6/1 - Item 45

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Ryan Alter
Posts: 42
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2023 3:15 pm

6/1 - Item 45

Post by Ryan Alter »

Colleagues,
Tomorrow, I will be postponing item 45 until the June 8th agenda.

By way of background, this resolution authorizes the Housing Authority of Travis County (HATC) to operate within the City limits for specific permanent supportive housing (PSH) projects. It was developed in response to a need from the Travis County Supportive Housing Collaborative. This group includes several projects and homelessness service providers (including LifeWorks, SAFE Alliance, Austin Area Urban League, Integral Care, and others). This group was selected by Travis County as the recipient of ARPA homelessness funding in 2021. I welcome and celebrate this partnership with Travis County that provides permanent housing solutions. Homelessness is a shared challenge and deserves a shared regional response.

A few weeks ago, I met with representatives of the Collaborative to try and address obstacles facing these critical projects. Developing PSH is neither easy nor cheap, and I believe we need to do whatever we can to help its realization. The need for City authorization of HATC to operate within the city limits for these projects was raised and I committed to working with the respective district Council offices to bring an item that helps expedite this approval. Without faulting any party involved, the necessary communication had not been occurring.

Before posting this item, our office met with City staff to ensure they would be supportive of these projects receiving the approval sought in this resolution. In subsequent meetings, including one this afternoon with the City Manager, housing staff, co-sponsors, housing collaborative and County representatives, additional vetting of these projects was requested. I respect staff’s desire to ensure these projects meet the high standards that a tax exemption should meet. Given the pressing deadlines of these projects, we worked with staff to come up with a course of action that involved a postponement to June 8th. City staff committed to focusing their efforts over the next week on one time-critical project so we can, at a minimum, act on their recommendation at the June 8th meeting. In the likely scenario where the remaining projects need additional time for assessment, we are working with staff on other options, including postponing the remaining projects to July 20th.

While the memo issued by the City Manager this evening does not outline these additional avenues for approving these projects before July 20th, it is my belief that he and staff are all on the same page of pursuing options other than postponement to July 20th that allow for this issue to be resolved as expeditiously as possible.

As a part of this postponement to June 8th, I anticipate the Council being able to provide additional direction to the City Manager at that time that sets up a review process where none exists today and allows for the administrative review of other PFC projects. This should help to address the three additional projects raised during the work session on Tuesday as well any future proposals for cooperation with HATC or HACA. I look forward to our discussion on this item tomorrow and know that we can find a workable solution so we can get more people off the streets and into a home.

Sincerely,
Ryan
Council Member, District 5