Agenda - 12-07-2020; 8-a - Minutes

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9 1 he would like more funding to go to the Homestead Road project. He said the EmPOWERment 2 per unit cost is quite high, and should be considered carefully. 3 Commissioner McKee asked Delores Bailey if the number of units increased from 8 to 4 10 units. 5 Delores Bailey said yes. 6 Commissioner McKee said that reduces the cost per unit to $70,000. He said these 7 units are more economical than previous EmPOWERment units. He said EmPOWERment is a 8 completely local effort. 9 Commissioner Bedford referred to the costs per project, and said these reflect the 10 County funding. She said she looked at the total project costs, which removes the leverage 11 component. She said when considering the projects this way, the cost per unit is $185,841 for 12 Homestead Road; $230,000 for EmPOWERment, and $260,000 for Weaver's Grove. She said 13 the Homestead Road project is the lowest cost per unit, and echoed Commissioner Dorosin and 14 Commissioner Greene's comments. She said Homestead Road includes Habitat townhouses, 15 which are for purchase. She said she would fully fund this project for all the aforementioned 16 reasons, as well as the EmPOWERment project, and the stairwell maintenance project. 17 Commissioner Greene asked Allison Mahaley if the AHAB's reasoning for funding 100% 18 of Habitat's request could be identified, as opposed to portions of the other projects. 19 Allison Mahaley said AHAB did not make this recommendation, but rather 100% of 20 EmPOWERment's project; 100% of the stairwell rehab project; and a 50/50 split of the 21 remaining funds between the two other projects. She said AHAB agonized over these 22 applications. She said AHAB funded 100% of EmPOWERment's project due to its alignment 23 with the BOCC's social justice goals, and it being a completely local project. 24 Commissioner Marcoplos said these are County funds, and wants to put as many people 25 as possible under roofs. 26 Chair Rich said a few years ago, former Habitat Director Susan Levy presented a 27 housing community from Virginia to the BOCC that was identical to the Homestead Road 28 project. She said the mixed income housing is valuable, and she thinks the Homestead Road 29 project is important. She said she wishes there was three times the funding available. She said 30 she would like to bring the Habitat project from $817,000 to 500,000 and EmPOWERment 31 project from $700,000 to $500,000, and move the excess funds to the Homestead Road project. 32 She said she would leave the stairwell rehab project in place. 33 Commissioner McKee asked if the impact of removing $317,000 from the Habitat project 34 could be identified. 35 Jennifer Player said the impact would be huge, and 93% is already being leveraged from 36 other sources. She said a reduction in funds would require those funds to be found elsewhere. 37 She said a great deal of private funding is being pursued. She said Habitat is hyper local. 38 Commissioner McKee asked if the impact of removing $200,000 from the 39 EmPOWERment project could be identified. 40 Delores Bailey said removing $200k would be detrimental, as there are no other funding 41 sources available. She said EmPOWERment is small, and cannot compete with larger 42 organizations such as Habitat and Self-Help. 43 Commissioner McKee said he can accept moving funds away from Habitat, but cannot 44 support a request to reduce funding to EmPOWERment. 45 Commissioner Dorosin agreed, and said the Homestead Road and EmPOWERment 46 projects should be fully funded. 47 Commissioner Price said she likes the Homestead Road project, as it brings together so 48 many organizations and provides for great diversity. She said she also wants to support the 49 stairwell repair project and fully support the EmPOWERment project. She said supporting the 50 EmPOWERment project allows the BOCC to show it is serious about social justice. She said 51 she supports Commissioner Dorosin's proposal.