HomeMy WebLinkAboutAHAB minutes 091019 Orange County Affordable Housing Advisory Board Minutes
Tuesday, September 10, 2019 at 6:00 pm
Efland-Cheeks Community Center
117 Richmond Road, Efland, NC 27302
Members Present: Olivia Fisher, Tammy Jacobs (Vice Chair), Eleanor Kinnaird, Noah
Oswald, Blake Rosser, Arthur Sprinczeles, Jenn Sykes, Cain Twyman
Members Absent: Alison Brown, Douglas Boemker (excused), Keith Cook (excused),
Allison Mahaley (excused), Mae McLendon (excused), Nannie Richmond
Staff Present: Diane Beecham, Community Development Specialist
I. Call to Order/Introductions — Vice-Chair Tammy Jacobs called the meeting to order
at 6:05 pm. She stated that it was unfortunate that Mr. Cook could not be here because
of an unforeseen emergency. It was Mr. Cook that was the force behind the AHAB
meeting in different areas of the community to make people more aware of AHAB's
charge and activities and to hear from community members about their issues and
concerns regarding affordable housing.
II. Approval of Minutes — On a motion by Eleanor Kinnaird and seconded by Jenn
Sykes, the Advisory Board unanimously approved the meeting minutes of August 13,
20, 2019.
III. Updates from Board Members — Ms. Kinnaird reported that she read an
interesting article about four cities, including Minneapolis, that now do not allow for
single-family zoning. In order to be affordable, housing usually needs to be more
densely built, such as duplexes and triplexes, which single-family zoning does not allow
for. She indicated that she does not expect that this would be well-received in this area
but it might be something to consider.
Jenn Sykes reported that the United Health Care insurance company has given social
determinants of health grants in Kansas City. These types of grants which link the
development of affordable, sustainable housing as a way to keep people healthy and
out of the hospital may be a new avenue for municipalities to get grants from insurance
companies for affordable housing.
Blake Rosser said that he attended the joint meeting of the Orange County Affordable
Housing Coalition and the Orange County Local Government Affordable Housing
Collaborative. He found that there were no answers from the public officials about what
we as a community can do about affordable housing, especially since the state
government constrains what local communities can do in this arena. He would have like
to have had more discussion about affordable housing strategies.
IV. Annual Report — [The AHAB decided to schedule a work session to work on the
annual report for Wednesday, October 2nd at 6:OOPM at the office of the Department of
Housing and Community Development in the Whitted Building. The annual report this
year is due in December rather than in April as in past years.]
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V. Director's Report — Diane Beecham reported that the new Director, Emila Sutton,
will start on September 23rd and information about her that was posted on the County's
website is included in the packet.
VI. Old and New Business — [Diane Beecham will follow up on Board vacancies and
will provide the Advisory Board with a list of people who have applied to be appointed to
the Advisory Board. It was also requested that there be a newspaper ad to generate
interest in being an AHAB member.]
It was confirmed that Blake Rosser and Cain Twyman will be attending the annual
Affordable Housing conference in Raleigh this fall.
VII. Public Comment — Ms. Jacobs stated that it was now time for public comment and
the Board encourages people to provide their input and comments regarding affordable
housing in Orange County.
Roger and Nancy Parcells stated that they now live in Hillsborough but will have to
move from their rental because their landlord is selling the property. They want to
continue to rent, and not purchase a home, but every place that they have looked at is
either too expensive or is in terrible shape. It will cost approximately $2,500 for them to
move and they want to know if there a County program that will help with this cost.
They also will need actual physical help with the move.
Ms. Kinnaird responded that there is no single place in Orange County to get
information on all the different types of assistance that is available in the County. Wake
County has a successful central clearinghouse for assistance but the closest example in
Orange County is the Community Empowerment Fund.
Joann Mitchell stated that she is an owner of a Habitat home and wanted to first to say
thank you to the Affordable Housing Advisory Board and to the County for their support
of Habitat and the Magnolia project. As for affordable housing in Orange County, Ms.
Mitchell stated that there needs to be more enforcement action against slumlords and
there also needs to be more neighborhood community centers developed as part of new
and existing neighborhoods. There also needs to be more information and promotion
about the Urgent Repair program within the community.
Ms. Sykes responded that there are minimum housing and occupancy standards , but
they tend to be the bare minimum. There is also fear in reporting violations and so the
violations reported are usually self-reported. There is a real problem with substandard
housing and the harm that it causes, such as asthma in children.
Ms. Kinnaird stated that as an example of how difficult it can be to get enforcement of
housing standards, it took a member of Congress to apply pressure to an owner of a
Section 8 apartment complex in Hillsborough to clean up the units.
The director of the Efland-Cheeks Community Center stated that the Efland-Cheeks
Community Center is a great resource for the community and wants to thank the County
for providing funds to help manage it. The Center just completed a summer enrichment
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program for children that was very successful. She said that she has tried to promote
AHAB's program tonight to the larger community and also to let the community know
about the various County boards and commissions. The community has a thriving
Habitat neighborhood but the Center has not been particularly successful in
encouraging them to participate at the Community Center, with the exception of the
summer enrichment program. The Center staff wants to explore more ways to get the
neighborhood to utilize the Center, particularly during the day.
Kevin Giff, the new Community Development Manager for Habitat stated that one way
that the various affordable housing groups work together is through the Affordable
Housing Preservation Coalition.
Adjournment — On a motion by Noah Oswald and seconded by Jenn Sykes, the
Advisory Board voted to adjourn at 7:10pm.
Submitted by Diane Beecham, Community Development Specialist
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