Glasgow's Housing Crunch Continues

It's been months of meetings and gathering information, but earlier this month the committee set to look at possibly purchasing Valley Court, a low income housing building on the 1100 block of 2nd Ave. S. in Glasgow.

The meetings began in January, with Mayor Becky Erickson looking into the building in October. The building has 12 apartments that hold low-income housing through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The current owner of the building is looking to sell out, or end his participation in the building, which could mean 11 low-income families being displaced. With the current housing crunch in Glasgow, that could make a deep impact.

The building was built in the early 80s, and the structure isn't very accessible to disabled, and there were also concerns for mold. As the city looked at the units and crunched numbers to see if it was a viable option for the city to pick up, they tested for mold and found one of the units testing above acceptable numbers.

In early February the city had a phone conference with USDA to talk about options and what it would take to assess. The city figured they would have to raise the rent in order to make it viable, they also found that the amount owed on the loan, combined with the repairs and maintenance needed on the building would far outweigh what the building might be assessed.

On February 18 the committee met again to discuss all the different options they might have. They looked at a possible Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and if there was any possible help through the Chamber of Commerce. During that meeting the committee was given a list of action items that needed to happen to see if there was a way they could lower the debt owed. The city has to update a capital needs assessment and they would have to complete a market appraisal to assess the value of the building.

The city told the USDA that they believed the building was only worth $163,000, and the debt that still is carried on the property for $273,000, with at least $100,000 needed for repairs.

Council members asked about the mold removal and Mayor Erickson said that there was a current verbal agreement with the owner that he would remove the mold. The council members decided that it was needed to move forward to see if the debt on the property could be lowered. The owner also said that he would cover half the assessment. Mayor Erickson said at the May 4 city council meeting that they weren't able to receive a CDBG grant on the property.

Councilmember Stan Ozark asked if the loan would count against the city debt. Doris Leader, the city auditor said that the fire truck bonds wouldn't count against the debt, leaving lots of room to take on the property. Ozark commented that he didn't want to see the loss of 12 low-income units, so he agreed maybe they should take the next step.

The city council approved the $4,000 to get the market appraisal on the property done in early May, to see if this is a possible viable option for the city to take on the property that would probably be managed by the local housing authority. The appraisal should be done by the end of summer.