Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
The Board considered approving operational guidelines for the Community Revitalization <br />Loan Program. <br />Tara Fikes said that the Community Revitalization Loan Program was designed in 1997 <br />under the County's HOME Program. The program is designed to assist low to moderate-income families <br />purchasing existing housing for first time homeownership. Specifically, the funds are used to acquire <br />property, to rehab the property, or to provide direct second mortgage assistance. Last year, this program <br />was suspended to be certain that the program complied with all of the regulations. There were some <br />revisions made to the original policy that clarifies the following items: Eligible Activities, Loan <br />Requirements, Recapture/Resale Provisions, Environmental Requirements, Appraisal Requirements, and <br />Submission Requirements. The staff asked that the Commissioners look at the revisions with the <br />exception of those pertaining to Recapture/Resale Provisions. Tara Fikes said that she would like to wait <br />until after the affordable housing discussion to discuss the Recapture/Resale Provisions. <br />Commissioner Brown asked that the staff include houses that are in the floodplain under <br />Environmental Requirements. <br />The staff will come back with some language to include houses in the floodplain under <br />Environmental Requirements. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked if Tara Fikes could include the revisions to the <br />RecapturelResale Provisions before the Board approves the program. <br />The Recapture/Resale Provisions will be delayed until after the long term housing <br />affordability summit. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that one environmental condition that could be added is, "where <br />possible, deconstruction and green building principles will be followed in rehabilitation." He said that <br />there are ways in which maximal use and minimal environmental impact could be made regarding the <br />materials that are removed from a rehab property and the materials that are used to rehabilitate it. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked for a list of how the money had been expended. She asked <br />why this is being reexamined. <br />Tara Fikes said that one reason this program was being examined was to be sure that the <br />program complies with HUD guidelines. The second issue was there were concerns about haw the <br />program was flowing logistically. This was an attempt to clearly spell out what the submission <br />requirements were and what the HUD requirements were. <br />Commissioner Brown asked for a list of all the nonprofit organizations that have received <br />monies from the HC}ME program. <br />Chair Carey made reference to the Loan Limitations category and asked if this means that a <br />family could not refinance to get a lower interest rate. <br />Tara Fikes said that the language on this issue was so strong because there have been <br />requests for refinancing for debt consolidation. <br />John Link suggested that the staff work on establishing some criteria by which the Board can <br />approve to give guidance to the process of refinancing. <br />Commissioner Gordon feels that there should be a package of guidelines for when the <br />County has to give approval. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that there should be some recommendations about the affordable <br />housing summit for the Board at the next meeting. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked for a total picture of what the County is spending on affordable <br />housing. <br />Commissioner Brown clarified that she is talking about new construction in the floodplain and <br />not renovation projects. <br />d. <br />The Board considered adopting a resolutionlorder setting basic cable service rates for Time <br />Warner Cable. <br />John Link made reference to the article in the Herald related to Carrboro's addressing the <br />merger of AFL and Time Warner. He indicated that this issue will be coming to the Orange County Board <br />of Commissioners as well. <br />Michael Patrick, Chair of the Orange County Cable TV Citizens Advisory Committee said that <br />the only authority the County has is to review and act on the basic cable TV tier and some equipment <br />charges. The County has no regulatory authority under the FCC statutes for higher premium channels or <br />upper tiers of the regular cable TV service. The annual process is that Time Warner comes in and files a <br />rate increase based on inflation and other variables and that is reviewed by the County staff. The Board <br />