1. Designation of Voting Delegate to the Legislative Goals Conference
5 min.
The Board of County Commissioners is asked to designate a Commissioner or other official as the voting delegate to the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners Legislative Goals Conference at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina on January 11-12, 2007.
In past years, the Chairman has been appointed the duly designated voting delegate and the Vice Chairman the alternate voting delegate.
2. Recommendations to Amend the Affordable Housing Policy
45 min.
At the November 6, 2006 Worksession, the Board of County Commissioners received a presentation from the Campaign for Decent Housing (Attachment A). The Group had several requests to the County, including a request to amend the Board’s previously adopted Policy for Conveying Real Property for Affordable Housing, which sets forth the process and conditions for the disposition of surplus property obtained through foreclosure to eligible non-profit organizations for the construction of affordable housing. This Policy was adopted in June 2005 (Attachment B). At the November meeting, the Board directed staff to review the Policy and make recommendations to the Board regarding the feasibility of making the properties available for both home ownership and low income rental, special needs populations, to post surplus properties on the website by December 31, 2006 and to determine from the list of surplus properties which properties were most appropriate to make available under the policy.
The Durham County Surplus Property list has been posted on the County’s website since November 9, 2006. This webpage is an initial version and will continue to be updated with more detail as time permits. The staff has also prepared an initial screening of the County surplus properties to determine which parcels are most suitable for potential conveyance to affordable housing nonprofits. As shown on the attached list (Attachment C), there are presently 67 surplus properties on the list, including 13 that would not be available due to a current bid in process to purchase them. There are 19 properties that staff believes are marketable and could be sold to recover the County’s investment, which is primarily made up of the unpaid taxes and associated costs that led to the foreclosure action. If little interest is expressed after a reasonable time period of attempting to market them, staff would recommend that these properties also be made available to the non-profits as well. There are 18 surplus properties that are recommended to be made available for conveyance to affordable housing non-profits if desired by the groups. Finally, there are 14 remaining surplus properties that are not recommended for conveyance to the non-profits because they are considered undesirable or infeasible for residential use, due to lot size restrictions, location in the floodplain, or stream buffer issues.
The Policy is currently restricted to non-profits constructing housing for home-ownership, however, staff recommends that the Policy be amended to also allow for the construction of rental housing, with the same conditions that the tenants meet the low to moderate income requirements set forth in the current Policy.
The median income requirements are required by N.C.G.S. 153A-378(3) and therefore are required of any owner or occupier of housing constructed pursuant to the Policy. It is staff’s recommendation that rental property be available to all persons that meet the median income requirements set forth in the Policy, which would include those with special needs. Thus, no change in the Policy regarding special needs is recommended.
County Manager's Recommendation: The Manager recommends that the Board approve the recommendations from staff and authorize an amendment to the Policy for Conveying Real Property for Affordable Housing to allow surplus properties obtained by the County through foreclosure to be conveyed to non-profits constructing low income rental to occupants meeting the income requirements set forth in the current Policy; and to provide direction to staff as may be necessary regarding the list of properties identified for conveyance to affordable housing non-profits.
3. East End Connector Presentation
30 min.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) with their consultant, Reynolds Smith and Hill (RS&H), will give a presentation on the results of the alternatives analysis for the East End Connector project. The East End Connector is a proposed highway project that will link the Durham Freeway (NC 147) and US 70 (Miami Boulevard) with a new freeway facility and upgrade US 70 from Pleasant Drive to north of Holloway Street (NC 98). Four alternatives plus a no-build alternative will be studied in terms of impacts on the environment, residents, businesses, cultural resources, historic landmarks, utilities, and costs. The next public meeting is tentatively scheduled for January 30, 2007 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at Living Waters Church at Lynn Road and US 70.
4. Report by County Attorney on Proffers and School Financing
30 min.
The Board of Commissioners had requested the County Attorney to make a presentation to the Board explaining the legal strictures on proffers by developers concerning payments for school construction. Attached is a PowerPoint presentation which will be presented by the County Attorney addressing this issue.
County Manager’s Recommendation: The Manager recommends that the Board receive the report for information purposes.
5. Amendment to County Manager’s Contract
5 min.
County Manager’s Recommendation: The Manager recommends that the Board suspend its rules and approved the amendment.
6. Closed Session
15 min.
The Board is requested to adjourn to closed session to consult with an attorney and preserve the attorney-client privilege and to discuss County v. Mansour, 06 CVS 6694, and to instruct the staff regarding the terms for acquiring the property owned by Canaday’s Cab Company and Robert Lee Burton, 528 East Main Street, Durham, North Carolina, pursuant to N.C.G.S. ยงยง 143-318.11(a)(3) & (5).
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