Gadsden County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee
May 13, 2010, 10:00 a.m.
Gadsden County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee
Board of County Commission Chambers
Edward J. Butler Governmental Office Complex
9 East Jefferson St.
Quincy, FL
May 13, 2010, 10:00 a.m.
May 17, 2010, 10:00 a.m.
Members
Present: Eric Hinson , Chairman (May 17, 2010)
Richard Lockwood (May 13 and May 17, 2010)
Sherry VanLandingham (May 13 and May 17, 2010)
Alma Venisee (May 13 and May 17, 2010)
Rev. Charles Flowers (May 13 and May 17, 2010)
Don Vickers (May 17, 2010)
Dr. Julius Houston (May 17, 2010)
Alonzo McBride (May 17, 2010)
Jeff Davis (May 17, 2009)
Staff
Present: Phyllis Moore, SHIP Administrator
Muriel Straughn, Deputy Clerk
Mr. Ed Cox, Consultant /Contractor
CALL TO ORDER
In the absence of the chairman, Ms. Moore called the meeting to order at 10:40 a.m. even though there was no quorum. She explained that there is some urgency in coming to a decision on the proposed applications.
UPDATE
Ms. Moore pointed out the following:
· The Community Development Department has such a backlog of applications that it quit accepting applications in 2007 except for emergency situations that come to the staff’s attention.
· There will be no more money coming to the county from the State Housing Assistance Program (SHIP) in the foreseeable future due to the actions by the Legislature resulting from the current economy. But, they (the Legislature) did provide some monies through other programs.
· The Legislature did provide $800,000 in the Impact Fee Proviso Program (IFPP) for housing. Gadsden County allocated $480,000 of that money to be used for rehabilitating homes; $240,000 for new home purchase assistance and $80,000 for foreclosure assistance.
There were a number of applicants on the rehabilitation waiting list that could not be serviced in the past because the SHIP money alone was not enough to accomplish the more extensive renovations. It was also noted that SHIP will not fund any project unless it can be brought up to code. The Impact Fee Proviso money was leveraged with SHIP funds to rehab some of those homes and bring them up to code. The applications for the Impact Fee Proviso funds were identified and approved by the Board of County Commissioners on August 25, 2009.
Disaster Relief Program – Crawfish Island in Chattahoochee –
Ms. Moore reported that a grant was written during the year to help provide ingress/egress to the people who live on Crawfish Island in Chattahoochee. At present, during times of heavy rainfall, the residents who live there are stranded because there is only one way in and one way out. She did not confirm whether the county had actually received the award.
Program Fund Balances:
Ms. Moore reported that the fund balances in the current programs are as follows:
2008-2009 SHIP Rehab - $25,331.53
2008-2009 SHIP New Construction 24,000.00
Impact Fee Proviso Rehabilitation 46,438.02
Impact Fee Proviso New Construction 165,916.47
Impact Fee Foreclosure 77,000.00
As noted in the fund balances above, Ms. Moore pointed out that when all the Impact Fee Proviso projects were completed, there was some money left over. She explained that if the county does not make use of it by June 30, 2009, those unused funds must be returned to the State. She proposed that rather than return the money, that it be used to complete other projects that are still on the waiting list. She proposed the following projects:
o Emergency Repair Applications
§ Aaron Darsaw–District 1, Havana, FL - amputated legs – needs home accommodations immediately.
§ Joe Barnes - Emergency Application, District 5 – Shiloh area - owner confined to a wheel chair – needs home completely rehabbed for wheelchair accessibility – He can’t even access his bathroom at present
§ Reatha Williams, District 1 – Midway - Needs a wheelchair ramp
§ Clyde Weatherspoon- quadrapalegic – needs home rehabbed throughout to accommodate his needs – contacted by Allen Boyd’s Office
§ Rosa Sweet – Holt Lane – Quincy. District 5; Roof damage from recent tornado – She must take measures to remove trees to insure that the damage will not continue to occur after the roof repair is completed.
