Pima County Housing Commission

August 20, 2007 – 3:00 pm

 

The Dr. Herbert K. Abrams

Public Health Center

3950 S. Country Club Road, Room 104

 

 

 

Members Present:         Members Absent:                        Staff & Guests:

Ken Anderson                   Steve Craddock                            Betty Villegas

Scott Place                       Frank Thomson                             Marcos Ysmael

David Greenberg               Henry Boice                                 Gary  Bachman          

Jon Miles                           Ed Taczanowsky                          Daniel Tylutki                                Tim Escobedo                         Kathleen Buske                          Hank Atha

Frank Moreno                                                                          Martha Martin             

                                                                                                Samantha Romero

                                                                                                Nicole Fyffe

                                                                                                Emily Nottingham

                                                                                                Jack Siry

                                                                                                Terry Galligan

                                                                                                Ben Tuchi

                                                                                                Sara Limones

                                                                                                Frank Martinez                                   

 

I.                    Welcome & Call to Order

Commission Chair Frank Moreno called the meeting to order at 3:07 pm.

 

II.               Approval of Minutes from July 16, 2007 

           

Motion made by David Greenberg to approve the minutes from July 16, 2007.

            Motion seconded by Scott Place. Motion carried unanimously.

 

 

III.                Call to the audience

 

A member of the audience requested that each audience member introduce himself or herself. Request was granted by Chair Moreno. Each member of the audience introduced themselves by name and agency.

 

 

IV.                Staff Report

Pima County staff Marcos Ysmael presented the Commission with an update on the bond projects by reviewing the spreadsheet that summarized 2004 bond funds:

 

Pima County Program Betty Villegas reported that staff has been meeting with other departments to try and jointly come up with future strategies for affordable housing. She explained that although there were earlier recommendations for affordable housing from the Board of Supervisors that were implemented into the comprehensive plan for Pima County, the recommendations needed to be expanded upon to incorporate meaningful affordable housing strategies. She explained that Pima County staff wants the Commission’s involvement in the process.

 

Pima County staff Daniel Tylutki informed the Commission that the Pima County Development Services is looking to set up a committee to look at affordable housing strategies and address county residential zones that affect manufactured and affordable housing.  Daniel Tylutki informed the Commission that Commissioner Ken Anderson will participate on this committee.

 

V.                  Subcommittee Reports

 

·         Project Review Committee

Emily Nottingham from the City of Tucson addressed the Commission and explained that though the number of units has remained the same, there are some substantial changes on the MLK project.  The changes included the amount of square footage, which resulted from reducing the amount of exterior space, increasing the amount of interior space, and the project timeline schedule.  She explained that the estimated date of occupancy was December 2009. 

 

Commissioner Thomson stated that after much discussion at the subcommittee meeting, they all agreed that this project should continue to move forward.

 
Motion made by Ken Anderson to accept the recommended changes to the MLK project.

            Motion seconded by David Greenberg. Motion carried unanimously.

 

No reports at this time by subcommittee

No reports at this time by subcommittee

No reports at this time by subcommittee.

 

 

 

 

VI.                Meeting as Affordable Housing Bond Subcommittee

Deputy County Administrator Hank Atha addressed the Commission and explained that after a meeting with the Bond Attorney and with County Attorney Karen Friar to discuss the South Tucson proposal, it will possible for South Tucson to use bond funds to acquire property within South Tucson city limits to build affordable housing, but the manner must be modified. He explained that Pima County will have to purchase the property and then transfer the property to South Tucson or to whoever builds the affordable housing. A monitoring process would need to be set up to assure the units built on that land remain affordable for a period of thirty years. Mr. Atha suggested that the Commission move forward with the recommendation to the Bond Committee with the tentative allocations to the three different jurisdictions.

 

Commission Chair Frank Moreno led a discussion on his concern that there was $6.6 million in unexpended funds from the 2004 bond funds.  Pima County Program Manager Betty Villegas asked the Commission to consider a land acquisition program that would allow for the purchasing of land for the development of affordable housing. This option could be used to ensure that housing units built on land purchased with bond funds would remain affordable.  Ms. Villegas also talked about a Community Land Trust model, and offered to have someone come in and do a presentation at a future meeting.

 

 

VII.       Adjournment

 Meeting adjourned at 3:56 pm.