Chatham County
Affordable Housing Advisory Committee
draft Meeting Minutes
Thursday, January 3, 2019 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center Cooperative Extension Conference Room
1192 US 64 Business, Pittsboro
Committee Members Present: Lonnie West, Susan Levy, Richard Poole, Linette Tyson, Carolyn Huggins, Pamela Baldwin, Chip Price
Excused Absences: Bob Schmidt
Absent: Felicia Hackney, Bill Moses, Andrew Deese, John Foley, Guile Contreras
Other Present: Erika Brown (TJCOG), Stephanie Watkins-Cruz (Chatham County), Michelle Wright (Chatham County), Fred Gvillo, Kathy Gvillo, Dave Morton.
1. Welcome and Introductions
Susan Levy opened the meeting by welcoming those present.
2. Public Comment
Fred Gvillo, Kathy Gvillo, and Dave Morton were present from the public and noted that they were in attendance to learn more about affordable housing in Chatham County, as they understand that it is an issue throughout the County. Fred and Kathy also mentioned that they used to live in San Francisco and have an understanding of the need for affordable housing from living there. They also see the importance of transportation in affordable housing and are curious about the connections between housing and transit in Chatham County. Dave has experience working in affordable housing in Miami and is an architect.
3. Adopt Meeting Minutes
There was not a quorum at the beginning of the meeting so this item was tabled until a quorum was achieved. Meeting minutes from December 6th were approved unanimously.
4. Review of 2018 and Group Activity
Susan Levy presented to the group an overview of 2018 Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) activities. She reminded the group about the mission and goals of AHAC and reviewed accomplishments from 2018. Susan reviewed the different activities and educational presentations held at AHAC meetings throughout 2018.
Lonnie West suggested that AHAC may present to builders and the real estate community, potentially as part of an open forum. Lonnie stated that we should be considering how we might help facilitate more
developments within the County because there is currently a lack of inventory. The group also discussed how it might help promote market rate affordable housing development and mixed-income
communities.
Stephanie Watkins-Cruz mentioned that the County recently updated its impact fee policy, allowing for- profit developers the ability to receive reimbursement of impact fees in addition to non-profit
developers – as long as the property they are developing is affordable to households at or below 80% of Area Median Income. The group discussed ways in which this information could be shared with
developers and builders because they would be very interested in the change. Stephanie Watkins-Cruz also mentioned that the County would like their policies to be aligned with the towns so that they can be paired as incentives.
Susan asked the group to share the reasons why the chose to join and/or attend AHAC as a reminder for why we are there and what we hope to achieve through AHAC. Carolyn Huggins mentioned that she worked 38 years in housing and wanted to apply her knowledge of housing programs and policies in a useful way within her community.
Michelle Wright mentioned that she attends meetings because she sees the connections between housing and public health and she wants to help focus on the social determinants of health, including housing. And also because she sees housing and health as equity issues. She also mentioned that she recently bought a house and was required to attend a homebuyers training and wondered if a similar program was offered in Chatham County that could be publicized because it was very helpful. Richard Poole mentioned that he would check in with Chatham Habitat for Humanity to see when they offer classes and if they are open to the public.
Pamela Baldwin mentioned that she was on the original rental task force for the County and continued to attend these meetings after that task force wrapped up. She is focused on housing in Chatham County because she wants to help bring back younger folks to the County and help them flourish. She noted that many younger people need workforce housing, so that is a focus of hers.
Richard Poole stated that he had a lot of experience in affordable housing back in New Jersey and wanted to have a sense of what was going on in his community in terms of housing. He feels like it is very important to understand what is going to be developed in his community, to be aware of the development pipeline.
Chip Price also mentioned that he joined because he was a part of the original rental task force as well.
He also feels like it is very important to make sure there is housing for younger folks as well. He mentioned that as a lifelong resident, he has seen a lot of change in the County, particularly on the western side and wants to continue to work on housing quality issues in Siler City.
Susan Levy mentioned that she joined because she has lived in the County for almost 30 years and has worked in affordable housing for her entire career in Orange County. She wanted to continue being involved in the field in her own community.
The group discussed that they would like to do more in 2019. That the County needs more resources, needs to create an affordable housing package, and communicate what that package is through
outreach in the community. The group discussed possibly sending updates about AHAC activities to local newspapers quarterly as a way to improve communication to the community. The group also discussed the possibility of “quarterly conversations” that are arranged with the community to discuss different aspects, incentives, challenges of affordable housing.
5. Missing Middle Housing Presentation
The group was unable to review the Missing Middle presentation at this meeting due to time constraints. The presentation will be given and discussed at a future meeting.
6. Staff Updates
a) Council on Aging – Housing implementation Group meeting again in January, date to be determined. Committee encouraged to join if interested.
b) Homeless Committee – No update c) Housing Authority – No update
7. Updates Around the Table
An opportunity to share any housing-related information that you have with the group.
Michelle Wright mentioned that the Chatham Health Alliance hosts meetings that folks may be interested in attending. The Alliance meets the first Tuesday of every other month from 10am-12pm.
Alliance meetings are open and anyone is welcome to join. Next meeting is February 5, 2019. Contact Michelle Wright for more information at [email protected]
The Affordable Housing Advisory Committee meeting adjourned at 8:00pm.
Minutes submitted by Erika Brown.
Staff contacts:
Stephanie Watkins-Cruz, Chatham County Policy Analyst – 919-545-8398 | [email protected] Aspen Romeyn, Triangle J Council of Governments Principal Planner – 919-558-9319 | [email protected] Erika Brown, Triangle J Council of Governments Planner II – 919-558-2700 | [email protected]
