HomeMy WebLinkAboutOlympic Housing Trust letter of support JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
Mark McCauley, County Administrator
FROM: Greg Brotherton, Chair BOCC
DATE: August 7,2023
SUBJECT: Discussion and Potential Action RE: Letter of Support for Olympic Housing
Trust
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
Olympic Housing Trust would like a letter of support as they seek Commerce dollars for their Dundee
Hill Project.
ANALYSIS:
Deliberate and if the BoCC chooses send the letter as drafted or modify and send per BoCC decision.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This action is fiscally neutral.
RECOMMENDATION:
Deliberate the language and intent of letter and decide on action.
REVIEWED BY:
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/arkZMt�Xau/l ounty Administrator Date
04 Co ass Board of County Commissioners
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Port Townsend, WA 98368
�S IIN 0 Kate Dean,District 1 Heidi Eisenhour,District 2 Greg Brotherton,District 3
August 7, 2023
To Whom it May Concern,
The Olympic Housing Trust is Jefferson County's only community land trust. We support their first
project for affordable workforce housing in Jefferson County, and to this end have seen fit to allocate
$80,000 in our final ARPA funding towards their Dundee Hill project. Our staff, as well, is prepared to
support future grants that require sponsorship through the County government, such as CHIP, or
CDBG.
The housing crisis is impacting workforce housing in a manner difficult to address in the public
sphere, and we are encouraged by the community land trust model, and their specific project on
Dundee Hill. With most public funds directed to 60% and below of AMI, it is doubly critical to find
ways to support workforce housing. The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners believe that
Olympic Housing Trust is a natural candidate for future funding from the county as a local non-profit
housing provider.
This letter is to support Olympic Housing Trust's development of that project as they focus on
workforce housing in Jefferson County. We wish them success and hope to see them able to develop
these five units of permanently affordable workforce housing. Our social fabric depends on the
preservation and development of housing on all rungs of the housing continuum and supporting
community land trusts is an important element in that housing course correction.
Sincerely,
Jefferson County Commissioners
Kate Dean Heidi Eisenhour Greg Brotherton, Chair
District 1 District 2 District 3
Phone(360) 385-9100 Fax(360) 385-9382 jeffbocc@cojefferson.wa.us