Minutes 03/11/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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, ',',: 2' , I ..,I TUESDAY MARCH 11, 1980 As brought forward from its February 26th meeting, Council resumed its consideration of whether to file a formal and final application for a grant of $600,000.00 to finance the cost of rehabilitating selected sub-standard residences located in both the West End and North Side sections of the City, for which required public hearings have been conducted but for which certain "ground rulesll (i. e., designating an administrative authority, determining whether the cost of rehabilitating each such residence would become an outright grant or would constitute a loan, with or without interest, to the property owner involved, etc.) have not been developed, pending acceptance of the total grant and the execution of a contract therefor. In support of the program and the filing of a final application, Councilman Greene presented the following prepared statement: I have discussed this program with Mr. Noland, Mr. Brown, Mr. Grubbs, and Mr. Worthy. I attended the public hearing on Friday night. I drove to the target areas. Based on what I have learned, my conclusion is that the program has merit and I will vote for it. My reasons are as follows: First, our citizens from all parts of the city have expressed objection to large subsidized housing developments which they feel impact and disrupt neighborhoods. On the other hand, HUD's policy is that the placement of subsidized housing developments in a community is dependent on HUD's interpretation of the need for such housing, not on the community's reaction to subsidized housing. It doesn't matter how a neighborhood or a city feels about subsidized housing--what matters is a community's documented need for subsidized housing and the efforts of the community to meet the need. Because recent studies show that Martinsville has a need for subsidized housing and because HUD's policy is to provide subsidized housing wherever a community has a need, then, as I see it, the logical course for Council is to seek housing programs that will provide safe and sanitary housing for our citizens but will not impact and disrupt our neighborhoods. Since I took office, I have tried to follow this course of action. I have examined each Federal program on the basis of its merits in order to determine if Martinsville needs the program and if there are strings attached that are too stringent for the community to live with. In 1975 I voted for the Section 8, Existing Housing Program, a program designed to help low-income families, including elderly couples, find shelter in existing inexpensive apartments. No new buildings were constructed. According to figures released in December, '79, there were 186 participants in the program.