11-19 HUD

CITY OF ELGIN, OREGON RESOLUTION 11 (2019)

A RESOLUTION TO ADOPT THE SECTION 3 PLAN TO COMPLY WITH 24 CFR, PART 135 OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT SECTION 3

WHEREAS, The United States Congress passed Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701u) (Section 3) to further the goal of ensuring that federal funds benefit the residents of projects funded wholly or in part by those funds, and

WHEREAS, Part 135 of Section 3 is to establish the standards and procedures to be followed to ensure that the objectives of Section 3 are met; and

WHEREAS, The City of Elgin staff has developed a Section 3 Plan in adherence to 24 CFR, Part 135 that more comprehensively addresses the standards and procedures prescribed in the Act; and 

WHEREAS, The Section 3 Plan has been reviewed by the City of Elgin senior staff members and their comments incorporated into the Plan.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ELGIN AUTHORIZES THE CITY OF ELGIN TO ADOPT AND IMPLEMENT THE SECTION 3 PLAN TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL LAW AND TO DESIGNATE CITY MANAGER AS THE SECTION 3 COORDINATOR FOR THE CITY.

PASSED AND ADOPTED this 13th day of August 2019.

CITY OF ELGIN SECTION 3 PLAN

General Policy Statement

It is the policy of the City of Elgin to require its contractors to make a good faith effort to provide equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran’s or marital status, or economic status and to take affirmative action to ensure that both job applicants and existing employees are given fair and equal treatment.

The City of Elgin implements this policy in accordance with City established contracting rules and policies as well as the awarding of contracts to contractors, vendors, professional service providers/consultants and suppliers, to create employment and business opportunities for residents of the City of Elgin and other qualified low- and very low-income persons.

The policy will ensure that in good faith the City of Elgin will have a reasonable level of success in the recruitment, employment, and utilization of Section 3 residents and other eligible persons and Section 3 business concerns working on contracts partially or wholly funded with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) monies. The City of Elgin shall examine and consider a contractor’s, professional service provider/consultant or vendor’s potential for success by providing employment and business opportunities to Section 3 residents and business concerns prior to acting on any proposed contract award. 

Section 3 Purpose

Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1701u) (Section 3) requires the City of Elgin to ensure that employment and other economic and business opportunities generated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) financial assistance, to the greatest extent feasible, are directed to public housing residents and other low-income persons, particularly recipients of government housing assistance, and business concerns that provide economic opportunities to low- and very-low income persons.

Section 3 Contracting Policy and Procedure

Section 3 residents must meet the minimum qualifications of the position to be filled and a Section 3 business concern must have the ability to and capability to perform successfully under the terms and conditions of the proposed contract.

Eligible Projects 

All projects and activities involving housing construction, demolition, rehabilitation, or other public construction, such as roads, sewers, community centers, et cetera, that are completed with HUD Community Planning and Development funding are subject to the requirements of Section 3.

Good Faith Effort

At a minimum, some of the following tasks must be completed to demonstrate a good faith effort with the requirements of Section 3. The City of Elgin and each contractor, subcontractor, professional services provider, vendor or supplier seeking to establish a good faith effort as required should complete some of these efforts. 

City Responsibility

City options to fulfil a Good Faith Efforts include, but are not limited to: 

1. Advertising contracting opportunities via newspaper, mailings, and posting notices about the work to be contracted and where to obtain additional information. 

2. Incorporating the Section 3 Clause into all covered solicitations and contracts [see 24 CFR Part 135.38]; 

3. Assisting and actively cooperating with Oregon Business Development Department (OBDD) in ensuring contractors and subcontractors comply with Section 3; 

4. Providing written notice of contracting opportunities to all known Section 3 business concerns within Grant County. The written notice will be provided in sufficient time to enable business concerns the opportunity to respond to the bid invitation. 

5. Including a statement to encourage eligible Section 3 businesses to apply in all solicitations; 

6. Posting notices of any vacant positions, including training and/or apprenticeship positions, qualifications for positions, place where applications will be received and starting date of employment;

7. To the greatest extent possible, making available vacant positions, including training and/or apprenticeship positions, to Section 3 residents (all categories);

8. Adopting and implementing a Section 3 plan prior to the first draw of nonconstruction funds

9. Submitting Section 3 Annual Summary Reports (form HUD-60002) in accordance with 24 CFR Part 135.90;

10. Sending notices (if any) for employment opportunities or vacancies to Work Source Oregon;

11. Documenting actions taken to comply with Section 3 and submitting necessary documentation to OBDD;

12. If notified of non-compliance, correcting non-compliance within allowable time period. 

Any construction contractor, professional services provider, vendor or supplier must certify that any vacant employment positions, including training positions, that are filled (1) after the contractor is selected but before the contract is executed, and (2) with persons other than those to whom the regulations of 24 CFR Part 135 require employment opportunities to be directed were not filled to circumvent the contractor's obligation under 24 CFR Part 135.

Section 3 Coordinator 

The City’s designated Section 3 Coordinator is the City Manager. 

Contractor Responsibility to Meet Section 3 Requirements

The City will, to the greatest extent feasible, offer contracting opportunities to Section 3 business concerns. However, in the event no Section 3 business bids on a contract, or bids but is not able to demonstrate to the City satisfaction that it has the ability to perform successfully under the terms and conditions of the proposed contract, then that contract will be awarded to a non-Section 3 business concern that can meet the terms and conditions of the proposed contract through the competitive bidding process.

