Agenda - 11-17-2015 - 6a - Minutes

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4 1 Alderman Chaney said the people that come to purchase Habitat homes are State 2 employees. She said this challenges them to raise their wages so that subsidies can be used 3 for those who really need it. She said the State Employee Credit Union (SECU) is heavily 4 invested in workforce housing, and she said is it worth opening a conversation with SECU about 5 a public partnership on this issue. She said she is glad that Orange County is investing some 6 of the bond money in affordable housing. 7 Alderman Chaney said the affordable housing discussion did not start off with a vision, 8 and if it had the allocation of bond funds, it may have gone differently. 9 Alderman Chaney said if the right mechanism and a strategic plan for affordable 10 housing can be established, she believes the County can move forward. 11 Chair McKee said Bonnie Hammersley was writing down the idea about SECU. He said 12 the point that the conversation started with the schools is the primary reason the BOCC has 13 asked Audrey to create a master plan for affordable housing. He said additionally a plan for 14 seniors has been requested, so a vision can be determined for these issues. He said this will 15 not change the past bond discussion, and this bond will not cover all needs; but the focus of the 16 bond was on the schools. 17 Chair McKee said there is not just $5 million in the bond, but additionally the Board of 18 County Commissioners voted to put a minimum of$1 million in the annual CIP, which could go 19 to both capital and operating needs. 20 Mayor Lavelle said all plans to address affordable housing must be creative. 21 Chair McKee said in the spring Commissioner Jacobs proposed land-banking land for 22 affordable housing, and Orange County has dedicated $1 million for this purpose. 23 Alderman Slade said there is a tiny home movement for homeless people that are 24 mentally disabled. He said there is a project in Chatham County that could be a good resource. 25 He said there are benefits to locating affordable homes in urban areas since there is public 26 transportation. 27 Commissioner Pelissier said there was a presentation about the Chatham County 28 Project at the Partnership for Homelessness. She said at the Assembly of Governments (AOG) 29 meeting in November that the Greene Tract will be discussed. She said Chapel Hill, Carrboro 30 and Orange County own this property, and it would be a great place for an experiment with tiny 31 homes. 32 Bonnie Hammersley said Ms. Spencer-Horsley had called and was following time 33 frames on the agenda and did not think she needed to be at the meeting until 9:10 p.m. 34 35 4. Update on One-Quarter(1/4) Cent Sales Tax Proceeds and Uses 36 Bonnie Hammersley said this presentation was given to the BOCC on Tuesday night. 37 Paul Laughton, Orange County Director of Finance and Administrative Services, 38 reviewed the financial side of the '/4 cents sales tax and proceeds, as of 2015. He said 50 39 percent of the Article 46 sales tax goes toward education, and 50 percent towards economic 40 development. He reviewed the tables in Attachment 4-b, Article 46 Sales Tax Proceeds 41 Budgeted and Use (since Inception on April 1, 2012). 42 43 Steve Brantley made the following PowerPoint presentation: 44 45 Orange County Economic Development 46 Discussion of Article 46 47 (One Quarter Cent Sales Tax for Economic Development) 48 49 Economic Development Programs in Orange County Funded by "Article 46" 50 (One Quarter Cent Sales Tax for Economic Development)