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3 <br />Habitat for Humanity <br />Orange County, NC, Inc. <br />P.O. Box 459 • Hillsborough, NC 27278 • (919) 732 -6767, a►x: (919) 732 -2337 • ochabitat@aol.com <br />November 23, 1999 <br />Ms. Tara. Fikes, Director <br />Housing and Community Development <br />Orange County <br />P.O. Box 8181 <br />Hillsborough, NC 27278 <br />Dear Tara: <br />At their November 22 working session, the Board of County Commissioners <br />requested information regarding deadlines facing the developers of projects being <br />recommended for funding through the affordable housing bond program. Habitat for <br />Humanity, as you know, has requested $460,000 to be used for the purchase of a 41 acre <br />tract in Efland, and the development of a portion of the infrastructure for the 44 <br />affordable home subdivision that we propose to build there. Our contract with the seller <br />of the tract was to expire on November 30, 1999. One of Habitat's contingencies in the <br />contract is that we receive approval from the Board of County Commissioners for our <br />funding proposal. Without this approval, the Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors is <br />not willing to go to closing, since the bond funding is essential to the financial feasibility <br />of the project. <br />At the time that the contract was drawn up, we had anticipated, based on <br />conversations I had with you about the timetable for decision making, that the <br />Commissioners would have made their funding decisions by the end of October 1999. <br />The seller agreed at the time to wait until the end of November to close. When I received <br />word that the Commissioners would not be considering housing.bond proposals until <br />their December 7h meeting, I immediately contacted the seller and asked him for an <br />extension. He was willing, reluctantly, to grant an extension on the contract until the end <br />of December (closing to occur no later than Dec. 30, 1999). However, he made it clear <br />that he must close in the current tax year in order for the sale to be beneficial to him. If <br />we were to delay the closing beyond the end of the year, he would let the contract expire, <br />and we would have to renegotiate price and terms with him. This would certainly result <br />in an increased cost of the property, and would also allow other interested parties to make <br />offers on the property. We stand to lose not only the property, but also our investment of <br />time and money in the development of the concept plan for the subdivision. We have to <br />date incurred expenses in excess of $15,000 to get to the stage we are at in planning the <br />subdivision. <br />We therefore respectfully request that the Board of County Commissioners take <br />action at their December 7t' meeting on our housing bond proposal. If their decision <br />about our proposal is an affirmative one, which we certainly hope it will be, then we will <br />