AHAB minutes 091019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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V. Director's Report — Diane Beecham reported that the new Director, Emila Sutton, will start on September 23rd and information about her that was posted on the County's website is included in the packet. VI. Old and New Business — [Diane Beecham will follow up on Board vacancies and will provide the Advisory Board with a list of people who have applied to be appointed to the Advisory Board. It was also requested that there be a newspaper ad to generate interest in being an AHAB member.] It was confirmed that Blake Rosser and Cain Twyman will be attending the annual Affordable Housing conference in Raleigh this fall. VII. Public Comment — Ms. Jacobs stated that it was now time for public comment and the Board encourages people to provide their input and comments regarding affordable housing in Orange County. Roger and Nancy Parcells stated that they now live in Hillsborough but will have to move from their rental because their landlord is selling the property. They want to continue to rent, and not purchase a home, but every place that they have looked at is either too expensive or is in terrible shape. It will cost approximately $2,500 for them to move and they want to know if there a County program that will help with this cost. They also will need actual physical help with the move. Ms. Kinnaird responded that there is no single place in Orange County to get information on all the different types of assistance that is available in the County. Wake County has a successful central clearinghouse for assistance but the closest example in Orange County is the Community Empowerment Fund. Joann Mitchell stated that she is an owner of a Habitat home and wanted to first to say thank you to the Affordable Housing Advisory Board and to the County for their support of Habitat and the Magnolia project. As for affordable housing in Orange County, Ms. Mitchell stated that there needs to be more enforcement action against slumlords and there also needs to be more neighborhood community centers developed as part of new and existing neighborhoods. There also needs to be more information and promotion about the Urgent Repair program within the community. Ms. Sykes responded that there are minimum housing and occupancy standards , but they tend to be the bare minimum. There is also fear in reporting violations and so the violations reported are usually self-reported. There is a real problem with substandard housing and the harm that it causes, such as asthma in children. Ms. Kinnaird stated that as an example of how difficult it can be to get enforcement of housing standards, it took a member of Congress to apply pressure to an owner of a Section 8 apartment complex in Hillsborough to clean up the units. The director of the Efland-Cheeks Community Center stated that the Efland-Cheeks Community Center is a great resource for the community and wants to thank the County for providing funds to help manage it. The Center just completed a summer enrichment Page 2