January 8, 2003

Council supports Home, Inc. effort to get state funding

Village Council approved on Monday a resolution expressing support for Yellow Springs Home, Inc.’s effort to seek funding from a state agency for a local affordable housing effort.

The resolution states that Council “extends its support” to Home, Inc. “in seeking funds from the Housing Development Assistance Program (HDAP) for the construction and sale of affordable single-family homes.” Council voted 4-0 to approve the resolution before a packed Council room. Council member Denise Swinger abstained from voting, saying that her position with Starfish, another group working to build affordable housing in town, could be a possible conflict with the resolution. “I’m glad this is being resolved,” she said of the vote on Home, Inc.’s request.

Last month, Home, Inc. had asked Council to state its support for the organization’s grant application, which if successful, could help secure funding to help Home, Inc. purchase land on which to build about 10 houses. The funding would come from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, which oversees HDAP. Support from a local municipality carries the most weight in the agency’s system for awarding grants, Marianne MacQueen, the director of Home, Inc., told Council.

Council, however, postponed a vote on the request in order to hold a public hearing on the resolution on Monday. Though Council is not required to hold formal hearings on resolutions, Council members said that they wanted to give the public time to comment on the request.

Over the last three weeks, the public did comment. Council received 20 letters urging Council members to support Home, Inc., and two letters expressing reservations for the original resolution that Home, Inc. proposed.

Just a few comments, however, were offered during Monday’s hearing, which was attended by about 40 people. Jim Rose complimented Council and the community for considering and supporting the resolution “without bitterness.”

Susan Stiles, the executive director of the Greene Metropolitan Housing Authority, said that the challenge of building affordable housing is to come up with the funding to actually make the housing affordable and well built.

The resolution Council approved was a revised version of the document originally presented to Council last month. The new measure was written by Council member Mary J. Alexander with the help of MacQueen and Tony Bent, a member of the Home, Inc. board and a former Council member.

The revised resolution also did not vary widely from the original, though it did include fewer details about Home, Inc.’s plans to build up to 10 moderately priced houses over the next two years. Alexander said that it was not necessary to list in the resolution some of those details, which included the number of houses Home, Inc. plans to build.

The revised resolution did not include a statement in the original proposal that referred to a Council goal from 2003 to increase the housing supply in town. Alexander did not say why this statement was omitted.

The resolution was also amended to say that Council “extends its support” to Home, Inc.’s application, a variation from the original proposal that said Council “extends its full support.” Alexander said that there was “difficulty with the word ‘full,’ ” though she did not elaborate. “You still have support of Council in this effort,” she said.

Council member Jocelyn Hardman said that she “didn’t have any problem with the original wording,” except for the inclusion of the phrase “full support.”

Council member George Pitstick said that the new resolution “eliminated some problems” in the original. He also said that Council’s process demonstrates that “just because you take time doesn’t mean you’re against something.” He said that Council “needed time to get information.”

After the meeting, MacQueen said,” I was very pleased with the whole process.” She added that she is “hopeful this is a step toward bridging some of the division in the community.”

Home, Inc. plans to apply for $400,000 to defray the cost of the land on which the 10 houses would sit, MacQueen told Council. About 60 people have requested applications from Home, Inc., she said on Tuesday, and 15 have been pre-qualified, in other words, meet the group’s income requirements.

She said that Home, Inc. will find out this spring if it will receive funding from the Housing Development Assistance Program, and the money would be available by the summer.

—Robert Mihalek