Supervisors okay donation to housing trust fund

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Henry County?s Board of Supervisors approved a resolution to donate $10,000 to the Great River Housing Trust Fund during its Tuesday meeting.

The county has made similar donations the past several years and the money is for the fiscal 2016-17 year.

Sara Hecox, of the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission (SEIRPC), which administers the trust fund, said money from the fund is used for the rehabilitation of owner-occupied houses, down payment assistance on house purchases and development assistance.

?In 2011, 2012 and 2013, $190,000 was spent in Henry County for owner-occupied rehabilitation, $80,000 for down-payment assistance and $25,000 for development assistance,? Hecox noted. The development assistance was for the purchase of lots for Habitat for Humanity housing in the county, she said.

Henry County?s $10,000 covers the county?s $25,000 local match.

Recipients of the funds must be low- to moderate-income individuals and meet other guidelines.

Dan Spray, of Mt. Pleasant, a board member for the housing trust fund, praised the program. ?I am happy to be part of the organization and consider it (county contribution) to be a good investment.?

In other agenda items, Henry County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss said the mainline of W55/Franklin Avenue to the intersection of county road J20 in Salem has been poured. Hotchkiss said one half of Franklin Avenue?s intersection with J20 was poured Tuesday and the other half on Wednesday.

?The road (W55 on the southern edge of Salem) won?t be opened this week,? Hotchkiss said. ?We will know better next week when we have more concrete down.?

Work on the 320th Street stabilization project is still on hold, Hotchkiss said, until the Skunk River goes down. Racine Avenue, however, was opened Monday afternoon to traffic.

Most of the secondary road crew?s work last week consisted of blading gravel roads and hauling resurfacing rock. Hotchkiss said county employees will be spraying weeds from the City of Salem to 235th Street which will allow the crack-filling crew to complete its work.

In the public comments section of the agenda, supervisors received a complaint from Marlyn Madole, of Mt. Pleasant, regarding conditions at Oakland Mills near the Skunk River. ?There are logs all over the place by the river. It?s a mess,? Madole told the board.

Final action saw the supervisors approve suspended property taxes on five parcels of property for the fiscal 2015-2016 year.

The county may suspend property taxes if application is made by a recipient of federal supplemental security income, state supplementary assistance or a resident of a health-care facility, according to Iowa Code. However, if the property is sold, the new property owner must pay back taxes on the property.

Henry County?s supervisors meet again in regular session on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 9 a.m., in the Henry County Courthouse.