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City of Mounds View Staff Report August 3, 1997 Page 2 Also the income is expected to be modest in comparison to the number of homes needing rehabilitation • and/or improvement. Staff feels what is needed at this time is to mount an aggressive effort to identify funding sources, and ways to tap them, in order to implement a more ambitious single family rehabilitation and improvement program in Mounds View. Funding sources could include Community Development Block Grant (administered by Ramsey County) and the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Other sources may exist. Expectations of Consultant: The consultant would locate all possible funding sources,identify for City Council and staff what steps need to be taken to gain access to these funds, and prepare sample forms and procedures for operating a revolving fund. The consultant may be asked to make a presentation to the I-35W Corridor Coalition to identify ways in which a cooperative effort might gain access to more funding sources. Staff would be responsible for preparing grant applications and liaison with the funding agencies, unless City Council wanted to include this work as Phase 2 of the consultant contract. • Smaller scale rental projects. Mounds View has a variety of rental housing developments. Staff has observed,however, a key factor in whether a rental project is well-maintained is whether there is professional on-site management. Having on-site management usually depends on the scale of the project. What staff has observed is that the smaller rental projects, such as duplexes,fourplexes, and apartment buildings that have less than 50 units either have no manager on site,have a"tenant-manage?'that fields telephone calls for the • management company and collects rent checks, or have a"owner-manager"who is living in one of the units. Tenant-managers and owner-managers often do not have any training in how to screen tenants or deal with tenant problems. These properties usually show signs of deferred maintenance, and in some cases, are declining in value. Small rental projects do not generate sufficient income to allow the owners to hire on-site professional management. Staff is very concerned about the decline in the condition of some of these projects, especially the fourplexes on Hillview and Quincy. It is a constant battle to keep these projects in good repair through the inspection program. We feel it is time to do some"outside the box"thinking about how to deal with small scale rental projects. Should the City form a management cooperative,which would provide professional management for these fourplexes or smaller-scale rental projects in general. Property owners would join the cooperative and pay a fee,thus obtaining the benefit of professional management. Should the City provide seed money for the first five years, and allow the property owners' fee to be deferred, with the expectation that professional management will lead to higher rents and more cash flow for the owners? Should the City encourage the conversion of these fourplexes into housing cooperatives or condominiums to create more stability and pride of ownership? Should the City look at redeveloping this area? Should the City establish a requirement that property owners go through a property management training program and be licensed before they can rent units to tenants in the City of Mounds View? Expectations of Consultant: The consultant would evaluate the smaller scale rental projects in Mounds View, and conduct a series of brainstorming sessions with staff City Council, and property owners to develop a series of programs to address the management and maintenance problems which tend to •