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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11. November 2021 minutes New Hanover County-City of Wilmington Workforce Housing Advisory Committee November 3, 2021 Regular Meeting Committee Members Present: Sharm Brantley, Patrick Brien, Ashley Daniels, Melanie James, Katrina Knight, Katrina Redmon, Tom Gale, Paul Stavovy Staff Present: Tufanna Bradley (NHC), Rachel LaCoe (New Hanover County), Margaret Peth (NHC), Suzanne Rogers (CoW), Rebekah Roth (NHC) Call to Order: Meeting was called to order and quorum established at 3:04 pm by Chairperson, Sharm Brantley. Approve Agenda & Approve Minutes: Chairperson Brantley requested edits to the October minutes. Rachel LaCoe distributed an update to the October minutes for review. Chairperson Brantley made a motion to accept the amendments to the minutes as written, seconded by Katrina Knight and Paul Stavovy and adopted unanimously. Public Comments: Paul Witmer from the Brunswick County Housing Coalition introduced himself as a citizen concerned with affordable housing in Brunswick County. He requested input from WHAC members to use their experiences to improve the process of affordable housing development in Brunswick County and invited the committee to attend the Brunswick County Housing Coalition Meeting on November 9th, 2021. Additional Discussion: Chairperson Brantley requested clarification of subcommittees at the previous meeting. The subcommittees established were Land Use, Funding, and Advocacy and Education. Committee members expressed concern about member attendance given the anticipated upcoming workload and the need for representation. Current by-laws do not allow alternates because appointments are based on the person, not an organization but committee by-laws could be changed through a joint County-City meeting and that ex-officio positions may also help committee attendance problems. New Business: Discussion Items: Housing Work Plan and Goal Setting Ms. LaCoe gave the committee a brief overview of the components of the Housing Work Plan and distributed worksheets to consider the content of the proposed housing bond, including an implementation schedule. Affordable Housing Development – Increasing Stock The committee discussed whether the fund would be revolving or if income limitations would mean that funds would likely not be revolving, particularly for low-income permanently supportive housing. Members discussed the pros and cons associated with structuring affordable housing efforts as programs or projects and the potential application process, including what would work best procedurally for application for funding and based on that decide what changes would need to be made organizationally to support that process. Discussion included the resources would need to be in place to receive applications and allocate money. Members discussed gap financing for developers and the benefit of different program types and different AMI ranges, including middle-income and senior housing. Discussion included the considerations that should be made when choosing which AMI range to prioritize including tax credit limitations, whether the fund is revolving, and using higher AMI program returns to subsidize lower AMI range projects. Ms. Knight brought attention to the challenges of funding and sustaining permanent supportive housing (PSH) given for very low-income populations. It was noted that on-going operational costs could not be funded by the bond, but that members should consider what other funding opportunities would be available and in what other areas can the committee build capacity for funding. NOAH Preservation – Improving Stock Ms. LaCoe asked if Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) would need higher initial funding or even funding across the allocation. It was noted that there may be difficulty getting NOAH preservation of efforts off the ground in the first year but if the bond were to pass in November of 2022, it would be July 2023 before funds would be extended. Expansion of Current Programs – Increasing Access The committee agreed the expansion of programs could be budgeted on a yearly basis. Committee members discussed the ability to control affordability after the investment. Mr. Brien suggested collecting data by, talking with stakeholders to know the needs of potential participants better and develop a better understanding of the barriers to developing and accessing affordable housing. Announcements: Chairperson Brantley suggested the next meeting focus on collecting stakeholder data and how data should be collected to create thorough but expeditious surveys. Ms. Knight expressed the importance of having members of the WHAC speak at the next community listening session for the hospital endowment to make a case for their support for affordable housing. She requested the December meeting be rescheduled to accommodate the listening session. Ashley Daniels suggested requesting a private meeting with the hospital endowment. Melanie James expressed concern to prioritize allocate more time to major and minor repairs at the next meeting. Adjournment: Sharm Brantley made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Tom Gale. The meeting was adjourned 5:06 pm.