The Summit County Housing Authority hit the ground running during its inaugural meeting on Friday. Discussions ranged from affordable housing incentives, potential partnership opportunities and the foundation of the organization as a whole, including its top priorities over the next 10 years.
The Summit County Council established the housing authority late last year to provide medium- to low-income residents with resources about how to find housing within their price range, in addition to tracking housing trends throughout the county and incentivizing moderate-income housing, particularly on the East Side.
Seven members were appointed to the housing authority’s Board of Commissioners, which is charged with overseeing and planning the organization’s operations. Three of the commissioners — Canice Harte, Tonja Hanson and Megan McKenna — are sitting members of the County Council. The other four commissioners appointed by the County Council are community members with backgrounds in housing, planning and development.
Part of the inaugural meeting’s agenda involved electing commissioners to leadership positions. General contractor Jennifer Lewis will serve as chair, former Eastern Summit County Planning Commissioner Rich Sonntag was named vice chair, and commercial real estate agent Joan Meixner was chosen as secretary.
The County Courthouse also recently selected planner Madlyn McDonough, the creative force behind the county’s Community Planning Lab, to transition into a new position as the county’s economic development and housing manager, which includes acting as the executive director of the housing authority. Her responsibilities involve overseeing and administering initiatives set by the Board of Commissioners.
McDonough said her goal for the authority’s first meeting was to create a long-term foundation for the organization and to outline the board’s immediate priorities for the next year.
The County Council earmarked approximately $250,000 for the Summit County Housing Authority in its last budget cycle, $31,500 of which has already been set aside to fund a utility allowance study, establish partnerships with employers for coordinated employee housing initiatives and publish an online dashboard with resources for community members.
An additional $50,000 is intended to help incentivize affordable housing in Eastern Summit County. The Board of Commissioners is still working on details before implementing any new programs, but McDonough said a common example of how housing authorities incentivize developers is by paying for building permits and other licensing fees.
Lewis also emphasized the importance of marketing the housing authority as a positive resource for locals, pointing to her previous experience working with housing authorities in the Ogden area.
“The one thing I would like to tackle first, obviously, is the funding, and then advocacy, because that was truly stifling for us at the time because of bad stigma about it,” she explained. “That will actually crush you if you can’t get that stigma out, so I think financing and funding and getting some good marketing, some good push from the council and the county would hopefully open up people’s eyes.”
Sonntag expressed an interest in purchasing land as the housing authority, too. Specifically, he said he was in favor of buying parcels in eastern Summit County, setting up utilities and partnering with developers to create more multifamily homes. The housing authority would essentially act as an intermediary and issue requests for proposals for development opportunities, a method McDonough said is a valid option for local housing authorities.
Meixner supported the idea as well, but she views property management as a more long-term goal in the next five to 10 years. She said advocacy, community education and finding valuable partnerships should be the immediate priorities as the housing authority works to establish itself.
Another idea the Board of Commissioners could pursue is creating a housing voucher program to help the community in the short term by providing financial relief. Lewis said she’d like that to happen as soon as possible.
“We don’t have a ton of money, but it’s possible we could create a few of those (vouchers) as a starting program,” Meixner agreed.
The Board of Commissioners did not vote to actualize any programs during its inaugural meeting, but the housing authority plans to meet on the third Wednesday of every month going forward.