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11 <br /> Travis Myren said there is one county funded permanent supportive housing program at <br /> $150,000 that IFC is administering. <br /> Commissioner Bedford said the Partnership to End Homelessness met and the budget <br /> they approved is a continuation budget, considering the funding pressures. She said there is no <br /> new funding coming. <br /> Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked about the number of people on the waitlist for housing <br /> choice vouchers and the average length of stay. <br /> Travis Myren said people keep the voucher as long as they're eligible. He said if their <br /> income rises to a certain level and they become ineligible, the voucher becomes available for <br /> reissuance. <br /> Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked how often that happens. <br /> Travis Myren said he would get the average length of time on the waitlist, what the turnover <br /> is, and how long someone keeps a voucher. <br /> Commissioner Greene asked if Orange County supplemented housing choice vouchers. <br /> Travis Myren said that was through ARPA funding. <br /> Commissioner Greene said she thought the county supported it when she first came on <br /> the Board. She said that is one option the county could pursue. <br /> Chair Hamilton said that the Board will need to have a focused discussion on housing in <br /> the county. She said that the county will be challenged in providing services and paying for those <br /> services. She asked that commissioners review the strategic plan. She said that they may need <br /> to change performance measures to make sure that they are relevant to the community. She said <br /> that federal funding may also affect performance measures. <br /> Commissioner Bedford another issue is that once someone does have a voucher, they <br /> must find a landlord that will accept the voucher. She said that wait can be up to three months. <br /> She said 25 new landlords have been added to the program. <br /> Commissioner Greene said that having a good number of landlords in the program is a <br /> success. <br /> Commissioner Bedford said one thing they should be looking at is the grant for preserving <br /> farmland and when it expires. She said they should get an update on this, and they need to know <br /> if there's a rubric and how they are recruiting. She said they have the match in the budget. <br /> Commissioner Carter asked if that is the conservation easement. <br /> Commissioner Bedford said she doesn't remember. <br /> Commissioner Carter she attended an NCACC agriculture committee meeting, and they <br /> discussed a program for conservation easements. She said that it is a pilot program this year, <br /> but will expire unless the legislature acts. <br /> Commissioner Bedford noted that the county closed on two conservation easement <br /> properties in December 2025. <br /> Kelly Guadalupe said there is a performance measure in the environment goal to <br /> permanently protect 300 additional acres of farmland, priority natural areas, riparian buffer lands, <br /> floodplains and wildlife habitat over the next five years. She said the county is on track for that <br /> measure. <br /> At 10:03 a.m., a motion was made by Commissioner Portie-Ascott, seconded by <br /> Commissioner McKee, to recess until 10:20 a.m. <br /> VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> A motion was made by Vice-Chair Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Greene, to <br /> reconvene the meeting at 10:20 a.m. <br /> VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />