COPC Working Group on Housing

Meeting Minutes

September 22, 2005

In attendance: Laura Halula, Kelly Hoffman, Ruth Feathers, Dan Friedson, Tracy Soska

KICO Updates

Laura Halula gave a brief update on “Keep It Clean, Oakland” and its various projects. There were two big KICO projects in the beginning of September to help kick-off the fall season. On Saturday, September 10^th, CMU’s sororities participated in a litter pick-up of parts of Central Oakland and on Friday, September 16^th, Jumpstart from the University of Pittsburgh also participated in a general litter pick-up. Due to those events, OPDC has now surpassed the number of volunteers they had last year. To date in 2005, OPDC has had approximately 1,081 volunteers…and there are still 3 months to go!! Also, the Adopt-a-Block program officially starts on Saturday, October 1^st. So far, 18 groups have signed up to participate in this ongoing monthly cleanup.

Ms. Halula also gave an update on the Dumpster Project for student move-in. OPDC fundraised to help place 16 total dumpsters in Central and South Oakland during the week of August 15^th to help mitigate trash and debris issues associated with student move-in. She gladly reported that landlord and property management participation – either through making a monetary donation or attending planning meetings – had gone up from last year. This year, OPDC raised almost $5,000 for the project and added two locations in South Oakland. The total tonnage collected by Waste Management was 40.3 tons. The City of Pittsburgh also collected 20 tons of garbage and debris around the dumpsters and from extra bulk pick-ups. That is a total of 60.3 tons of unwanted furniture, garbage, and debris collected during the week of August 15^th. That is equal to 46 Dodge Neons! OPDC’s intern, Miranda, is working on the recycling component of this project by developing a recycling business plan so that OPDC can recycle what does not need to end up in landfills and with such items have a furniture yard sale next August.

Ms. Halula also mentioned that the 3^rd Annual Oakland Restaurant Tour is coming up! The Restaurant Tour is scheduled for Tuesday, September 27^th, from 6pm-9pm. Participating restaurants include: Lulu’s Noodles, Thai Place Café, India Garden, Spice Café, Qdoba, Nellie’s, and Bombay Grill. Tickets are only $10 and can be purchased at OPDC’s office, the Union Ticket Office, and all participating restaurants except LuLu’s.

Real Estate Updates

Kelly Hoffman gave an update on OPDC’s Chesterfield Road rehab project. The project is 99.9% complete. There is still one house available so please spread the word!! The sales price is $85,000. There is up to $30,000 in second-deferred mortgage financing available to those who qualify. In regard to marketing this last house on Chesterfield Road, Kelly said she has a list of all the bulletin boards within UPMC where she can post flyers. Mr. Soska suggested contacting Kelly Burns from UPMC to see if OPDC can advertise in their employee newsletter.

Ms. Hoffman also gave an update on the Uptown Scattered Site project. OPDC will be building/rehabbing 3 houses in Uptown and 1 house on Ophelia Street, in the Oakcliffe neighborhood of Oakland. The financing for the project has finally been approved and it should “break ground” sometime in October.

Ms. Hoffman also reported that OPDC’s South Oakland Modular project should be going to the URA board for approval within the next month. This project involves 6 units of scattered-site development in the South Oakland neighborhood – one duplex at 3245 Ward Street, one single-family home at 3223 Dawson Street, and three other single-family homes on Frazier Street.

Ms. Hoffman announced that OPDC has submitted a proposal to Pitt to do a development on Oakland Avenue. They are waiting for Pitt’s approval and for the revised architectural drawings. Pitt currently owns the properties on Oakland Avenue but is considering a land lease of the property to OPDC so that they can build a 3-story, 12-unit apartment building there, marketed to graduate students and young professionals.

Ms. Hoffman also mentioned that she passed her real estate license exam. CONGRATS KELLY! WAY TO GO!!

Vacancy Rates in Central Oakland

Ruth Feathers announced that due to all the anecdotal evidence pointing to more vacancies in the Central Oakland area, OCC and OPDC is trying to do some research to quantify such data. OCC’s Intern, Melanie, has already started calling ads in the Pitt News to see where available rental properties are located and how much the rent is. In many instances, rent has dropped significantly. Ms. Feathers said that OCC and OPDC would like to use GIS to map out the data once it is collected. Ms. Feathers said that ultimately this data could be a great way to get some homeowners back into Oakland. Ms. Hoffman also stated that hopefully the high number of vacancies may encourage landlords to fix up their properties. Ms. Feathers also added it could possibly have the opposite effect and landlords would continue to disinvest. Ms. Feathers also said it may be useful to develop a soft script to use for these phone calls. Ms. Halula and Ms. Hoffman said they will try and write up a script and forward it to Ruth.

