The Custer County Workforce Housing Committee (WHC) held a regular meeting on October 9. Under Old Business, member Max Hanson, regional housing director for the Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments (UAACOG), announced that a presentation about a capitalization model involving Enterprise Community Partners, an investment capital group specializing in affordable housing financing, was off the agenda, as the state had recently terminated its contract with them. Hanson also reported that the transfer of seven lots in Silver Cliff, designated for self-help housing, from the county to UAACOG was on the county commissionersâ agenda for October 24.
Barry Keene announced that Custer County School Superintendent Thom Peck was going to be joining the WHC as a voting member, and that Peckâs presentation on the Bobcat Quad MOU was now scheduled for the WHC November meeting. With that, the WHC turned to New Business. Bianca Trenker, owner of Ravenâs Lodging in Westcliffe, was first up.
âI threw myself in front of this affordable workforce housing train,â Trenker said. âI was asked by Westcliffe Town Manager Caleb Patterson to come to meetings to support a workforce housing proposal.â She described the chaotic tone and generally hostile public comment of the townâs Planning Commission (PC) meetings: âIt was frustrating to me to see another small town refusing to deal with an [affordable housing] situation and about to be overrun by monied development.â Trenker said she decided to block out time to walk âfrom Rancherâs Roost to Tonyâsâ to talk to business owners, managers, and workers at Main Street businesses, and got 140 signatures on a form related to a need for affordable housing.
Trenker explained that she had posted her findings on Facebook, and had received lots of comments, some positive, some negative, some seeking more information. She said that she was at the WHC meeting to ask for links to some materials to give to commenters who had asked for more information and statistics on local housing needs.
Keene asked Trenker to share some of the employee housing stories she had heard. Trenker said that she had talked to the owner of Chappyâs, who lamented that he was âlosing all my cooks.â She also shared stories that might have come from Silver Cliffâs 19th-century mining days, of people living in a basement paying $800 apiece for space to sling a cot. âThese rich people donât care,â Trenker concluded, referring to the county residents who had flocked to the Westcliffe PC meeting to denounce steps to pave the way for more affordable housing. âPeople call me all the time [for stopgap housing]. I am not a long-term solution â the clinic has called me six times. I donât want to have to engage with people anymore â I want to be able to point people to statistics.â
Discussion turned to the advisability of a social media presence for the WHC, as well as putting a document that Keene had prepared for workforce housing presentations onto the WHCâs web page, which is run by the county. After some minor amendments, the WHC unanimously approved a motion to give Trenker a copy of the presentation and to make it available on the WHC webpage.
In other new business, Hanson announced that there had been a change in dates for DOLA (Department of Local Affairs) grant cycles, which would affect project planning times for 12 other county-owned lots in Silver Cliff. The committee discussed the possibility of getting UAACOG, which would be managing the project, to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) by March 17, 2025, with a May 1, 2025 deadline for the actual grant application. Among the criteria for grant submission would be completion of the housing needs assessment that Patterson is commissioning for the towns and the county. âI will still have to approach my board for taking on debt for this project,â Hanson said: âWe also need a Phase One environmental study done before it goes to the state housing board. We would need letters of support for the application, and a commitment letter from the county stating that those lots are being used for affordable housing.â
âWhat is the timing on the grant?â Keene asked. âAfter the May 1 application deadline, it would go to the state housing board by early June, then it can take up to another three months for contracting,â Hanson replied: âIf the contract is not executed between the state and UAACOG within three months, you have to start over.â
During public comment, Pamela Ouzts introduced herself, saying that she had experience working on affordable housing at the federal level, for think tanks such as the Heritage Institute and the Brookings Institute, as a facilitator for public meetings on housing. She offered to help the WHC on messaging and working with the community.
Elliot Jackson
About the Photo
An abandoned cabin on Junkins Park Loop: Throughout much of Custer Countyâs history, land and home prices were cheap, and people often built their own homes and cabins to get a toehold in the region. To this day, there are no building codes in Custer County, but the sharp rise in prices of land and homes has blocked many entry-level housing options for younger generations looking to get their start after high school. – Photo by Jordan Hedberg
(This article was originally published in October 2024. Subscribe to the print edition of the Tribune so you never miss out on timely news that impacts you!)