Minutes - 20070830 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Commissioner Jacobs said that he has heard and read from the survey that many own their own mobile homes but cannot move them when they are displaced. He said that there is no affordable housing organization that sees providing manufactured housing as an answer to affordable housing. He asked if the County precludes this as an option, or if this should be considered. He asked if the Manufactured Housing Association would work with the County on this. Tara Fikes said that this group would be glad to work with the County. She made reference to page 52 of the book, which has a model manufactured housing development in Garner. Commissioner Jacobs said that he thinks the County is prejudiced against manufacturing housing as an option for affordable housing. He wants to put it to the AHAB if this is a prejudice that should be changed. Artie Franklin said that he has been reading the task force report from 2001, and one of the comments was the "possibility of mobile home parks purchased to be permanently managed as affordable rental lots for mobile homes." Also, this might be something for the Housing Authority to work on. Commissioner Jacobs asked the ARAB about the Rental Housing Coordinator that the County helped to hire. He would like a report on this position and haw it is working. Commissioner Jacobs said that he hopes the boards will continue to think creatively about affordable housing (i.e., manufactured homes, affordable rentals, land banking, etc.). He suggested having a representative of the Manufactured Housing Association at a meeting to see what it might be willing to do. IV. Housing Band Policy Recommendation Gary Gaddy said that since the fall of 2006, the bond process has been changed from being one that was scheduled to an open format where requests could be made at any time. There was $2.7 million available at the time that this was written. There have been three inquiries and one full application for $450,000, which was approved. Now there is $2.4 million available. Tara Fikes said that one more application was received this week. The second part of this item is an effort to broaden the pool of applicants by amending the definition of eligible applicants to include far-profit organizations even where they were not in partnership with non-profits. Commissioner Jacobs said that on the report part it would be useful to include the number of units with the developments. He also asked about the third page and the uncommitted total, committed total, and total available for land banking. Tara Fikes said that a few years ago the County set aside, from the 2001 bond, about $400,000 from the first round of funding for land banking. There was also some uncommitted money carried over from the 1997 bonds. The initial pool for land banking included both of these pieces and totaled $612,500. The County has spent $452,000 of that amount. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to Habitat for Humanity and said that if it is a property acquisition for immediate development, he questions whether it should come out of land banking rather than the other bond money. Tara Fikes said that the remaining bond money could be used for land banking. Commissioner Gordon made reference to broadening the pool of applicants and said that she would like to know how the for-profit entities would be chosen and to make sure that the County is not just contributing public money to afar-profit organization. Gary Gaddy said that it could not be determined that afor-profit can or cannot make a profit. If it is afor-profit entity, it will make a profit. He would want it to make a profit so that it would come back next year, if the aims were accomplished. Commissioner Foushee said that one of the underlying factors the ARAB considered was the capacity for for-profit entities to be able to develop and do something quickly.