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MINUTES OF THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS August 4, 1969 BCDK 7 PAGE 221 The Board of Orange County Commissioners met in adjourned session in the Courtroom at the Courthouse in Hillsborough, North Carolina on Monday, August 4, 1969, at 8:00 o'clock P.M. for the purpose of holding a public hearing on whether or not the county would create a Public Housing Authority. Members Present: Chairman Carl M. Smith, and Commissioners Harvey D. Bennett, William C. Ray, Henry S. Walker and Ira A. Ward. Members Absent: None Chairman Smith cited G.S. 157-33, same being as follows: "The board.of county commissioners shall determine (i) whether arisanitary or unsafe inhabited dwelling accommodations exist iri th.e county and/or (ii) whether there is a lack of safe or sanitary dwelling accommodations in the county available for all the inhabitants thereof. In determining whether dwelling accommodations are unsafe or insanitary, the board of county commissioners shall take into consideration the following: The physical condition and age of the buildings; the degree of over- crowding; the percentage of the land coverage; the light and air available to the inhabitants of such dwelling accommodations; the size and arrangement of the rooms; the sanitary facilities; and the extent to which conditions exist in such buildings which endanger life or property by fire or other causes". Chairman Smith recognized Coolidge Porterfield, Rousing Development Co-ordinator for the Joint Orange-Chatham Community Action Agency, who acted as Chairman of the proponents for the establishment of a Public Housing Authority. Mr. Porterfield stated that it was his job to interview citizens from the lower income bracket in order to determine whether or not they could afford to purchase their own homes. He cited that a two hundred dollar ($200.00) down payment must be paid on a ten thousand dollar ($10,000.00) mortgage at an interest rate of one percent (1%) and a monthly installment rate of forty-nine dollars ($49.00). That his investigation found there were 3,885 citizens or thirty-one (3170) percent of the citizenry of this county whose homes lacked indoor plumbing and that there were 2,319 families whose incomes were less than $3,200 annually. Mr. Porterfield recognized the following persons: Mrs. Elva J. Butler, a Public Health Nurse from Chatham County. Mrs. Butler stated that inadequate housing and ill health go hand in hand to create an undesirable situation. Wiley Perry, Farm Supply Dealer, stated that due to his experience with the Orange Alamance Water Systems, Inc. he had become acutely aware of the lack of economic opportunities for employment in the county. Re stated further that he was now working with the Research Triangle Planning Commission and the Orange County Economic Opportunity committee, hopefully for the purpose of broadening the employment base in the county. Horace Johnson, member of the human Relations Council, stated that employment and housing are impossible to separate and that with the loss of Fiber Industries, Inc, it was his opinion that the economic situation in Orange County, especially to the low income families, would be a long time in being relieved, Dr. Henry Turlington, Minister of the University Baptist Church, stated that it was the general opinion that poverty was the fault of the person who dwelt in poverty, but he pointed out that sometimes this is not the case, in that, homes were not currently being built by commercial builders for the low income citizens. He suggested that the Commissioners help provide decent jobs for the less skilled citizens and assist with the changing of housing problems by the establishment of a Public Housing Authority. Dr. Dorothy Kiester, Assistant Director of the Institute of Government and a member of the Community Action Committee, stated that a Public Housing Authority would provide the necessary machinery for home ownership and thus enable some individuals to help themselves towards a better way of life. Pearson Stewart, Executive Director, Research Triangle Regional Planning Commission, stated that after a personal investigation of the sub-standard housing condition in Orange County that under the prevailing situation he knew of no way to meet the housing defici6ney.exeept by using all avenues which were available, such as public and private housing. He suggested that the Orange County Board of Commissioners appoint the members of the Board of Commissioners as the Public Housing Authority, because this board was accountable and they had the authority to co-ordinate their efforts with other agencies of government and were aware of what was happening in the county.