Minutes 01-25-2019 BOCC Retreat - Laserfiche WebLink

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11 senior housing staff from the jurisdictions. He said they are currently working on new units, high priority areas, and housing for teachers and other target populations. Travis Myren described the differences between rural and urban areas, and how strategies had to be different in the different areas. He said transportation, as fixed routes are especially unfeasible in rural areas, made the needs and strategies in each area different. He said if transportation is a high priority, investments should probably be made in urban areas. Travis Myren described work with the towns on the Greene Tract, and the other areas available for development. He said he hoped to have a revised agreement from the group on how the Greene Tract is to be developed. Travis Myren said mobile homes are being displaced, and collaboration occurred between the County on mitigating the displacement of residents. He said there have been conversations concerning flooding at Camelot in Chapel Hill and how that affected not only emergency services, but also affordable housing supply. Bonnie Hammersley said the town mayors and chairs have been meeting concerning development of the Greene Tract, and this same team worked on Rogers Road. She added said staff teams are continuing to meet but are waiting on the towns for direction. The facilitator framed the ensuing conversation to be focused on collaboration. He said the group had broad consensus on the definition of the problem and many steps that needed to be taken, as well as broad agreement that more housing was needed that was affordable, livable, had access to transportation and services. He said the BOCC desires to have discussions around the rural buffer area, density of housing desired in different areas, and incentivization of efforts in rehabilitation and possibly land acquisition. He said there are some target populations: those that are below 20% AMI, ex-felons, those that are being displaced, and local employees. Commissioner Greene said she wanted to address structural issues with this conversation in addressing interjurisdictional cooperation. She said the issue was not new and went back a long time. She said there was a time, prior to the arrival of the current County Manager, when there was broad agreement to put together an affordable housing group among the local government entities. She said not much came from it, until finally the local government Collaborative was formed. She said she was worried that it was not as effective as it could be. She asked the group about its effectiveness. Commissioner Marcoplos said he is the current BOCC representative to the local government collaborative, and the group has developed a list of priorities, with more collaboration amongst stakeholders as a high priority. He said the group was often focused on performing tasks such as working on agreements for HUD, and that opportunities for collaboration are limited as the group is currently constructed. Commissioner Greene said the group was meant to be a collaborative, but has ended up being focused on minutiae. Commissioner Dorosin said the group needs a specific charge to collaborate. Commissioner Greene agreed. Commissioner Dorosin credited the staffs with a more collaborative relationship than the elected officials. He said that while the group has succeeded as a vehicle for information sharing, it has not grown past that. Commissioner Marcoplos said the group was working towards a more collaborative relationship as he rotated off the committee, and some of it is due to turnover. Chair Rich said the group only meets quarterly, and perhaps it should meet monthly. Commissioner Greene said the group should focus more on policy. Commissioner Dorosin said the local government entities needed to agree on highest priorities as the resources for affordable housing are limited. He said low-cost rentals and low- income seniors are potential priorities, along with other identified priorities. He said the entities