o Rehabilitation Applicants (These applications have been on file with the department since 2007 or prior)
§ Carey Logan– complete rehab needed
§ Rosa Donaldson –St. Hebron area – Major Repair
§ Vida Copeland –application received in 2007; complete rehab
§ Agnes Jackson, 5507 Bonnie Hill Road, Chattahoochee, FL 32324 Chattahoochee Area
§ Michael McLendon and Marilyn 325 Congo Street, Chattahoochee Area
o First Time Home Buyer Purchase Assistance
§ Carla Adams -
§ Tunisia Moore
§
o Foreclosure Assistance
§ Virginia Wells (mother) and Keyonna Fields (daughter)-financial circumstances of the household changed when the mother had to be moved to a nursing home
Florida Home Owner Opportunity Program - (FHOP)
The State provided $350,000 through the Florida Home Owner Opportunity Program to assist with first time home buyers. Ms. Moore reported that she had asked permission from the State to retain these funds to do rehabilitation projects in FY 2010-2011. She received approval, but it is unofficial as of this date. The proposed budget would be as follows:
New Construction $ 52,000.00
Rehab 240,000.00
Emergency Repairs 9,000.00
Homeowner Counseling 14,000.00
Administration fees 35,000.00
Review of the Housing Program
The County Commission approved the amendment to the Local Housing Assistance Plan (LHAP) on August 25, 2009 to incorporate those new funding sources (IFFP & FHOP) into the local housing plan and to leverage it with other monies to give more assistance locally. At the same time, the BOCC approved a list of applicants who were to benefit from the program. That list was comprised of applicants from every county commission district to insure a fair distribution of the funds. The projects within each district were selected based on the severity of need. (The county has contracted with a consultant who evaluates every application and he alerts the staff to those project s which are considered to be emergencies. Those applications are processed as quickly as possible.)
Ms. Moore explained that the staff determines which projects qualify for the program (income, credit worthiness, etc.) Once qualified, staff in concert with the consultant, evaluated the applications based on needs. First consideration ids given to those people who have the greatest need - physically impaired, medically needy, or elderly. In the end, some of the funds are spent in every county commission district. Neither the staff nor the program targets a specific area – it is widely dispersed throughout the county.
Once again, Ms. Moore stated that the initial Impact Fee Proviso projects had been completed as it was proposed initially and some money remains unused. She reiterated that there are some extremely needy cases that need to be addressed and time is of the essence to get the projects moving forward.
The committee reviewed each of the applications and found that staff’s findings and analysis to be in good order and her recommendations to be correct.
Considering the fact that there is backlog of applications coupled with newly identified emergency situations, the committee members present decided that there should be a push to utilize the money rather than return it to the state.
UPON MOTION BY REV. FLOWERS AND SECOND BY ALMA VENISEE, THE BOARD VOTED 4 – 0, BY SHOW OF HANDS, TO APPROVE THE APPLICATIONS AND TO RECOMMEND TO THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS THAT THE PROJECTS BE APPROVED.
UPON MOTION BY ALMA VENISEE AND SECOND BY SHERRY VANLANDINGHAM, THE BOARD VOTED 4 – 0, BY SHOW OF HANDS, TO AUTHORIZE THE STAFF TO MOVE FORWARD IMMEDIATELY ON ALL EMERGENCY APPLICATIONS AS SHE DEEMS NECESSARY AS THE NEEDS ARE SO DIRE.
THERE WAS A CONSENSUS TO RECESS UNTIL MONDAY AT 10:00 A.M. AT WHICH TIME THEY CAN RATIFY THE ACTIONS ABOVE ONCE A QUORUM CAN BE REACHED.
MAY 17, 2010 – 10:00 A.M.
The committee reconvened at 10:10 a.m. on May 17, 2010 with nine members present as noted on page one.
Ms. Moore reviewed the previous actions of the committee and the discussions held on May 13, 2010. She also gave each member a copy of the state audit reflecting an overall score of 96%, an excellent audit.
The board complimented Ms. Moore and her staff for their hard work and the ”heart felt” commitment she brings to the program. They all expressed their gratitude.
Meeting Dates
It was proposed that the committee meet on a monthly basis at a regular time.
UPON MOTION BY SHERRY VANLANDINGHAM AND SECOND BY REV. FLOWERS, THE COMMITTEE VOTED 9 – 0, BY VOICE VOTE, TO MEET EVERY FOURTH TUESDAY AT 10:00 A.M.
Ms. Moore then named all of the proposed projects as named earlier in this set of minutes. A brief discussion followed .
UPON MOTION BY SHERRY VANLANDINGHAM AND SECOND BY REV. FLOWERS, THE COMMITTEE VOTED 9 – 0, BY VOICE VOTE, TO RATIFY THE ACTIONS TAKEN ON MAY 13, 2010 AND APPROVE ALL THE APPLICATIONS AS PROPOSED.
UPON MOTION BY SHERRY VANLANDINGHAM AND SECOND BY JEFF DAVIS, THE BOARD VOTED 9 – 0, BY VOICE VOTE, TO AUTHORIZE STAFF TO MOVE FORWARD IMMEDIATELY ON ALL EMERGENCY APPLICATIONS IN THE FUTURE WITHOUT HAVING TO COME TO THE COMMITTEE FIRST FOR APPROVAL. (FUNDING PERMITTING)
THERE BEING NOT OTHER BUSINESS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE, THE CHAIRMAN DECLARED THE MEETING ADJOURNED.
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