Agenda - 02-04-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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5 1 Chair Jacobs said he agrees with this, because there is a large amount of overlap in 2 these affordable housing reports. He discussed the idea of mobile homes as affordable 3 housing units in the municipalities, and he said this requires the County to work with the 4 municipalities. 5 Chair Jacobs said he is not advocating anything in particular, but the County is going to 6 be discussing bond issues in 2015. He questioned whether there should not be a coordinated 7 plan for the entire County, heading into a bond plan. 8 Council Member Greene agreed that it sounds like a promising plan to create a nucleus, 9 and avoid duplication of efforts. 10 Alderman Gist said if a program was started to buy foreclosed houses, she would 11 suggest that these properties be bought and then sold back to the owner. 12 Mayor Kleinschmidt said foreclosures occur for different reasons. He said one of the 13 challenges is that homeowners in this degree of distress are often preyed on by others. He 14 said this often removes the unit from affordability status, and it becomes an investment 15 property. He said the goal is not to be involved in the hunt, but there is a role for government to 16 play in helping to preserve the stock of affordable inventory. 17 Mayor Kleinschmidt said the institutions are another group to remember. He said the 18 mention of the Jackson Center invokes the important role the University is playing in the 19 process to help mitigate the challenges and provide solutions in neighborhoods around UNC. 20 He said there is recognition that there is a role to play in creating a solution. 21 Council Member Greene said creating a group similar to the Partnership to End 22 Homelessness could help formalize that sort of collaborative thinking. She heard about a 23 mobile home property bought by Habitat for Humanity. She said Habitat rebuilt the community 24 and then moved the original residents back in to the neighborhood. 25 Chair Jacobs said he is hearing the suggestion that the managers to get together to 26 recommend a way to move forward jointly. 27 Mayor Chilton said, last week, the Board of Aldermen meeting recognized town staff that 28 responded to the flooding this past summer. He expressed thanks to all of those who 29 responded to the various emergency issues. He said he wished to particularly recognize the 30 Orange County Housing Department, who mobilized all of their resources to deal with 31 dislocated families. He expressed appreciation for the leadership of Tara Fikes and staff. 32 Tara Fikes said this was a joint effort with the Department of Social Services (DSS). 33 Chair Jacobs said page 32 contains a draft agreement with the Community Home Trust 34 (CHT). He introduced Robert Dowling from CHT. 35 Robert Dowling said he is here to ask the Assembly of Governments to approve an 36 interlocal agreement between all four governments and CHT. He asked that a working group 37 be named, with a representative from each government, to work with the board and staff of 38 CHT. He said this board could take the draft and push it further. He said CHT works for all of 39 the governments. 40 He said CHT is a creature of local government, and came from a County task force in 41 the 80s. He said the goal was to figure out how to keep affordable housing affordable. He 42 gave a brief background of the trust. He said the organization moved forward very quickly, and 43 though it is small, it has a lot on its plate. 44 Robert Dowling said he is overly prone to pointing out challenges and less prone to point 45 out successes. He said he would like to go on record as saying this is a huge success, and it 46 could not have happened without support. 47 Chair Jacobs suggested having the managers discuss this proposal, confer with the 48 attorneys, and bring back a list of recommendations. 49 50 2. Solid Waste Updates Regarding Future Recycling/Waste Reduction Initiatives