SGB Committee Update

Since Jaime Cortazzo from SGB’s Off-Campus Housing Committee was not at the meeting, Ms. Halula stated that she will try and meet with Jaime before the next COPC so that the Working Group can find out what projects the Committee will be working on in the fall. Usually, they pick a few things to concentrate on each semester.

Discussion of Potential Projects

Ms. Halula stated that since attendance at this meeting is low, she will email out, along with the minutes, an announcement that members of the Working Group are encouraged to bring their ideas of new projects for the group to the next meeting.

Other Announcements and Updates

Mr. Friedson asked if there were any new developments with International housing discrimination in Oakland. Mr. Soska mentioned that in regard to the lack of short term housing for Internationals, that Sister Barbara at Carlow’s Interfaith Network might be able to house some students temporarily in the basement of the church. Ms. Halula also mentioned that Jamie Rayman from the Office of International Services did finally get in touch with the right person at Pitt and plans to contact them in January to discuss plans for having Pitt campus housing available in early August for International students coming to Pitt.

Ms. Feathers also gave a suggestion for a KICO project during the winter months – shoveling the walks of seniors in the neighborhood. Ms. Halula told Ruth to get her a list of seniors’ names and addresses and she would recruit volunteers to be “on call” in case of snowfall. It was suggested that perhaps Ruth can place an announcement in the OCC October or November newsletter announcing the program and informing those interested to contact Laura.

Ms. Halula also announced that KICO received two donations this past month. KICO received a $1,000 donation from the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and a large in-kind donation of brooms, trash bags, hand sanitizer, and latex gloves from UPMC. Ms. Feathers said that she could send a thank you letter to both those organizations on behalf of the residents of Oakland. Ms. Halula said she would forward the appropriate contact info to her.

Ms. Halula and Ms. Hoffman performed the new KICO cheer! It was a hit! Copies are available upon request!

Mr. Soska also asked about the Off-campus Housing Survey. Ms. Halula noted that it is available on OPDC’s website for students to fill out. The results are then sent to her OPDC email account. Ms. Halula mentioned she has received about 10-12 surveys via email since its been posted on the website. Ms. Hoffman suggested contacting one of OPDC’s board members, who is also on the Pitt News community advisory board, to see if we can get a good deal from the Pitt News to place an advertisement for the survey.

Mr. Soska also raised the question of how the database that Sabina Deitrick is working on can be useful for the Working Group. He said that she is interested in presenting the database to the Working Group but would like to wait until it is updated from the latest version she presented at the overall COPC meeting in August.

Mr. Friedson also gave an update on projects being undertaken by the Community and Economic Development Law Clinic at Pitt. The Law Clinic, along with Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS), will be kicking off an anti-foreclosure and anti-predatory lending initiative in October. Right now, NHS will be hiring a part-time attorney to deal with anti-predatory lending and foreclosure issues. If you know of anyone with such issues, please refer them to NHS. If residents suspect or experience economic circumstances are going to change, i.e. loss of job, death in family, diagnosis, etc., NHS should be able to assist them. Mr. Friedson also noted that the ultimate goal of the project is to train other housing agencies in the region to duplicate such services so that it is not just NHS or the Home Ownership Preservation Project (HOPP) that can help people with these issues.

Mr. Friedson also stated that the Law Clinic has been preparing a report on blight reduction work in Beaver County, which can later be applied to Allegheny County and other counties in the region. Call him if you would like a copy of the Beaver County Blight Reduction Plan. It is very long! Perhaps Mr. Friedson can bring copies of the executive summary to the October meeting!?

Mr. Soska also mentioned that there is a possibility that Pitt may be incorporating a Community Development Certificate program into its curriculum that would be available to both undergraduate and graduate students. Ms. Hoffman and Ms. Halula both stated that that is something they would be interested in either teaching a class for or even enrolling for such a certificate program. Mr. Soska said that this certificate program is something the Working Group could take on as a possible project.

Mr. Soska also announced that the CORO training community leadership program will be looking for applicants for the January session.

The next COPC Working Group on Housing meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 20^th, at 2:30pm at OPDC’s Office. Please come with suggestions on projects we can work on for the year!!