MANSFIELD — It will likely be a year before the Mansfield Metropolitan Housing Authority can break ground on an expansion of its Turtle Creek apartment complex.
That hasn’t stopped executive director Steve Andrews from considering possibilities for the agency’s next project.
The Turtle Creek extension project, at the 300 block of James Avenue, will create 120 new affordable housing units in Mansfield — enough housing for between 400 and 500 people.
Meanwhile, more than 2,000 households are on the agency’s waitlist for a Section 8 federal housing voucher.
“I think the best bang for the buck is obviously the multi-unit approach,” said board member Ron Biddle during a Tuesday meeting.
“We have a waiting list of 2,200, so we still have a lot of people that need housing. What do we want to do to look beyond Turtle Creek?”
Andrews said now that the 4-percent tax credit application for the extension at Turtle Creek is complete, the agency can starting thinking about its next big development project.
“We’re not limited to Mansfield, we can go anywhere in Richland County,” Andrews said.
Andrews said he discussed the possibility of development in Shelby with city officials last fall.
“They are in desperate need of rental housing as well that is affordable. Our land bank has numerous properties that they own all over, we can start looking at those possibilities.”
Meanwhile, Andrews said the agency’s plans for scattered-site development are on an indefinite hold.
“This board in the past had approved scattered-site development, that’s the idea of us buying single-family residences or duplexes that we can then use for rental units,” Andrews said.
“We looked at the possibility of doing that, we had set up some criteria and all that. With a lot of the other moving pieces we’re working on right now, that’s on hold, because it simply takes a lot of man hours to start developing them.”
Board member Sarah Hairston asked about the money that had been approved for scattered site projects. Andrews said none of it had actually been spent since the authority couldn’t find property that fit its criteria.
He also told board members that buying an existing multi-unit property is an option, but not one the agency is likely to pursue any time soon.
“That’s one of the other options that you can use tax credits for,” he said. “It’s an option on the table, but it’s harder to do those that are more expensive to do.”
The board also voted to allow Andrews to begin looking for a commercial property in Mansfield to purchase as a maintenance building.
Andrews said the agency received three bids to construct a new maintenance building at Turtle Creek. They all came in much higher than expected.
“Ultimately, the lowest bid came in just under $800,000 for, in essence, a 2,000 square-foot pole building,” Andrews said. “There’s no way we’re spending that kind of money for a basic maintenance building with a small office.”
The director said his goal is to have full-time maintenance staff that can take care of the new and existing apartments at Turtle Creek. An onsite maintenance staff could also provide services as needed to other local agencies that provide housing, like the Area Agency on Aging and the Domestic Violence Shelter.
“We can actually pay our guys to do all the work, we’ll save a ton of money doing it and we’ll have a faster turnaround,” Andrews said.
The MMHA currently has one full-time maintenance employee. Andrews said he’d like to hire at least one more. Once the Turtle Creek expansion project is complete, he’d like to expand the maintenance team by partnering with the Mansfield Correctional Institution to do a work-release program.
Under a work-release program, vetted inmates can leave their facility for supervised work. Andrews said the state pays for work-release employee benefits.
“It gives them an opportunity to earn some money while they’re in prison,” Andrews said. “It also builds their resume so that they have some skills before they come out.”
Andrews said the program would benefit the agency as well as the inmates.
“We can end up paying them maybe $12 or $13 an hour, which would be huge for them,” Andrews said. “The best work-release programs that I’m aware of are only paying about $10 an hour.
“Instead of us having to pay $17 to $19 an hour, we’re getting maintenance at $13 an hour, plus we don’t have to pay benefits.”
Hairston asked Andrews if he was concerned about safety. He said no.
Andrews told her work-release inmates are nonviolent offenders who go through several programs inside MANCI in order to become eligible. They would also be supervised during transport to work and work under the regular MMHA maintenance staff.
“They will have our guys who are constantly supervising them and on site with them,” Andrews said.
“If they would ever have an issue, for them to lose this privilege where they get outside the walls of that place, is a huge loss for any of them. I look at it and say it’s a minimal risk.”
Andrews said workers from the program would only work on vacant units and landscaping. They would not be allowed to work inside occupied units.
Voucher use remains high, waiting list remains closed
Andrews also shared finalized voucher utilization rates for 2022. Andrews said HUD’s goal for housing authorities is to reach a 98-percent utilization rate, either with the vouchers or the federal money allocated for vouchers.
The agency used $10,682,864 of its HUD voucher funding last year, or 99.84 percent of its allocation.
“That puts us in a high-performing category,” Andrews said. “HUD thinks we’re doing a fantastic job. That’s exactly where we want to be each and every year.”
The agency was allocated 1,903 federal housing vouchers in January. That number increased to 1,910 in September. Monthly voucher utilization ranged from 1,792 to 1,863 during 2022. The agency’s annual utilization rate was 95.64 percent.
The number of vouchers the agency receives, as well as its funding amounts, are determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The vouchers are granted to Richland County residents, who use them to help pay for housing.
Andrews said all of the agency’s vouchers have been assigned, but in order to be counted as “utilized,” a voucher holder must be using the voucher to rent a place to live. Those who have been approved and are looking for a place to rent are not counted towards utilization rates.
Andrews said the agency’s monthly voucher utilization in 2023 has been between 98 and 99 percent. The housing authority is overspending its allocation HUD funding so far this year.
“We’ve actually overspent by about $274,000, that’s not a bad thing,” Andrews said.
“By the end of the year, if we overspend at the beginning, we can underspend as the year goes on. If we are still in a place where we’re utilizing more funds than we have been allotted at the beginning of the year, we simply make a request toward HUD and they can allot us some extra funds. They have funds set aside specifically for that.”
“We like to use it as many vouchers as we can.”
The MMHA’s waiting list remains closed.
“We have not pulled from our waiting list since September, so that means the 2,200 people that were there before are still there,” Andrews said. “It would take us years to go through that waiting list at this point in time.”
Fran Jenkins was appointed by Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker to replace former board member Isoleen Dunn. She joined the board in March.
Jenkins said she didn’t know much about the authority and didn’t seek the position out. She accepted in order to help the people of Richland County.
“It’s an opportunity to learn more things about the city of Mansfield and how Metropolitan Housing board is ran,” she said. “I enjoy helping people and if this is a way to get in and help people out, this is what I’ll do.”
Jenkins has lived in Richland County for more than 30 years. She currently works as a supervisor in the city of Mansfield’s utility department.
“I am just always willing to help any and everyone,” she said. “If you have questions, just come to me and I’m going to help you out.”
