and assistance program amendments.
So we have FHPAP things going on. We do have our warming spaces, and then there is the familiar families pilot project. And I have advocated for us to push the gas on this because we recognize that it became or it came in front of the the governing board a while ago. And so I am I have asked for this to be expedited. So that way we are able to get the RFP out and we are able to let community know about the progress of the program and then hopefully have a tentative launch of 07/01/2026.
With that, Apregunthus. Questions? Yeah. Commissioner Burley? Well, I guess, if you can thank you, chair Johnson. Particularly around you mentioned you ended on a a launch of 2026. Can you explain that that I guess, like, that gap of, you know, why that long particularly to launch? Is it a funding issue or, like, program infrastructure development? So thinking about the internal procurement process, I'm factoring that in. I'm also thinking about the length of the RFP process itself. That is, again, just a tentative
a tentative launch. If we are able to put things in place to expedite the process The work group in addition to the core internal team are open to being on standby to be able to move the project forward So I I put it July 1 and and and advocated for July 1 just to be on the safe side. But the idea is to if it allows itself, we would like to move the program up to begin as soon as possible. Okay.
I have one more question. It's more about about the tangibles. So are these families already identified in the shelters that, they'll reside for, I believe, you had mentioned a a couple months or four months? Is that already identified? I'm just wondering for those two things. Yes. So thank you, commissioner. So that question, as far as the identified families, so we would be taking a look at the families who have been in shelter for that amount of time and whether that would be through the family service center. We're also looking at project home,
data and then also taking a look at Saint Paul Public Schools. And so specifically having those identified families at this time know I, as we carry on with the process, we will then go through the process of identifying the students who would meet that criteria. But as of today, we don't have the list of students identified. And then the shelters, that was the follow-up. I'm so sorry. Or do we know exactly where where the shelter's at? Where where is the residential, like, locations for them? Because this is supposed be alternative to shelters,
traditional shelters. Mhmm. Are those locations identified? As far as where the program would be? Yes. Where would they be housed? Yes. Where would they be housed? Yes. For the four months, where would they be sheltered? So that would be up to the RFP provider and the capacity for what the provider would have. And so it may not be a current provider that exists that would be counted towards a 165 beds or such as Project HOME or the Family Service Center. So it would be another provider.
Okay. Thank you. Great questions, Commissioner Buley. I saw Commissioner Nager's hand as well. Thanks, Chair Johnson. I know I share your disappointment that it's taken so long to get this going. And I would really appreciate knowing if there are county commissioners or others that we can talk to. I will just say what I think needs to be said is that we put $500,000 into this program that we expected be doing good for families, and it's been sitting. And we could have allocated that to something that would have been doing good for families all of this time. I would say to this body that during our budget process this year, if we don't have a firmer commitment from the county as to the exact time
line that this will roll out, that we need to reconsider the use of these dollars. And I don't know about the St. Paul Minnesota Foundation pledge. I assume that has a time line as well. So I would say that. And then just, I hope that the shelter group it seems like there's two different problems that you raised really eloquently in your presentation. One was these very high needs families that this pilot is designed to serve. But the other one is just the tragedy of the hundreds of families who are on the wait list because we don't have enough family shelter, and the county has not built more shelter for families in decades.
And the numbers of families who need shelter has continued to grow, and there's been some sort of reluctance or hesitation or inability to recognize the reality of that that has been frustrating for me. And seeing your numbers here kind of is raising it in me. So I guess I hope that in addition to helping the five at a time that have the very high needs, the work group is also talking about and figuring out a plan, which to me means building more shelter for the hundreds of families, who are in the traditional pipeline. Yes. Thank you so much, Commissioner Nakers. So to add to that briefly,
I would say that the work group has also done additional work to identify spaces for safe parking because there was an uptick in families who were finding spaces to sleep overnight who in in places that were not meant for human habitation. And so there was a partnership that came through with multiple congregate congregations and thank you to the partnership with Mayor Mike Cratchmer of Adventist Heights who really helped spearhead that work. So that way we were able to get a couple of different safe parking spots for families. And so there's one.
