Authority commits to high standards of best housing
The Fayette County Housing Authority is making a commitment to “the highest standard of customer service” in addition to maintaining, managing and developing affordable and safe, assisted housing for Fayette County residents. The commitment is listed in a mission statement for the authority’s one- and five-year plans that were the subject of a public hearing Wednesday evening.
The plans, which detail the authority’s future direction, have been available for public review for the past 45 days and must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development later this month.
The five-year plan outlines details for Laurel Estates, a development of 56 units planned for a 22.5-acre site adjacent to Laurel Highlands High School, the former site of Lemon Wood Acres. The plan also states the authority received HUD approval for complete elderly and near elderly designation at four developments- Mulligan Mason, White Swan Apartments, Marshall Manor and Belle Vernon Apartments- and partial elderly and near elderly designation at three developments- Snowden Terrace, East View Terrace and Clarence Hess Terrace.
The plan also outlines the number of families on the waiting lists for public housing and Section 8 housing. For public housing, 113 families are on the waiting list, including 94 with extremely low income, 16 with very low income and three with low income. For the Section 8 waiting list, of the 636 families, 535 have extremely low incomes and 101 have very low incomes.
The plan states the authority will operate site-based waiting lists for 19 sites and will permit families to be listed on three lists simultaneously.
The plan states the authority will grant preference to applicants who live or work in the Fayette County Geographical area.
In the statement of financial resources, the total resources are listed as $46,013,317, which includes federal grants, rental income and other income. For public housing, the FCHA has set the minimum rent at $50 but will suspend the minimum rent for the family if a hardship exemption is requested.
The hearing drew no public comment, as no one from the public attended. The plan has been available for public review for the past 45 days and will likely be voted on at the monthly April 13 meeting.