The Mayor’s Task Force on Housing met yesterday in the Samuel S. Pearson Conference Room of the Henderson Police Department after tracing the steps of a tour through Henderson recently taken by Senators Basnight and Berger.
The meeting involved representatives from such diverse organizations as the North Carolina General Assembly in the persons of Representatives Michael Wray and Jimmy Crawford as well as Senator Doug Berger, the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the Self Help Credit Union, the President Pro Tempore’s Office, Franklin-Vance-Warren Opportunity, and the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. Elected representatives from the city included council members Bobby Gupton, Lynn Harper, and Elissa Yount. Henderson Mayor Clem Seifert was present. Acting City Manager Mark Warren and City Manager Jerry Moss were there for the meeting. Code Compliance Director Corey Williams was present, as well as Planning Director Erris Dunston.
Discussion centered around the Orange-Breckenridge Neighborhood Redevelopment Plan which was developed by the Mayor’s Task Force on Housing for the revitalization of the Orange/Breckenridge area.
According to an informational booklet which bears the seals of the City of Henderson, the State of North Carolina, and the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Community Assistance, in August of 2004 state officials strongly recommended to Henderson that the current rate of rental versus ownership of homes in the city be reversed. Since that time, various meetings have taken place to choose the neighborhoods targeted for revitalization and to discuss plans and details of the project.
As recently as July 21 and 22 of this year, the question of a need for a financial plan to accompany the visual plan for the project has arisen. Yesterday’s meeting was mostly oriented towards that aspect of the project.
Rob Lamme, the Budget Director for the President Pro Tempore’s Office, functioned as the faciltator for the meeting, which focused on how to pay for the project.
The project centers around consolidating eighteen lots facing Orange, Ransom, and Breckenridge Streets and building the same number of houses on them. The lots range from 8,000 square feet to 6,400 square feet. The affordable homes would then be sold to low- to moderate-income buyers, presumably as their first home purchase.
Franklin-Vance-Warren Opportunity would offer counciling to the first-time homebuyers.
Stephanie Barnes-Simms of the Self Help Credit Union outlines a process she termed a “land band model”. This model, she told stakeholders present at the meeting, is currently in use in a revitalization effort in Durham in which there are three partners. Properties are identified for purchase by non-profit organizations and bought by an acquision committee.
Barnes-Simms said that the advantage of the system is that it is a long acquision process. She said that her agency has the capacity to serve as the administrative agent and can “hold onto the land”.
Seifert said that he was not sure that the city wants to acquire land. He said he only wants eighteen lots that can be sold with conditions and restrictive convenants.
“The rest of this sounds complicated,” he said.
The mayor also commented that the money needed is only $200,000 to $300,000. He said that the city could do it, but that the city does not have the funds.
Berger observed that the Henderson fund balance was very low at the beginning of the fiscal year. He noted that the new library was a source of tension, raising the question of what should be done with limited resources.
The senator spoke of the city and county attempting to reconcile the allocation of resources to the library.
Berger said that the Orange/Breckenridge project and the new library “dovetail” one another. He said that the state can step in and move everyone together.
“If there’s a community that needs help, this is the community,” Berger said.
Lamme told the group that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get money earmarked for communities. He said that the media is skeptical and the resources are stretched.
“Airtight projects get funded, others don’t,” he told those present.
Crawford opined that the problem was that of no existing program fitting into the category so that the land could be bought.
“We’ll figure out a way to get this land,” he assured the local dignitaries.
Crawford also stated that he was bothered by university towns getting all of the funding.
The discussion turned to speculation that a partnership-pilot program could be developed to secure funding for the project. Lamme stated that all the pieces were at the meeting, and that the Department of Commerce had weighed in with significant technical assistance. He stated that the “technical people” needed to take the plan to the long session next year, and that he was committed to facilitating the discussion.
Lamme also said that he believes that money was available from the Department of Cultural Resources for the library.
Seifert expressed impatience with the time frame suggested by Lamme.
“When people want to get something done, the rule book goes out the window,” he said.
Seifert suggested that the issue could be resolved without waiting another year.
Lamme responded that the neighborhood in question did not take eight or nine months to become the way it is, and that it will take longer than that to begin the solution. He also noted that the state budget is a law, and that improperly spending the money is breaking the law.
Crawford and Berger both lamented the economic woes of Henderson, noting the businesses that went bankrupt in the last five years. Berger said that Henderson had been “decimated by NAFTA”.