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CHC 02-10-05MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE CUPERTINO HOUSING COMMISSION February 10, 2005 1. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Cupertino Housing Commission was called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Chairperson Frances Seward 2. ROLL CALL Present: Chairperson Frances Seward, Housing Commissioners Richard. Abdalah, Sarah Hathaway-Feit, K_im Mosleh,lVlahesh Nihalan_i and Planning Commissioner Taghi Saadati Absent: None Staff present: Vera Gil, Senior Planner 3. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS None 4. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Approval of October 28, 2004 and January 13, 2005 minutes Action: Motion by Commissioner Abdalah, seconded by Commissioner Nihalani, Approved. 5-0 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Selection of New Chair and Vice Chair Chairperson Seward nominated Commissioner Nihalani for Chair and Commissioner Mosleh for Vice Chair, Commissioner Abdalah seconded the motion. Approved 4-0. b. Teacher Housing Assistance Program Staff explained that although the Teacher Housing Assistance program has been in existence since February 2003, no teachers have been received loans from the program. Both City staff and the staff from Neighborhood Housing Services Silicon Valley, the agency administering the program on the City's behalf, believe the requirement that the applicant's home must be located within the City limits has caused teachers not to take advantage of the program. J.R. Wheelwright of Neighborhood Housing Services, stated that his staff has interviewed many of the teachers that expressed interest in the program. The teachers often stated that they did not think they could find a decent townhome in Cupertino for the amount of money they could afford to pay. They also felt that the loans were not sufficient to off set the higher Cupertino housing prices. Many teachers believe they can purchase a nicer unit for the price in a neighboring community. Staff presented the Housing Commission with the district boundary maps for Cupertino Union and Fremont Union High School Districts. Mr. Wheelwright presented information on the pricing of homes listed on the Multiple Listing Service within the school district boundaries. It appeared that the homes listed in the area were still priced too high. The Housing Commission discussed providing more funding to each loan recipient by providing fewer loans at higher loan amounts. Commissioner Abdalah made the motion to divide the $200,000 available by three loans instead of the previously approved four loans. Motion was seconded by Chairperson Abdalah. Approved: 5-0. The Commission also wanted the City Council to know that the Commission would revisit expanding the boundaries of the program in May when more homes would be on the market for sale. 8. COMMITTEE MEMBER REPORTS None 9. ANNOUNCEMENTS None 10. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. to joint meeting with the CDBG Steering Committee on March 10, 2005. SUBMITTED BY: ~~ `'~ Vera Gil, Staff liaison to the Cupertino Housing Commission