HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-13-2007-8aORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: March 13, 2007
Action Agenda
Item No. _ ~ ~~. -
SUBJECT: Orange County Housing Rehabilitation Community Development Block Grant
Program
DEPARTMENT: Housing/Comm. Development PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) Yes
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tara L. Fikes, ext 2490
PURPOSE: To receive comments from the public concerning the FY 2007 Housing
Rehabilitation Program for Orange County.
BACKGROUND: The County was recently notified by the N.C. Department of Commerce -
Division of Community Assistance of the award of $400,000 in Scattered Site Housing
Rehabilitation funds under the FY 2007 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program.
These grants are no longer competitive, .and each interested county in North Carolina is
scheduled to receive an allocation every three years to provide housing rehabilitation funds for
the county and the municipalities within the county. Orange County received $400,000 in
housing rehabilitation funds in 2001 and 2004 and is designated to receive funds in 2007.
These grant funds must be used to repair substandard housing occupied by low-income families
in the Towns of Carrboro and Hillsborough as well as the unincorporated areas of Orange
County. These funds may not be used in the Town of Chapel Hill since they receive Community
Development Block Grant funding directly from HUD. In prior years, these funds have repaired
approximately 26 dwelling units in the County.
Families with incomes at or below 50% of area median income that own and occupy
deteriorated housing are eligible to participate in the program. For the purpose of this program,
deteriorated housing are dwelling units that that have existing housing code violations including
houses that lack indoor plumbing.
In order to receive this funding, the County must conduct two public hearings. The first hearing
provides an opportunity to obtain citizen comments prior to developing an application for these
funds and another hearing after the application is completed but prior to submission to the N.C.
Department of Commerce.
After initial public comment is received, an application document will be prepared with input from
the Carrboro and Hillsborough members of the HOME Program Review Committee. A second
public hearing will be planned for March 27, 2007 for additional citizen comment and the BOCC
will be asked to approve submission of the application before March 30, 2007.
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FINANCIAL IMPACT: Application for these funds represents an additional $400,000 available
for affordable housing initiatives in the County.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board receive the comments as
information and authorize the staff to proceed with application development.