Housing study

Housing study

wins approval

By SHARON KILPATRICK

Rappahannock News Staff Writer

The county’s Board of Supervisors approved a grant application to study the prospects for rehabilitating substandard housing in the county at its meeting last week.

County Administrator John McCarthy said he had talked with two consulting firms, and they had said such a study could be done for "no more than $i7,500. There is no financial commitment on the part of this Board," he said.

Jackson District Supervisor Ellis Bingham said other counties in Planning District 9 have gotten involved in this program, which is run by the state Department of Housing and Community Development. "We're probably the last county in PD 9 to take advantage of this," he said.

Col. Bingham said he had tried to "ferret out” information on substandard housing in Jackson District. "The only way to get a fair handle on it is to bring a consulting firm in to dig up information.

“There is another advantage," he said. "Eve spotted a number of beautiful old houses just falling down. It's a shame to see them falling down." He added a caution, “If we start rebuilding rental property, we must be sure none of it belongs to past or present officials." Col. Bingham's motion to apply for the grant passed.

Another motion by Col. Bingham, to appropriate an additional $200 to hire temporary help for four days to do a study of land-use records was less successful. "In trying to get a handle on the land use situation, it’s a voluminous task,” Col. Bingham said. He said Commissioner of Revenue Beverly Atkins had told him the information could probably be gathered in a form he could use by one person working four days at $48 per day. "We need some kind of consolidation so we can study it," he said. "I’ll analyze it.”

Hampton District representative Mike Massie said ne would second the motion, but wanted to ask questions. ‘-Aren’t we going to have to redo this with a new assessnent?" he asked.

See HOUSING, p. 16