Agenda - 01-23-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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7 1 Commissioner Pelissier said she feels the letter should be sent, and then it can be 2 discussed at the AOG meeting. 3 Commissioner Dorosin said other letters have been sent, but he sees no reason not to 4 send another one. 5 Chair Jacobs said issues have been raised that warrant further investigation, including 6 the fiscal ramifications of using the General Fund. He said there are also still equity issues with 7 regard to rural curbside collection. 8 9 3. Affordable Housing Follow-Up Discussion 10 11 Members of the AHAB (Affordable Housing Advisory Board)joined Tara Fikes at the 12 table. 13 Tara Fikes said information was provided in the packet regarding follow up on the March 14 12th joint meeting of the advisory board and the Commissioners. She reviewed some of the 15 background information. 16 She said the board spent a lot of time talking with Community Trust Director Robert 17 Dowling about the organization needs, and specifically the HVAC needs at Greenbridge. She 18 said the request for $75,000 to service these HVAC needs was approved by the Board of 19 Commissioners, but none of this money has been spent yet. 20 She said there were also conversations regarding the Live/Work and First Time 21 Homebuyer programs. She said that this bond money and non-profit funding is provided only 22 for first time home buyers and people who have lived and worked in Orange County for one 23 year. She said the Community Home Trust asked for a waiver of these restrictions after 90 24 days, and the Board approved this. 25 Tara Fikes said that just one house had been sold to a person from outside of Orange 26 County since this waiver was approved. 27 She said the board also brought a proposal for an affordable housing clearing house, 28 which would be a referral porthole for County residents interested in information on housing 29 opportunities. She said work is being done to formalize this proposal, and she asked James 30 Stroud to give an update on this. 31 James Stroud said a lot of individuals are seeking affordable housing, but don't know 32 where to go. He said this clearing house would provide information on available affordable 33 housing. He said the Land Trust and Habitat are often called but these entities do not always 34 know what resources are available. 35 He said this type of clearing house would have served residents well during the flood at 36 Eastgate Shopping Center during the summer. He said the goal is to create a hub for all 37 affordable housing partners to provide management of getting information out to the public. 38 Commissioner Rich asked if this would be under the committee. 39 James Stroud he is the executive director for the Center for Home Ownership in 40 Hillsborough. He said he is HUD approved, and he has been doing housing for 18 years. He 41 is willing to spearhead the project to bring this to Orange County. He said he has realized that 42 no one outside of the industry knows what is offered in Hillsborough and Chapel Hill. 43 Commissioner Rich clarified that this will be on the Orange County website. 44 45 Tara Fikes said there will be personnel to do phone duty, and there will be several 46 different access points. She said there would be partnerships with the towns and non-profits. 47 She said there is a proposal for this in Attachment B. 48 Tara Fikes said the AHAB will focus on furthering the development of this clearing house 49 in the coming months, to prepare for implementation on July 1, 2014.