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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-0355 Wur OocummlPQNimmcaAAlWel�bmhootl empw<mmm Proem Ott ORDINANCE NO 16PI — a3� AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 14 "HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES" OF THE CITY CODE BY ESTABLISHING A NEW ARTICLE VI "NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM" TO ESTABLISH A NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM TO ENHANCE AND IMPROVE NEIGHBORHOODS THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF DENTON, CREATING A NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENT ADVISORY BOARD, ESTABLISHING CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES FOR THE APPROVAL OF MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS UNDER APPLICATIONS BY ELIGIBLE PERSONS UNDER THE PROGRAM, SETTING FORTH ADDITIONAL DETAILS IN RELATION TO THE PROGRAM, PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE WHEREAS, the health, economic condition, public welfare and safety of a city is affected by the quality and viability of its neighborhoods, and WHEREAS, neighborhood projects which promote long term, public benefit to neighborhoods and to citizens of Denton as a whole by improving the appearance of the neighborhoods, establish community pride in the neighborhoods by involving neighborhood residents more directly in all phases of the neighborhood development, promote maintenance and enhancement of the neighborhood, improve public safety by establishing traffic control devices, monuments and other improvements, increase the neighborhood's and adjacent neighborhood's property value by improving the appearance of the neighborhood, improve public health by preserving and enhancing the environment promote the public health, welfare and safety and constitute a valid public purpose, and WHEREAS, the City Manager has recommended and the City Council has determined that a Neighborhood Empowerment Program whereby the City provides certain qualified neighborhood organizations and groups matching funds or contributions of in -kind services to accomplish one or more of the above -mentioned purposes is deemed to be in the public interest, NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON HEREBY ORDAINS SECTION 1 That Chapter 14, "Health and Human Services" of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Denton is hereby amended by enacting a new Article VI, "Neighborhood Empowerment Program" with Subsections 14-119 — 14-123 inclusive which shall read as follows Article VI Neighborhood Empowerment Program Section 14-119 Establishment and Purpose This hereby established a Neighborhood Empowerment Program (NEP) to provide matching City funds or in -kind services to help improve the quality of life in the City's s am uxumm�O,dlnussMlVlaighbohooE &opowmmrm Propuo Goc neighborhoods The goal of the NEP is to encourage and select prepared projects which meet the program guidelines set forth herein that foster self-help, neighborhood pride, and enhance and beautify the City's neighborhoods The NEP will provide matching funds or in -kind services which are to be awarded on the bases of ment A maximum of $10,000 will be available per project The total available funding will be established in each budget year based on the amount budgeted for the NEP as approved by the City Council in the annual budget Section 14-120 Neighborhood Empowerment Program Advisory Board a There is hereby created a Neighborhood Empowerment Board which shall be composed of seven members The City Manager shall designate one member of the Board from the Parks & Recreation, Engineering, and Community Development Departments Four members of the Board shall be chosen from a neighborhood association or representative group from each of the four City Council districts The neighborhood representative shall serve for two-year terms provided, however, the first two representatives appointed to the Board will serve one-year terms, allowing two new neighborhoods to be represented on the Board each subsequent program year Appointments of the neighborhood association or group members will be randomly selected from each of the four council districts b The Board will evaluate each application to participate in the NEP based on the following criteria 1 Replicability — the ease in which the project can be successfully replicated in other neighborhoods 2 Self -evaluation — based on criteria that will be specified by the Board to evaluate the success of the project 3 Project quality — to evaluate whether the project is well articulated, planned, and ready to proceed including whether there is a demonstrated need for the project, whether the budget is reasonable, cost-effective, and within the scope of the NEP 4 Neighborhood match — whether the match meets the minimum requirement, is secured, and ready to be expended Projects will be evaluated on a sliding scale Low to moderate income neighborhoods will receive additional consideration and selection and a reduction in necessary neighborhood match to the extent this can be accomplished in accordance with the law 5 Neighborhood involvement — inclusiveness, participation and cost/benefit, projects will be evaluated to determine if they promote the neighborhood, build relationships and cooperation among neighborhoods, whether a significant number of people will be involved and will benefit from the program, how the program will enhance not only the neighborhood but adjacent neighborhoods and the City as a whole, whether the program is Page 2 of 6 sww empowmmam Rao as mG not controversial, has no neighborhood opposition, and whether diverse interests are involved The Board will act as an advisor to the City Council in administering the NEP It will make recommendations to the City Council with regard to changes in the NEP guidelines, the success of the NEP, and the funding level of NEP which responsibilities shall include, without limitation 1 Making recommendations to the City Council with respect to annual budget appropriations for the NEP 2 Making periodic reports to the City Council with regard to the status and effectiveness of the NEP 3 Administering the NEP to ensure that the successful applicants comply with the terms and conditions of the NEP 4 Promulgate rules and establishing procedures to aid the Board in performing its functions Section 14-121 Eligible Program and Projects Individuals from five or more separate households and living within the city limits may submit an application to the Community Development Director (Director) The Director shall establish, with the approval of the Board, additional guidelines to make sure that applications are approved on the basis of ment and are consistent with NEP guidelines Any project which promotes the public health, safety or welfare of the City by accomplishing one or more of the public purposes set forth in Section 14-119 above and the preambles to the ordinance which