After listening to Housing Assistance Corporation Executive Director Ashlyn McCoy’s request for $1.5 million for the Apple Ridge affordable housing project for an extension of water and sewer lines, Henderson County Commissioner Rebecca McCall was quick to make a motion at Monday’s Board of Commissioners meeting.
“We have some additional money in the ARP (American Rescue Plan) that is restricted and follows certain guidelines. I think right now if we bring back the money that we had designated for Advent and Pardee for the infusion that was not used, we are right around $1.5 million and change that must be used for restricted projects,” she said. “This project checks three different buckets, so it is ideal for a project that falls within the restrictions and guidelines of that money. I think we all agree that we’d like to use that extra money for a good non-profit project that can be easily followed and reported back to the government.”
She then spoke directly to McCoy and said, “We don’t want to delay you any further. I know you need your answer tonight.”
And with that, McCall made a motion that the county allocate up to $1.5 million or whatever the county had available to go to the project. Before the motion was unanimously approved, Commissioner Daniel Andreotta took a moment to express his thoughts about City Council not allocating some of its ARP funds earlier to Apple Ridge.
“It’s known that we certainly support affordable housing. I’m disappointed that the city has met since we were last here talking and I was hoping they would be on board with the idea. I’m sure they have their reasons, but I am disappointed. The door is still open, but I would support the motion in their absence,” he said.
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Andreotta made the suggestion that the city pay half of the funds and the county pay the other half. County Manager John Mitchell said he reached out to City Manager John Connet.
“In regards to this earlier this morning, bear in mind that they did have a meeting last week, I talked to (Connet) and he said to me that they were interested in pursuing that but that they had not voted to that account at this time,” Mitchell said.
In a telephone interview with the Times-News on Tuesday, Nov. 8, Connet said the city is “very much interested” in sharing the cost.
“Council member Jennifer Hensley and Mayor (Barbara) Volk have discussed very much the idea of using some of our ARP money to partner with the county on the Apple Ridge project,” he said. “Council is very much interested in it. I will be talking to individual council members this week to see if we can have a consensus that will ultimately turn into a formal vote.”
Connet said the last council meeting went long and there was also a lengthy closed session after, so the Apple Ridge topic didn’t come up.
“There is some general interest in supporting Apple Ridge, and affordable housing in general is a top priority for the council. Timing-wise, we just couldn’t give a definite answer to the county at that time,” Connet said.
HAC was going to have to borrow the money to fund the water and sewer line extension for Apple Ridge, which is an affordable housing project that consists of 20 single-family homes and 60 apartments located off Sugarloaf Road. That would’ve raised the price of the single-family homes, McCoy told commissioners, which was what they wanted to avoid.
The single-family homes, funded through a USDA loan, will have an average cost of $229,000, according to HAC, and the rent range for the apartments will be from $329-$1,033 per month.
