Randle Norris, acting chairman, sits besides Executive Operations Officer Sheri Lee at the monthly Housing Authority of Glasgow's meeting at the W. D. Alexander Operations Building at 8 a.m. on Sept. 21. Michael Crimmins/Glasgow News 1.
By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
The Housing Authority of Glasgow had its monthly board meeting at the W.D. Alexander Operation Center at 111 Bunche Ave. to discuss and approve numerous agenda items, including the approval of the 2023-24 payment standards for the housing choice voucher program. In addition the commissioners also received the Housing and Urban Development’s award for the “Large Housing Authority of the Year.”
The meeting was attended by Sheri Lee, executive operations director, Glasgow Mayor Henry Royse, Commission Attorney Rich Alexander, resident commissioner Robert Tarry, Capital Funds Coordinator Amy Houchens and Vice Chairman Randle Norris. Chairman Danny Gibson was unable to attend the meeting so Norris was decided to serve as acting chairman. Commissioner John Rogers was also unable to attend; nonetheless a quorum was present and Norris called the meeting to order at 8 a.m.
The first order of business was the presentation of the financials, which did not elicit much discussion from the commissioners. Lee said the authority “was in sound financial position.” That report was passed unanimously.
Further down on the agenda was the “review and approval of the 2023-2024 Payment Standards for the Housing Choice Voucher Program.” The standards are calculated by HUD annually and represent the “monthly amount of rent a property is likely to receive in a particular area.”
Fair market rents are used by HUD, and local housing authorities, to determine “payments and rent ceilings” on a variety of HUD programs, most notably the Section 8 Program that provides assistance to low income individuals and families.
Last year, the HUD final fair-market rents for Barren County were $538, $574, $742, $962, $997 and $1,147 for houses that had zero to five bedrooms, respectively. This year the HUD fair-market rents for the county increased across the board, which, Lee said, was not surprising as the high demand for housing coupled with the housing shortage has made rent go up.
According to Lee, HUD allows the local housing authority to set their payment standards at a range of 90-120 percent depending on the particulars of the area.
“So we have room to adjust to make sure we are helping families live in different areas in the community and not necessarily segregate families into low income areas,” Lee said.
For 2024 the board unanimously approved a standard of 115% of the fair market rent. This brings the 2024 standards to $726, $761, $1,001, $1,285, $1,342 and $1,543. Lee said by having it be 115% it opens up the opportunity for the people assisted by the Housing Authority to have a wider choice of affordable properties.
“This will allow us additional assistance that we can offer to families in helping them find a place to live here in Barren County,” Lee said.
With that approved, the commissioners were presented with the “Large Housing Authority of the Year Award.” The award was presented by HUD at its Louisville office and was accepted by Houchens, and given to authorities with 250 units or more.
There are three awards, Houchens said, a large authority award, a small authority award and a most improved award.
The recipient of the small housing authority was Elizabethtown, which Alexander thought would have had a larger authority than Glasgow. Lee said in response that Glasgow had the 13th largest authority in Kentucky. The last time Glasgow received this award of excellency was in the 1980s, Lee said.
“They said we were fantastic,” Houchens said.
Also on the agenda was a pay request to Coleman Contracting for the work on the Moran Street units. According to the pay request, the original contract amount was $2.25 million with $184,672.90 being due at this request. This garnered Houchens to present to the commission a brief update on the progress.
Houchens said they had finished a lot of the interior work, laying sidewalks, and were currently preparing the parking lot for blacktop.
“They are making progress,” Houchens said. “We are hoping to do a punch in the next two, two-and-a-half weeks. It’s really, actually, finally coming together. We’re really excited. We’re ready to get it wrapped up and get families in there.”
At this Lee said the authority’s doors were “bursting at the seams” with people asking to apply to the new eight-plex.
“The contractor even said that people just stop and ask them how to apply, so that’s nice that people like them enough to stop,” Houchens added.
They then went into closed session to discuss legal and personnel matters, the agenda statesd. No action was taken after the commission came back into open session. Also, Lee said, the authority was going to hold a public hearing on Oct. 5 from 10 a.m to noon over the 2024 annual plan rough draft.
The next Housing Authority of Glasgow meeting is scheduled for Oct. 19.
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