enacts the NEP by enhancing the appearance and improving the quality of life in Denton's neighborhoods is eligible Such projects must include the following All projects are required to have a citizen project coordinator to be a liaison between the City and the neighborhood during project development implementation b Matching fund awards will be made only to groups of five or more separate households who can be identified with a particular Denton neighborhood Awards will not be made to individuals, single businesses, universities, hospitals, institutions, foundations, political, fraternal, or religious organizations Government and public agencies, social services district councils, citywide groups, and city developments are also not eligible for the program Eligible applicants may form partnerships with any of these ineligible groups to plan and implement the project But the eligible applicant must retain the primary role in the partnership and remain responsible for performing the project Eligible projects must Page 3 of 6 s wu.O mm=UWW] maWlW<igh� empty wl ftlmas 1 Provide long-term, public benefits to the neighborhood 2 Be located on public access (right-of-way, neighborhood, common area, or other public access property) 3 Have demonstrated neighborhood support 4 Be compatible with adjacent properties 5 Involve neighborhood residents directly in all phases 6 Have goals which can normally be accomplished within twelve months or less 7 Must demonstrate appropriate long-term maintenance programs 8 Be within the City's legal authority as determined by the City's legal department and comply with existing City of Denton's codes, regulations and policies All projects shall fall within one of the following six categories 1 Youth improvements which may include, without limitation, small play area, basketball court/hoops 2 Neighborhood identity which may include signage, entrance beautification, or other neighborhood landmarks 3 Public art or amenities which may include, benches, sculptures, gardens 4 Traffic safety which may include, speed bumps and traffic calming devices 5 Capital equipment purchase which may include neighborhood bulletin boards and neighborhood picnic areas 6 Environmental improvement which may include ride -sharing, LINK shelter, composting, tree planting, trail head enhancements In order to obtain matching City funds or services from the Neighborhood Empowerment Program, the neighborhood must identify matched items of equal value of the amount requested Matched items that can be donated, include professional services, donated material or supplies, volunteer labor or cash The value of the neighborhood match must equal or exceed the amount requested from the neighborhood requested matching NEP funds The type of the match must be appropriate to the needs of the project The proposed match must be extended during the life of the project or after completion and meet the following guidelines Assistance from other City funds cannot be counted as part of the match At least 25% of the neighborhood's match must come from the neighborhood itself as opposed to other funding entities such as the DISD, non-profit corporations other than the neighborhood group or association, or another governmental entities All volunteer labor will be valued at $10 per hour Professional services, if needed for the project, are to be valued at the reasonable and customary rate prevailing in the profession and the in the community The neighborhood match must be pledged and secured Page 4 of 6 5�ur Wammiu�lftigbbmlmad p powm Mp VpMdN Secured means that the donor has to specifically describe the contributions in the NEP matching fund contract (contract) to confirm the commitment Individuals who donate professional services or skilled labor as part of the neighborhood match cannot also receive compensation from the City's match money Section 14-122 Application for Neighborhood Empowerment Program Matching Funds a Applications for Neighborhood Empowerment Program matching funds under tins chapter must be filed with the City's Community Development Department upon forms described by the Board and the department for that purpose b The application shall include all information indicated by this Article VI along with any additional information that the Board deems necessary in order to perform its functions as set forth in Section 14-120 c All applications shall be verified by the applicant as to the truth and correctness of all facts and information presented d All successful applicants shall be required to execute a contract on a form approved by the City Attorney and to execute such other forms as the Community Development Department and the Board deem necessary to insure the approved projects completion Section 14-123 Review and Approval by the Board If the Director determines the application is consistent with the requirements of this Article VI, the Director shall forward the application to the Board for its evaluation The Board shall review the application based on a matching fund project evaluation form developed by the Director and approved by the Board which takes into consideration all the criteria for evaluation set forth in this Article b If an application is approved or denied by the Board, the successful applicant will be notified within 30 days after the application submission is forwarded to the Board by the Director Authorization to begin the project will be given after the applicant executes the contract The applicant must begin the project within three months of this authorization and follow the project schedule timeline that has been approved by the Board Applicants who the Director determines have submitted applications which are incomplete will be notified of this within two weeks of the submission of the application The Director and the Board shall have the right to request additional information from the applicants as deemed necessary to adequately evaluate the Page 5 of 6 s win nocumanuwmmencacw�wdaM1M1o�bwd 0mpowmmmi flogam Go, application and the project During any such period of submission of additional information the timeline for reviewing the application shall be tolled SECTION 2 That save and except as amended hereby, all the remaining sections, sentences, clauses, and phrases of Chapter 14 of the City of Denton Code of Ordinances shall remain in full force and effect SECTION 3 That if any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word in this ordinance, or application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance, the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas, hereby declares that they would have enacted such remaining portions despite any such invalidity SECTION 4 That this ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its passage and approval // 1 PASSED AND APPROVED this the -&TL day of , 200y ATTEST JENNIFER WALTERS, CITY SECRETARY i APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM HERBERT L PROUTY, CITY ATTORNEY BY Page 6 of 6