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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAHAB minutes 080916Affordable Housing Advisory Board Whitted Building 300 West Tryon Street, Room 250 Hillsborough, NC 27278 Minutes Tuesday, August 9, 2016 Members Present: Patsy Barbie, Chair, Arthur Sprinczeles, Vice Chair; Eleanor Kinnaird; Noah Oswald; Nannie Richmond; Diane Beecham and Keith Cook Excused Absence: Tammy Jacobs Unexcused Absence: None Staff Present: Audrey Spencer - Horsley, Director; and Angela Rockett, Administrative Assistant, Alicia Jones; Housing Program Manager Guest: Corey Root; Orange County Homeless Program Coordinator, Tara May, Intern Orange County Homeless Program and Kolby Herndon Welcome /Introduction The AHAB Chair Patsy Barbee, called the meeting to order at 6:24 pm. Approval of Minutes Correction: Kolby Herndon was listed in the April and May minutes as unexcused member and is not a member. Kolby was a guest. Noah Oswald made a motion to approve the minutes of April 12, 2016 and Nannie Richmond seconded the motion. Mr. Oswald made a motion to approve the minutes of May 17, 2016 and the minutes were approved unanimously. Speaker Audrey Spencer - Horsley introduced Corey Root from Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness. Ms. Root explained that the Partnership to End Homelessness is funded by the county and the three municipalities. The partnership does a number of things including Project Connect. She explained the Outreach Court program which is a therapeutic court that is for people that are homeless or displaced. It helps people get connected to services and get them in housing. There are not many communities that have this program. They are working towards more collaboration and standardization pieces to figure out the gaps in the system and addressing those gaps. The goal is to put people in permanent housing as quick as possible and that is why affordable housing is needed. They have been doing a number of trainings with the communities. Ms. Root stressed the need to have a lot of people on board to make the program work. Ms. Root shared why people become homeless. Normally there is a crisis in that person's life and there is not enough support to prevent them from becoming homeless. The goal is for people who are homeless; rare, brief and non - recurring. The goal is to prevent homelessness orfor it to be less than thirty days. They are looking to house the people who are the most vulnerable which are very often not the easiest to serve people. They are people in jails, emergency rooms and costing a lot of money to keep homeless. In fact, in some cases it cost more to keep someone homeless than to give them a key, a lease and set them up with services they need. if they are in housing and receiving services you will see a drop in mental illness and substance use. Ms. Root stated that to end homelessness there are three things to think about; affordable housing, appropriate services, and income. SOAR is a program that connects homeless people to a fast track process to get benefits. On September 1, 2016, Orange County will have a Community SOAR caseworker. Ms. Root stated that people will stay in the system if there is nowhere for them to go. There is a lot of collaboration happening with elected officials and provider levels working on different plans for affordable housing. Ms. Root mentioned that there is a Landlord partnership incentive specifically for programs that work with homelessness. One incentive is proposing to have a staff person that is a housing person that knows housing and is the landlord's one point of contact. Ms. Root noted that the orientation on homelessness is open to the public and one is scheduled for August 16, 2016 @ 5:30 at the Seymour Center in Chapel Hill. Mr. Cook suggested that Ms. Root come back again and the AHAB members thanked her again for attending and providing a very informative presentation. Affordable Housing Tour Audrey Spencer- Horsley wanted to thank Stephanie Watkins -Cruz, an intern for Orange County Housing, Human Rights and Community Development Department for the work she has done on the Affordable Housing Tour and other projects. The tour will be on September 10, 2016. Ms. Spencer - Horsley went over the tentative plan of the tour. The tour will start at the Whitted Building with a continental breakfast, lunch in Chapel Hill and end back in Hillsborough. Four Orange County Board of Commissioners are scheduled to attend. Departmental /County Reports Audrey Spencer - Horsley let the AHAB Board know that the Affordable Housing Strategic Plan will be on the agenda for the BOCC meeting September 8, 2016. Ms. Spencer - Horsley discussed the timing of the proposed Housing Conference. She shared that it was suggested to have the conference in November after the bond. Diane Beecham agreed that it should be tied to the bond. Committee Reports Diane Beecham reported on the Education Bond. The county is providing a $50,000 budget to educate about the bond. Sheer Associates will develop the campaign. The campaign will begin the end of August until November. The slogan is" Our Schools Our Neighborhood ". Noah Oswald reported on tiny homes. It was suggested to educate the public about tiny homes because they are not legal in some places. Ellie Kinnaird stated that impact fees hurt affordable housing including tiny homes. Mr. Oswald stated that it is expensive without impact fees. The AHAB board wants Audrey Spencer - Horsley to talk to Planning Director about attending a meeting to discuss tiny homes and other affordable housing initiatives they are working on. Other Business Applications were received to fill vacancies on the AHAB board. There are plans to fill the vacant positons in September. The AHAB board suggested that all the applicants be recommended to the BOCC. Ms. Beecham has served two terms and can continue to serve until the position is filled. Ms. Spencer - Horsley thinks that the Board otherwise is good until December. Ms. Kinnaird stated she would like for Delores Bailey to talk about Amity Place planned in Chapel Hill. Arthur Sprinczeles shared that Ted Abernathy will be the speaker at the Rotary Club meeting September 7, 2016 at 7 p.m. at Durham Tech. The next meeting will be Tuesday, September 13, 2016. There being no further business Noah Oswald made the motion to adjourn and Arthur Sprinczeles seconded the motion and the meeting was adjourned at 7:57 pm. Respectfully Submitted: Angela Rockett, Administrative Assistant Audrey Spencer - Horsley, Director Housing Human Rights and Community Development