Explanation
BACKGROUND: This ordinance authorizes the Director of Development to enter into grant agreements with recipients of the Department of Development, Division of Housing’s Critical Home Repair Program and to make payments directly to the contractor who performed the work. The Department desires to encumber $400,000.00 of bond funds for this program and will enter into multiple agreements under the authority of this ordinance.
The Critical Home Repair Program is open to households up to 80% AMI with the exception of participants in the Better Municipal Care for Veterans Program which may go up to 120% AMI. Households apply and if the application is approved, then City staff write the specifications for the project and publicly advertise through Bid Express. The homeowner makes a selection from the bids received that are within 15% of the estimate prepared by the City. The City then enters into a grant agreement with the homeowner, the homeowner signs the contract with the contractor, but the City pays the contractor directly.
Critical Home Repair projects include things like roofs, windows (as necessary for security purposes) and doors, and mechanical repairs for emergency situations (i.e. faulty/dangerous electric, no heat, clogged sewer mains). As the program has evolved, the department has learned that some critical home repair projects are more involved than originally expected, resulting in additional costs unanticipated by the homeowner, City, and the contractor. As such, the Director is also seeking authority to modify Critical Home Repair contracts as issues are discovered, up to the amount of funds remaining on the ACPO. This will allow the department to immediately authorize the additional work needed without stopping work to seek Council approval for a contract modification.
Emergency action is requested to prevent disruption in the Critical Home Repair Program.
Fiscal Impact: $400,000.00 is available in the 2020 Capital Improvement ...
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