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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-04-26 Housing MIN ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION APRIL 26, 2000 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER – The meeting was called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Chairman Larry Medinger. Other Commissioners present were Gerry Sea, Nancy Richardson, Jan Vaughn, Carlus Harris, Joan Legg, and Madeline Hill. Joe McKeever was absent. Council Liaison David Fine was present. Staff present were Bill Molnar and Sue Yates. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Sea moved approval, Vaughn seconded and the Minutes of the March 22, 2000 were approved. GUEST PRESENTATIONS SOPHIA McDONALD, Director of Communications at SOU, wanted to give the Commission an update of the student rental housing situation. McDonald put together a short status report on the rental training program for the property managers in Ashland that she distributed to the Commissioners. She noted the results of a couple of the survey questions. In particular, 30 percent of respondents said they had been denied renting a house or apartment because they were a college student. Close to 50 percent said they would be interested in taking a rental training class. The report goes on to talk about the rental training class. The plan is to try piloting the rental training program in the residence halls this term. It would then be offered as a class next spring. Harris asked if McDonald had been in contact recently with anyone from the Southern Oregon Rental Owners Association or ACCESS with regard to classes? Harris has learned of a pilot program in place at this time that is being sponsored by Oregon Housing and Community Services Dept. with curriculum already in place (Best Foot Forward?). It has been approved by OHCSD. The rental association in Portland and Oregon Housing have agreed this would be an accepted curriculum and in return the state would provide a two month rental incentive for those who are certified. McDonald could call ACCESS and talk to Cindy Dyer for more information. Harris said it would be best to bring that curriculum down here, start the conversation with the state and become part of the pilot program. McDonald said they would incur some minimal expenses on a one-time basis to help run this pilot program. They will probably need around $100. Molnar said he would have to check the budget. Sea agreed it would be helpful to connect with Portland and the state. McDonald said they are hoping to run the pilot program in about three weeks. She will contact Molnar to report back on how the program works. NANCY RICHARDSON, Harvest Built Homes, passed out information about her program. They looked at the programs already available and came up with their own. They work with 65 percent of HUD median income and below. The homes will all be straw bale construction. They will be self-loaning because there are not conventional loans for people in that income bracket. They do straw bale for the energy consumption. A 1375 sq. ft. house in moderate climate will save $18,000 in heating and cooling costs over 30 years. If the person wants to sell within the first 15 years, Harvest Built Homes has the first option to buy back. If they choose to sell between 16 and 30 years, then they would reserve the choice of buying back and selling it as another affordable house or put in an option of putting it on the open market. After the buyer pays back everything they owe Harvest Built Homes, they would split the profits. They are looking for their first lot. The other part of their program is community education. When building the classroom at Ashland High School, they had 150 volunteers and about 60 students. They gained hands-on education in environmental science and building technology. Hopefully, this year they will be hiring an education coordinator who develop the curriculum for school districts. Legg wondered if Richardson would be interested in looking at what the intermediate education district has done in Medford with students who have rehabilitated homes there through the RVCDC. They are putting together a joint homeownership program brochure. Sea asked the cost to the homebuyer. Richardson said she did not know for sure but was estimating about $87/sq. ft. They are applying for grant funding. They have approached the Oregon Community Foundation that will set up an endowment fund for land purchases. Harris asked Richardson to explain the resale formula. Richardson said there would be cash they have into it and there is the portion that is forgiven and pro-rated over 30 years. If the house is valued at $125,000 at move-in, with $75,000 cash into the project (buyer’s mortgage loan), they would earn pro-rated, over a 30 year period a $50,000 difference. That means they would be gaining more in value of the home than just the principle. It is a three percent interest loan. It is laid out in the guidelines. Harris said the $50,000 would be the subsidy. Medinger wondered if Richardson ever thought about having the buyer qualify for some type of conventional loan so it wouldn’t eat up so much of Harvest Built’s money? It would relieve her of the fundraising burden. Medinger noted that most people expand their economic situation over a period of time. They don’t usually stay at 65 percent of median. Harris did not notice criteria about an applicant’s credit rating. Richardson said they have to have good credit for two years. Hill said the obvious question to her is why is Richardson not suggesting a Harvest Built Home be put on a lot that the land trust owns? Richardson said they have talked about that. It would be a Harvest Built Home straw bale home but a land trust loan. Harris is concerned about splitting the net proceeds with the buyer 50/50. He would like to see sustained affordability as mentioned in the Consolidated