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Ms. Bengtson thought the money the Haven had received was for operating costs. The money applied for here is for capital improvements. Ms. Mohr stated she has been familiar with the ECHO program for years and hoped that some money will be left for it in the program where Pleasanton could still receive the same level of service the City has always received. Ms. Mohr felt the Downtown Program is important for Pleasanton because it is designed to encourage the specialty and small "mom and pop" types of business. Mayor Tarver didn't agree with the approach taken. He felt that downtown economic development loans can be done out of the City's "Economic Reserve for Contingency" Fund. He suggested that the CDBG money should be going to something the Human Services Commission says has a need that we cannot address. He felt the downtown economic development loan program should come out of reserves as a loan. Ms. Mohr asked if the time frame for those types of loans is 2-3 years or possibly 5-10 years? Ms. Bengtson stated that no one has any idea of the length of time these loans run, since this is a program being developed fight now. Ms. Dennis quoted the staff report as saying that the Department of Housing and Urban - Development has placed a high priority on the use of those funds for economic development. She asked if not funding economic development in our Block Grant might hurt our chances in the future of getting funds. Ms. Bengtson did not believe so. Ms. Mohr asked if both approaches were workable and whether the need were great enough to do both. She wanted to make sure downtown succeeds, since the City has invested a lot of money in the area. She asked if the money could come from a different pot/fund and yet leave it in this program as well. Ms. Bengtson envisioned small loans that would help some of the business people in this pilot program. Mayor Tarver and Mr. Pico agreed that the money could better serve the Housing Rehab Program. Mr. Pico thought the money in this area was scarce and the intent of trying to modify the recommendation was to try and find more money to put into this program. He felt that the Downtown Program is more of a loan and shouldn't be treated as an expenditure. Ms. Michelotti asked that if the program developing for downtown is continued, what would be the delay involved for finding the funding from another source? She felt that the pilot program was important. She felt this pilot program should continue. 06/06/95 13