North Adams Housing Authority Sells Flood House
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Housing Authority has transferred the Flood House property to the Louison House agency.
The Housing Authority board unanimously voted last week to sell Church Street property to Family Life Support Center Inc., a non-profit family shelter, for $1.
"I think it is a much needed program we could use in our area," Chairman Christopher Tremblay said, speaking to Monday's meeting by phone.
Executive Director Jennifer Hohn said she received two submissions for the authority's request for proposals – one from Louison House and one from the Ransfords.
She said the U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development had concerns with both applicants and wanted to see a more stable funding source and the establishment of a 501(C)3, however, it recommended the authority to give Louison House the property.
Hohn said DHCD will make the final decision and set up deed restrictions. If it disapproves the transfer, the Housing Authority will have to post another RFP.
"There are several stipulations in such as they have to maintain supportive services, maintain funding sources, and they have to disclose that funding source to DHCD, Hohn said. "They will ultimately be the watch guards of the program."
The board also voted to expand Section 8 local preference to surrounding communities
"We have been finding recently that we have been opening our list, we are not getting a lot of North Adams people," Hohn said. "But we are getting people from the surrounding areas such as Williamstown and Adams who don't have the ability to apply in their own town because the lists aren't open."
Hohn said housing authorities from surrounding communities were OK with the expansion, and although North Adams' Section 8 units are full and there is a "healthy" waiting list, most people on the list are from other communities.
She said there are few North Adams residents who have not been assisted yet.
The board also provided Hohn with permission to look into the feasibility of building a new larger community center at Greylock Valley.
Hohn said the current building is too small.
"It really isn't that useful to us as a community center. It is about the same size as this conference room," she said. "We want to see if we can even build one on the land and see what it would cost so we can have a place over at Greylock so the residents have a place to actually do stuff."
Hohn anticipated if the project is possible it would cost a few hundred thousand dollars. The project would be financed through a capitol fund financing program.
She said HUD would most likely frown on taking apartments offline to facilitate a community center and the old community center most likely would be turned into a maintenance room.
Tremblay asked if the Housing Authority should look at building more units while it builds the community center.
Hohn said there are few new public housing units being built in the entire country and adding housing would create a whole new situation, however, she agreed that the board should look at all options.
By request of HUD, the board adopted a Section 3 policy, which would require the authority to encourage the hiring of lower-income employees for projects.
"So for instance if we have a contractor that works for us, we would encourage them to employ either residents or members of the community that are of lower income," she said. "We have it in our policy to try to get lower income people and to try to employ them, but it is just not a policy on its own."
Tags: affordable housing, Flood House, historical building, Housing Authority,