Plan. It would seem with Harvest Built Homes a lot of the equity is not staying with the home. Hill would be much more interested with Harvest Built Homes if it was on a piece of land owned by the land trust. The Land Trust Board has taken a mental leap in understanding that the goal is for the long-term. Medinger said we have almost a ten year track record in the city of trying a program that has allowed equity to migrate. The city made a sacrifice of giving density bonuses that creates the wealth to buy down a certain amount. The house becomes more valuable and buyers are selling within a few years and making a windfall from the irreversible density bonus. KEN ENGELUND, Habitat for Humanity Vice President, gave an explanation of the program. They are working on th their 18 home in the Rogue Valley. Habitat is a faith based non-profit housing ministry, dedicated to drawing people together of all faiths and backgrounds (or not faith) who can build decent affordable houses in partnership with those in need. They have recently hired Executive Director, Anna Dematto. Habitat has about 100 volunteers. When a project comes along, they draw in volunteers from community organizations. They build a home with the help of a selected homeless family and community volunteers. It is a combination of getting donations in kind, materials, sometimes land, and cash. Homes are sold at no interest with a 20 year mortgage. Mortgage payments are used by Habitat to help support future homes. They build three typical homes: 900 sq. ft., 2 bedroom, 1050 sq. ft., 3 bedroom, and 1150 sq. ft., 4 bedroom. In addition, they rehab homes. They have the capability to repair homes. The actual cost for a Habitat home, including the land is $70,000 to 90,000. The house is sold to the family for about $50 per sq. ft. Each homeowner invests 200 sweat equity hours together with 300 sweat equity hours that come from the community. Going from renting in poverty housing to a home of their own makes a big psychological difference. Income eligibility levels are between 30 and 60 percent of the federal median guidelines. Family selection is based on their housing need, their willingness to become a partner, and their ability to pay the mortgage. As Engelund reviews the Consolidated Plan, it seems there is a great parallel and it would seem to be a natural to put a Habitat home on land trust property. Habitat has an A Mortgage and a B Mortgage. A Mortgage is $50 per sq. ft. That is what the family pays. The B mortgage is the appraised value at the time and subsequently, if the homeowner sells the house, they are obligated to pay the B Mortgage. Habitat would be interested in working with the Housing Commission. Engelund handed out an informational sheet on Habitat for Humanity. Engelund said they have a Vista volunteer who works on fund raising strategies. Legg thought it would be exciting to have an affordable housing conference for public education and highlight all these organizations. Medinger reiterated the nice thing about the Land Trust is that the trust is immortal. Hill said ACLT should be talking to these entities about programs. Harris explained that with the Land Trust you never let go of the majority of the equity in the home which means the home will always be affordable—even more affordable as time goes on. The cost of the land is always taken out of the formula. He further said the Land Trust program is not made to create money for the homebuyer per se. It is made to make sure they have an affordable house to live in to raise their family, and if their income goes up, they can still live in the house. ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION 2 MINUTES APRIL 26, 2000 Medinger thought it might be to the Land Trust’s benefit to have Habitat produce the house under their guidelines because it would mean so little capital and be one more way to increase the reach of both organizations. CONSOLIDATED PLAN UPDATE – The Council had a Study Session and there will be a hearing on Tuesday reviewing the Plan. Molnar encouraged members who read the plan or support it to attend the meeting. Medinger attended the Study Session. It was important for the Council to hear from the Housing Commission about the Consolidated Plan. NEXT MONTH’S AGENDA Legg wondered what it would take to get a Vista volunteer? Sea said she would be glad to look into how it could be done. This item will be on next month’s agenda. Inclusionary Zoning Amendments – This item should be first on the agenda. Molnar and Medinger should meet first on this item. Molnar said Doug Neuman would like to come before the Housing Commission next month to talk about “equity migration”. He built Ashland Village that had eleven homes under the program initially. There have been four that have sold out. The last one got about $50,000 to $60,000 profit. Neuman, as a developer, is a strong supporter of revisiting the re-capture clause. Medinger would appreciate Neuman focusing on solving the problem. Hill would be interested in statistics showing how many have sold out. LAND TRUST UPDATE - Several Commissioners attended the ribbon cutting ceremony at Chautauqua Trace. Harris talks with the new homeowners daily and they are very, very happy with their new homes. Harris said the ACLT has been selected by the Institute of Community Economics to be the land trust they highlight in the nationwide fundraising. They have requested before and after photos. Sea has resigned as a board member of the Land Trust as of the end of the month. No one was certain if Sea is the Housing Commission’s designate. Harris said four seats are vacant. A special meeting may need to be called to elect a replacement. Can this be done over e-mail? th The annual meeting of the Land Trust will be May 25. ADJOURNMENT – The meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m. ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION 3 MINUTES APRIL 26, 2000