Orange County NC Website
explore. He said he would like to see environmental issues addressed relative to affordable <br />housing and homeless populations. <br />Affordable Housing Bond <br />Ms. Spencer - Horsley talked about the Affordable Housing Bond passing and the community <br />support for the Bond. She briefly discussed the great affordable housing needs in the County <br />and priorities discussed by the BOCC for use of the five million dollars particularly rental <br />housing at the lowest incomes and special needs populations of the County and work force <br />housing. Eleanor Kinnaird and Tammy Jacobs talked about joint sessions with the Board to <br />discuss how the money would be "rolled out" and if there are directives in place. Ms. Spencer - <br />Horsley said that the AHAB will have a role in the allocation of funding for affordable housing <br />projects as well as County owned land that has been approved by the BOCC. <br />Alex Nickodem commented that the BOCC should also look at how transportation affects low <br />income people and that is was as important as housing. Ms. Spencer - Horsley responded that <br />transportation was one of the criteria and concerns discussed by the BOCC and will be part of <br />the scoring criteria for proposals for funding. <br />The BOCC approved Income Targets for County funding and put a 20 % cap on funds for <br />projects targeted to populations at the 60 to 80% median income. The BOCC also approved <br />project evaluation criteria for proposed projects. Ms. Spencer - Horsley also stated that mixed <br />use and mixed income projects were added to criteria approved by the BOCC for Bond and <br />other County funding. Other criteria she explained included people having access to daily living <br />needs such as shopping, services, etc. To encourage projects in rural areas, community water <br />and sewer systems that meet local and state standards would also receive points under the <br />scoring criteria. Ms. Spencer - Horsley added that universal design was also a key criterion <br />discussed like transportation. <br />Tammy Jacobs stated we are good at producing home ownership and poor at producing lower <br />income rentals. Daniel Bullock asked about plans for development of the Green Tract jointly <br />owned by Orange County and the towns. Ms. Spencer - Horsley said that would be discussed <br />and developed through a separate process. She noted that the shared community goal is up to <br />one thousand units county -wide over the next five years. One question to consider is how much <br />do we invest in acquisitions and or rehabilitation? It was noted during the discussion that the <br />Green Tract has been discussed for 30 to 40 years and originally was to be a landfill. <br />Finally, Ms. Spencer - Horsley pointed out that there is currently two million dollars set aside for <br />land banking; one million specifically for a mobile home strategy. She said there are county <br />partnerships working to end homelessness. She added that some homeless persons require <br />supportive services in order to end homelessness and remain in stable housing. Otherwise they <br />