And then the other thing I would add to in reference to the the need a need that's come up through our CoC briefly is that there's a need for supportive housing. There's just not enough supportive housing. And so thinking of those units that could be allotted for or funding that could be allotted for supportive housing could help with that, higher need for shelter. And and thank you, miss McCoy. And I I saw commissioner Kim's hand. I'll quote of commissioner Kim. And it's not to cut anyone off, but I do wanna give folks that have been sitting since one a chance to
get up. And so I will have that, have Commissioner Kim have the last question. But I think one of the things that I wanted to just bring before and one of the reasons why I asked you to be here, I just want to make sure that we clarify in future communications. The city of St. Paul's allocation directly came from the Housing and Redevelopment Authority and our Housing Trust Fund. And so as we go through the conversations, and one of the things that I think has been really helpful, especially just to our colleagues and some of the conversations that I have been a part of. One thing I will share is I have an interest in meeting with the families steering committee directly about this particular situation,
in part because when we did share, I shared some of the concerns echoed today from council president and commissioner Necker, that we have an obligation because of where we reallocated these funds from and noticing that Ramsey County did not match at all in funding. I know that's not necessarily a discussion that you're able to be purviewed. But right now, this is a completely city funded, program and pilot. I would be very curious and interested in getting to understand how it ended up in Ramsey County's bucket to do the RFP. And in part because if it's getting hung up all year in RFP through the
county, it might be because there are a lot of priorities competing. It appeared to be a city priority in the first place, which is why we put the allocations up. And so I'm just very interested in really understanding how we got here. And so if there's some further context that you'll be able to provide just, on the county side of what led to that funding being RFPed through the county, I'd really like to know the answer to that. And then in addition to that, separately, yeah, every year, we do annual budget seat cycles here. So just because something is there now does not mean it would be there or guaranteed to be there in the future. And so whatever we need to do and if there's suggestions for council members to
connect with their county commissioners to inquire about this, we'd be happy to do so. Commissioner Kim? And then that will be the last question. Yes, I really appreciate that. I think just to further compound that point, we stand up a lot of warming shelters and cooling shelters through the county. So it would be really interesting to do a little more budget digging. My only comment was related back to the numbers in St. Paul Schools and just what a wide definition because I think you've now kind of addressed the clarifying point is that, that definition is very wide and there's self reporting. And so that self identifier is also there's probably a lot of other complicated things
that go along with children self identifying as being homeless. They could be like, well, we stay with auntie, right? And that they don't understand or realize, right? Or we camped outside last night, but they stayed in the car. And so I think having as broad of a brush is good, but also then recognizing that even though it's been increased to over three fifty identified, it's a lot more given the fact that depending on how that question is phrased, they may not even understand that that's sort of the circumstances that their family finds themselves in. So I think just further illustrating the need for us to continue to invest in
family shelters and really appreciate sort of the urgency and the toner of the conversation, my colleagues. So thank you, Chair Johnson. No problem. And we know and I'll just share, we know how hard it is to stand up a program and how long it takes. Some of us have been working on programs this year that were funded, and we're just getting to the place. And the cyber tech did not help us. Some of the, you know, some of us have had, with staff, like, we've been working for a month. So it's not that the city doesn't necessarily understand how hard it is to stand up a program or to get things through an RFP process. I think what's disappointing, however, though,
with this project is to some of the things you've shared, I think from a community standpoint, this was a very important program. We heard a lot of when I suggested even just that this is not guaranteed funding, Saint Paul Public Schools had a strong response to that. And I think one of the things that would be really helpful, though, in that regard is for people to understand it's not acceptable to this body to have this stuck in procurement all year and not go anywhere because of that reason. And so if there's a piece of that that we can provide even if it's just a, hey, like,
can you just be honest about where this lies in your priority docket, I think that'll be really helpful because, while we are invested in, you know, supporting the supporting our families who are experiencing homelessness, I don't necessarily understand if the pilot program is not necessarily moving than how we're doing that, but just having resources sit there. And so, I would assume that St. Paul Minnesota Foundation has some sort of ties to their pledge as well, that it's not limitless. And so just thinking about those pieces, they have a $750,000 potential investment in a pilot program that hasn't moved all year.
And that's slightly disappointing, to say the least. But that's not a reflection of you, but we wanted to be able to have that conversation and bring you in to talk a little bit more context because I can't always speak to the work within the county. So thank you so much for being here and being able to present on this. Thank you. Appreciate the opportunity. All right. I don't think there's anything else. And we are adjourned.