That business concern must meet, as all business must (including Section 3 businesses), the general conditions of compliance (refer to Section 3 Clause [Construction Contracts] and Section 3 Clause [Non-Construction Contracts]).

The options for the Contractor to fulfil a Good Faith Effort include, but are not limited to:

1. Submitting a list of all positions necessary to complete contract, name of employees who will fill those positions, names of all other employees.

2. Posting notices of any vacant positions, including training and/or apprenticeship positions, qualifications for positions, place where applications will be received and starting date of employment.

3. To the greatest extent feasible, making available vacant positions, including training and/or apprenticeship positions, to Section 3 residents (all categories) in order to priority.

4. Sending employment notices to Work Source Oregon – First Source Hiring Agreement to comply with the Section 3 requirements;  

5. As positions are vacated during completion of contract, following guidelines enumerated in numbers 2 and 3 above.

6. Submitting Compliance Reports as required.  

7. Signing Section 3 Federal Contract Clauses, as dictated by OBDD requirements. 

8. If notified of non-compliance, correcting non-compliance within allowable time period.

Contractor’s Requirements in Employing Section 3 Residents

After a contract is awarded, the CONTRACTOR will provide the following to the CITY’S Section 3 Coordinator:

1. Names (if any) of Section 3 business concerns to be utilized;

2. Estimate of the number of employees to be utilized for contract;

3. Projected number of available positions, including job descriptions and wage rates (construction wages must be consistent with Davis-Bacon Act or Oregon BOLI rates, whichever is higher); and

4. Efforts per section “Contractor Responsibility to Meet Section 3 Requirements,” or other methods, that will be utilized to seek Section 3 participants.

The City of Elgin and their covered contractors, subcontractors, professional service providers/consultants or subrecipients) will in good faith comply with the requirements of Section 3 for new employment, training, or contracting opportunities resulting from the expenditure of HUD funding. 

Section 3 Contract Clause

The Section 3 Contract Clause specifies the requirements for contractors hired for Section 3 covered projects. The Section 3 Clause must be included in all Section 3 covered projects. The Section 3 Contract Clause is included in Exhibit 1.

Section 3 Program Resident/Participant Certification Procedure

Section 3 Residents are:

1. Residents of Public and Indian Housing; or

2. Individuals that reside in the metropolitan area or nonmetropolitan county in which the Section 3 covered assistance is expended and whose income do not exceed the local HUD income limits   set forth for low- or very low-income households.

To be added to the City’s Section 3 list, residents that qualify should fill out the form in Exhibit 2 – “Resident Employment Opportunity Data Eligibility for Preference Certification Form.” 

Evidence of Section 3 Certification

Any business seeking Section 3 preference in the awarding of contracts or purchase agreements with the City of Elgin shall complete the Certification For Business Concerns Seeking Section 3 Preference In Contracting and Demonstration of Capability form, which can be obtained from the Section 3 Coordinator. The business seeking Section 3 preference must be able to provide adequate documentation as evidence of eligibility for preference under the Section 3 Program. The certification form is Exhibit 2 to this plan.

Certifications for Section 3 preference for business concerns must be submitted to the Section 3

Coordinator of the City of Elgin prior to the submission of bids for approval. If the Section 3

Coordinator previously approved the business concern to be Section 3 certified, the certification can be submitted along with the bid.

Internal Section 3 Complaint Procedure

In an effort to resolve complaints generated due to non-compliance through an internal process, the City of Elgin encourages submittal of such complaints to its Section 3 Coordinator as follows:

1. Complaints of non-compliance should be filed in writing and must contain the name of the complainant and brief description of the alleged violation of 24 CFR 135.

2. Complaints must be filed within thirty (30) calendar days after the complainant becomes aware of the alleged violation.

3.  An investigation will be conducted if complaint is found to be valid. The Section 3 Coordinator will conduct an informal, but thorough investigation affording all interested parties, if any, an opportunity to submit testimony and/or evidence pertinent to the complaint.

4. The Section 3 Coordinator will provide written documentation detailing the findings of the investigation of the complaint. The City Manager will review the findings for accuracy and completeness before it is released to complainants. The findings will be made available no later than thirty (30) days after the filing of complaint.

If complainants wish to have their concerns considered outside of the City of Elgin a complaint may be filed with:

Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development

451 Seventh Street, SW Washington, DC 20410

The complaint must be received not later than 180 days from the date of the action or omission upon which the complaint is based, unless the time for filing is extended by the Assistant Secretary for good cause shown.

Enforcement

To enforce the decision-making process pertaining to determining applicable percentages for resident hiring, enforcement strategies are set forth below.

During the post award or pre-bid conference, the objective shall be to impact critical Section 3 information to the contractor prior to commencement of the work/project. The following contract requirements shall be discussed in detail: (Non-construction contracts do not require Davis- Bacon)

Davis-Bacon

Minority and Women Owned Business Participation

Resident Hiring Professional

Each representative will define specific functional requirements and require the contractor to

certify its understanding of the terms and conditions of the contract as they pertain to Davis-Bacon, resident hiring and Minority and Women Owned Business participation.

Monitoring and Enforcement Authority and Responsibility

The function of monitoring and enforcing resident hiring will be carried out by the City of Elgin Section 3 Coordinator, including all field activities.