Agenda - 09-05-2017 - 8-a - Minutes

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17 1 to stay in Chapel Hill. She said she hopes that there will be tangible accountability for 2 applicants for bond funds. She encouraged the Board to be strategic with its funds, and not just 3 take action for the sake of it. 4 5 Yvette Mathews is here representing Community Empowerment Fund. She said this 6 organization has over 1,000 members, and more affordable housing units are needed. She 7 asked the Board if there is a way to secure more funding for affordable housing projects, and 8 invited the Board to visit these organizations and communities first hand. 9 Mairella Hernandez said she is a Family Success Alliance Navigator. She said she 10 works with many families, whom are undocumented immigrants living in bad conditions. She 11 said despite their situation, these families still work and pay taxes and are looking for affordable 12 housing like Empowerment provides. She asked the Board to fund Empowerment's second 13 project. 14 Jess Grandeis, CASA Housing Developer, said it has over 300 households on its waiting 15 list. She said CASA is thankful for the funding it has received for its project. She said CASA is 16 pursuing a SUP with the Town of Chapel Hill and a conditional use permit with the Town of 17 Carrboro. She said the two Towns are demonstrating great collaborative effort. 18 Chair Dorosin said he appreciated the comments from providers and clients. 19 Commissioner Marcoplos said $5 million of bond funding is not a lot of money, and it is 20 hard to meet the needs with this amount. He said home designs are becoming smaller, and he 21 asked providers if their dwellings are becoming smaller and more efficiently designed. He said 22 he would like to hear feedback on this topic, and money can go further when the dwellings are 23 smaller. 24 Delores Bailey said Empowerment's style is different, and it is purchasing smaller older 25 homes that range from 600-900 square feet, in which Empowerment installs energy efficient 26 appliances. 27 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the size of the apartments in the projected 28 Waterstone senior housing could be identified. 29 Susan Levy said she has provided floor plans to the Board, and there are three different 30 types of units: a studio at 650 square feet; a 1-bedroom unit and 1-bedroom unit with a niche, 31 both of which are less than 750 square feet. 32 Jess Grandeis from CASA said the Merritt Mill development has 1-bedroom units at 600- 33 650 square feet, and the two-bedroom units are 900 square feet. She said CASA tries to be as 34 cost effective as possible, in both square footage and amenities. She said there are some 35 minimum floor plan square footage requirements in Chapel Hill, as well as with the North 36 Carolina Housing Finance Agency, which is a major funder. 37 Commissioner Price said she is concerned that the funding should be spread around, 38 and currently the majority is going to two very good organizations; but she would like to fully 39 fund Empowerment, as it works with existing housing stock, and can house people much faster. 40 She said she would like to take away enough funding from the other two organizations to fund 41 Empowerment's second project. She asked if staff would guide Empowerment in the request 42 process, so that Empowerment can improve its submissions and achieve a higher score in the 43 future. 44 Commissioner Jacobs asked if Empowerment's project would have matching funding 45 from the towns. 46 Annette Moore said there is no matching fund, and Empowerment is asking for 100% of 47 its funding from the County. 48 Delores Bailey said the bond funding came quickly, and these two projects were already 49 on Empowerment's list to do, and that is why these projects were submitted. She said the bond 50 money is to help Empowerment to address the lowest needs, and Empowerment did not plan to 51 leverage it. She said other funding sources include a time lag, and would ultimately require