Orange County NC Website
1969, the Board approved bylaws for the housing authority. She said that the housing authority <br />was incorporated on November 28, 1969. She said that the housing authority has been the <br />entity that has to be in place in order for the Section 8 Housing Assistance program to exist in <br />the County. There is no evidence of there being any further appointments to this housing <br />authority. Basically, the County Commissioners have taken care of housing authority business <br />at their regular meetings. <br />Jabrina Robinson said that the AHAB Board crafted a general proposal of having the <br />Orange County Housing Authority to be able to acquire and sell property, especially for land <br />banking purposes. The main emphasis with the land-banking program is talking about having a <br />separate board from the County Commissioners to govern the Housing Authority to avoid <br />conflicts of interest. The proposal focuses on establishing a separate board with seven <br />members, with at least one County Commissioner and at least one member from the Section $ <br />Housing Choice Voucher Program, as well as former and current AHAB members. There could <br />also be people with expertise in areas helpful to housing -finances, real estate, legal, etc. The <br />seven members would be appointed by the County Commissioners. Functionally, Tara Fikes <br />acts as the Executive Director of the Housing Authority. Anew Executive Director would be <br />appointed in this proposal, which would act as the Secretary of the Housing Authority. The <br />proposal also includes quarterly reports to be provided to the County Commissioners. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked for an explanation of conflicts of interest that the County <br />Commissioners would have. Jabrina Robinson said that there are potential conflicts of interest <br />with the land-banking program, since the County Commissioners approve the proposal and the <br />Housing Authority would act as an entity applying for land banking funds. The goal is to have <br />an arm's length with the decision-making process between the group applying for funds and the <br />group approving the funds. <br />Commissioner Jacobs recommended that the membership include people who know <br />land use planning -Planning Board members or farmer Planning Board members, etc. This <br />would make it easier to get the recommendations past the County Commissioners. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked what would happen if the Board of County Commissioners <br />wanted to purchase property and land bank it. Tara Fikes said that if the County decided to <br />purchase land with its own money, there would be no need for approval by the Housing <br />Authority. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that everyone who serves on the Housing Authority should <br />sign a conflict of interest statement. <br />Laura Blackmon said that the problem with the County purchasing land for land banking <br />is that it is prohibited from the disposition of it to anon-profit. Geof Gledhill said that it is not <br />impassible, but it is difficult to dispose of the property. <br />Chair Carey said that this could be considered as a two-stage process because the by- <br />laws will need to be reworked and the Board of County Commissioners would approve the by- <br />laws before creating a new board. He said that the County Commissioners need to review this <br />in detail since the by-laws are from 1969. <br />Commissioner Foushee agreed with Chair Carey. She commended the ARAB. She <br />said that some of this came out of a conversation that she and Commissioner Jacobs had at a <br />conference that they attended and there was discussion about what would happen to some of <br />the areas in the County if development were to occur where there are now mobile home parks. <br />She agreed with the two-stage process. She hopes that the Board sees the value in moving <br />expeditiously. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked Geof Gledhill for further explanation on the County buying <br />land for land banking. Geof Gledhill said that the County could not dispose of property except <br />through a public process. It would have to be put out for public sale, and anyone could buy it. <br />This would make it difficult for land to be put aside for affordable housing purposes. On the <br />