Cochise County staff recommend $177,400 contract, grant will fund countywide affordable housing plan

Cochise County staff told the Board of Supervisors during a work session that they plan to award a $177,400 contract to Elliot Pollock to prepare a countywide affordable housing plan, to be paid from a $194,450 grant awarded by the Arizona Department of Housing. The county does not need to provide a local match, staff said.

The consultant will prepare a housing needs and affordability assessment plus an implementation and investment strategy that county officials say is intended to generate implementable action items rather than a plan that “sits on the shelf.” "This is a contract to award a housing consultant ... and it is entirely grant funded. There was no match required," Susan Bronson, representing Development Services, told the supervisors.

Bronson said the county issued a solicitation and received two bids, from Elliot Pollock and Points Consulting; Elliot Pollock scored highest in the evaluation. The recommended award amount is $177,400, with the $194,450 grant providing room for an administrative fee and a contingency. Bronson said the work will include a countywide needs assessment and targeted materials for the six incorporated towns the plan will study, and that at least half of the consultant budget is allocated to optional implementation strategies.

The consultant also proposed a Housing and Economic Development Alignment Report for the city of Douglas that would analyze workforce housing needs and identify city-owned land that might be redeveloped for housing, Bronson said. She said the plan will cover countywide unincorporated areas as well as the six incorporated communities included in the solicitation, but it will not include the City of Bisbee because Bisbee received its own separate grant and opted to complete a municipal plan.

County staff said the study will rely on available census and local data and that outcomes from the county plan can be used to inform the county’s comprehensive plan, though the housing study’s schedule likely will be too late to fold into the comprehensive plan drafting process. Bronson estimated the study will be an in-depth, roughly six-month effort likely completed by the end of the year.

The discussion was informational; staff presented the recommended award and scope for the supervisors to consider as the item moves toward the board agenda.