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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-05-26 Housing MIN ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES MAY 26, 1999 CALL TO ORDER - The meeting was called to order at 4:15 p.m. by Chairman Gerry Sea. Other Commissioners present were Joe McKeever, Joan Legg, Madeline Hill and Carlus Harris. Absent members were Sondra Nolan, Jan Vaughn, Larry Medinger, and Steve Hauck. Staff present were Bill Molnar and Susan Yates. MINUTES - Harris moved to approve the Minutes of the April 28, 1999 meeting. The motion was seconded and the Minutes were approved. INCLUSIONARY ZONING - Molnar handed out an example from Bellevue, Washington and will discuss it later. HOME OWNERSHIP PROGRAM - Cindy Dyer, ACCESS, reported that 16 applications had been made to the program with three applicants finding housing and funding. She thought the others were probably unable to find housing. The program has spent $6,964. It is a good program but it works slowly and has become a tool some can use to obtain home ownership. Dyer thought one home price was $105,000. The homes purchased were existing. Harris asked Dyer what she felt some impediments might be to potential buyers. Dyer said besides the homes in Ashland being expensive, one barrier is personal credit. In addition, some cannot qualify for the programs that are available because the income limits are too low. McKeever noted that maybe some of these people might qualify for the land trust. Sea asked if the Commissioners would like to extend this program as this is the one year review of it. Molnar said one Council person had asked for a report a year after the program’s inception. In July the Housing Commission will make a presentation to the Council so this could be included. The Council will be looking to the Commission to see if this is an effective program. Dyer said with house prices being more expensive, $2500 is not very much money. A higher amount being offered might be helpful. The downside of that is the payments would be higher. Legg would like to see this report and recommendations for the Commission’s consideration in writing since they will be giving a formal report to the Council. Sea thought a brief statement from the participants, if they are willing, would be helpful. RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM - Ellen Grey, ACCESS, said they became aware of some problems from some participants in paying back their loans under this program. There were two families at the beginning of the program that received assistance that have not been paying anything back. They put a halt to the program until they made some slight changes. Now the participants need to present a City of Ashland utility bill with no outstanding past due balance for the past six months and no more than two past due notices within the previous six months. Participants residing outside the city limits must provide a letter of credit from a past utility provider. She believes there will be a big difference with this added clause. They are also looking at not serving as many eviction prevention clients. They talk to a lot of people who have budget problems or those that are not as responsible and don’t consider their rent as one of their top priorities. There have been seven families that have made use of the program with two discontinued and five making payments. They have just brought on a couple of new participants under the new guidelines so they have not seen how the payments are going. Grey believes there is a need for this program and is worth trying for another six months to a year. Molnar said a lot of discretion is used in the program because it is hard to cover every situation in the program. Sea would like to see a composite of who they are serving. Grey said she can do a report. Hill wondered about changing the requirements of living in Ashland six of the last nine months. Legg thought it seemed like there was a great deal of competition for the rental assistance, so it would seem to make sense to change that requirement. Harris does not have a problem changing this requirement but when the program was implemented, there were strong feelings to have only Ashland residents. Hill moved to change the wording to “six of the last nine months”. Legg seconded the motion and it carried with Harris abstaining. COMMUNITY LAND TRUST - McKeever reported that Aaron Benjamin, an urban development consultant, came to the City’s open house and expressed an interest in the land trust. Legg thought the Commission should consider developing a list of people that could be called upon when needed. Update from the Transition Committee - Dyer said they have had about five meetings. The resale formulas have been a big area of discussion. They have scheduled a meeting with Jeff Yegian the latter part of June. They have sent letters to those who have attended the home ownership meetings or applied for either program inviting them to a meeting in June. Prior to bringing them in, they want the resale formula drafted. The trust has no money and they need to figure out where to get it. The start-up cost would be about $2000 (legal fees, etc.). We should start looking for that source now. Molnar said they could consider using money from the Housing Trust Fund. He is not certain how that would work. Legg wondered about approaching the bank for money to get started. Dyer thought a bank might be more than willing, but until the land trust is established, the only applicant would be ACCESS. Hill thought it advisable to use the Housing Trust Fund. Molnar will look into the process. Dyer said it could be a loan that could be paid back, if necessary. Hill moved to instruct Staff to look into having $2000 allocated for organizational set-up of the land trust. McKeever seconded the motion and it carried with Harris abstaining. Harris took the liberty of setting the focus group meeting for the night of the regular Commission meeting. He thought it would be a good way to pull the entire Commission in on the process and be able to experience what people are saying about the ideas that the committee have and why they are making certain decisions based upon their targeted population. Dyer said the transition committee is made up three members of the Housing Commission, three members of ACCESS, Bill Molnar, City representative and two other community positions. One is a potential borrower of the land trust and a lender. The lender is Fred Evans from Key Bank. Sea noted that it was not clear to her that he was joining the board (during the transition’s committee meeting). She thought he was a guest and he should be approved. Harris agreed and stated Evans was a guest today. He knows Evans is aware there is a process for his approval. Harris said Evans have expressed an interest in being involved in the transition committee. Key Bank is one of two banks that have been involved in closing loans on community land trusts in Oregon. Hill moved that the Housing Commission appoint Fred Evans to the transition committee. McKeever seconded the motion. Alice Drysdale, the potential borrower, was already appointed. Legg would like to see this type of thing on the agenda so she can see it ahead of time. What are we doing on parity for other potential lenders? She would not want it to look like preferential treatment is being given to someone. She would like to see a process set up that is going to be a clean process she will not have to worry about. Hill amended her motion to include Alice Drysdale and Fred Evans to the transition committee. Harris said if we have to process this, then we have to define what that process is. We should know what that is before leaving here today so the Commission can go through that process. ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES 2 MAY 26, 1999 McKeever seconded the amended motion. The motion carried unanimously. Legg moved that the Commission set up a panel of experts for areas that are vital to the land trust management. McKeever asked if Legg meant that someone in Evans’ capacity would be secondary. He is trying to understand the difference between Evans and Drysdale. Hill said Drysdale would like to be one of the early participants so she has something at stake and Evans has something at stake financially whereas some members do not. McKeever does not see a conflict. Legg said that anyone that would want to participate in this type of panel does not necessarily have to have a decision-making vote on a board. The motion carried with Harris abstaining. Harris said they have been forging ahead, thinking the transition committee was charged with doing whatever was necessary to get the expertise to get the land trust going and get it off the ground. Now he is hearing that anytime they are going to bring someone in to be a part of that particular process to be a part of that particular committee, it should be brought to the Commission and there be a process. He still does not see the process. He personally called the focus group because they were people who had been involved the down payment program and other programs because they seemed to be the population the land trust is interested in to get their attention. He is getting the feeling that this is something that should have come before the Commission as well. Hill did not think so. That is part of the transition committee’s job. Sea said she has a note about the set-up and it does not address adding new members to the transition committee, only in the sense that the transition committee was appointed by the Commission. Legg said someone could be asked to serve as an expert and work with the transition committee. Not everyone they are working with has to be a part of a board. McKeever said he thought they were trying to create a nine member board and they are struggling with it. They thought they had someone from the lending institution but they did not, so they brought in someone else. McKeever read from his notes that they are going back to the Housing Commission as a nine member board for things like training, consulting, attorney, minimum down payment, work with the lenders, choosing a lender, those types of things, but not to appoint the original nine member board. Sea said the transition committee is a short-term situation. When the board is set up, then there is a process to elect the board members. ADJOURNMENT - The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m. ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES 3 MAY 26, 1999