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Board approves demolition and new construction for 11 SHIP‑qualified homes; one homeowner raises concerns about program paperwork
Summary
The board approved demolition-and-rebuild plans for 11 homes under a SHIP/HHRP program and voted to treat one borderline case, the Karen Everett property, as demolition and replacement. A resident on the waiting list complained about repeated paperwork requests and a possible deduction for a prior SBA loan.
Taylor County commissioners voted to approve a list of homes to be demolished and rebuilt under a county housing program administered through SHIP/HHRP, and they approved treating one marginally eligible property as a demolition and reconstruction case.
The county’s housing coordinator, Melanie Cox, told the board 11 houses qualified for the county’s demolition-and-new-construction program. The list she presented included Sheila and David Haber; Patricia Brown; Betty Sue Ellison; Kathy Miller; Christina and Robert Tucker; Karen Phelps; Diana Lee; Karen Everett; Linda Kieran; Charlie and Amelia Gray; and Johnny and Brenda Leggett. Cox said 10 of the homes had been determined to be demo-and-new-construction, and the board needed to decide how to handle Karen Everett’s property because the estimated rehab cost exceeded the home’s assessed value.
Cox told the board that rehabbing Everett’s house would cost more than $70,000 while the assessed value was about $63,000. Cox said the county had sufficient grant funding to treat the Everett property as demolition and replacement and recommended doing so; she said the homeowner agreed to the demo.
Board action A commissioner made a motion to approve the list of homes and to include Karen Everett as a demo-and-replacement; another commissioner seconded the motion. The board approved the motion by voice vote.
Public comment and program complaints After the approval, two residents who said they are on the waiting list for the housing funds addressed the board. Tabitha Gilliard said she had applied more than a year ago and said the program continuously requested additional documentation. Gilliard said the county or program representatives asked for documentation about a $25,000 SBA loan and had told her the loan might be deducted from the amount the county provides toward a new house. Gilliard called the repeated requests for documentation “working backwards” and said the process lengthened her wait. Another resident, who identified herself on the record, described similar problems with FEMA and program paperwork.
Cox said staff would follow up on the specific cases raised and promised to check the program file and communications. Board members asked county staff to review the documents and respond to the homeowners’ questions about what paperwork was required and why.
What the vote means The motion authorizes the county to proceed with invitations to bid for demolition and new construction for the approved list and to include the Everett property as demolition-and-rebuild. Cox told the board she expected to return shortly with the next set of qualifying houses that could be moved forward once funding and documentation were complete.
Ending: The board adopted the demolition-and-rebuild plan for the 11 homes and directed staff to answer the homeowners’ paperwork questions and to report back with a schedule for the next group of qualifying homes.
