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City staff has been in touch with school district staff for many years. Many <br /> of the school sites offer excellent opportunities for new housing sites. They <br /> are appropriately zoned, are dispersed throughout the community, and have <br /> few, if any, constraints to building. Because most of our assisted housing <br /> developments provide housing for families with children, they are very <br /> attractive to the school district. Eugene School District 4J's enrollment is <br /> dropping and they are very interested housing that results in increased <br /> enrollment. The landbank program isn't interested in the entire school <br /> property. We would generally be interested in three to five acres. The city <br /> would work in cooperation with other uses for the site. For instance, there <br /> are examples in Eugene where low- income housing has been constructed in <br /> cooperation with market -rate homes for sale. The school sites that are most <br /> desirable for landbanking are Bailey Hill, Westmoreland, Willakenzie and <br /> Willard. The Dunn and Santa Clara sites are also possibilities that need <br /> more evaluation. <br /> Funding Availability <br /> Acquiring numerous sites for housing in a single year or two will require <br /> more funds than are readily available from CDBG. A solution is being <br /> pursued. HUD offers a "Section 108" loan program that allows the City to <br /> borrow against future CDBG entitlement grants. The interest rate is very <br /> low (about 1 %) and the terms are excellent. This loan program offers some <br /> excellent advantages and very little risk. Staff is exploring this option in <br /> greater detail. If it is pursued it will involve a public process that involves <br /> our Community Block Grant Advisory Committee, opportunities for the <br /> public to be heard, and eventual approval by the City Council. <br /> Staff have looked at a number of potential funding sources that might be <br /> eligible to use for the acquisition of additional public assets for parks, open <br /> space and recreational uses. Further analysis is needed to identify the <br /> availability of funding, if any, that might be needed to develop and maintain <br /> any new properties. The city's current budget shortfalls have had significant <br /> impacts on the city's ability to maintain and operate it's current inventory of <br /> parks and recreation facilities, and any additions to our inventory will need <br /> to be carefully considered. <br /> The following are the potential funding sources that some of the identified <br /> school sites may qualify for: <br />