Housing Unit Asks Site Funds

Last night's Housing Commission meeting produced a wide range of decisions related to the city's public housing programs, including an additional request for local money. Commissioners approved a resolution calling for outright purchase at $30,000, from owner Mark Mayne and Ronald E. Mitchell, of a 4.5-acre vacant site between Winewood and Thaler. The city has tried since last July to obtain that site by condemnation. City Council will hold a special meeting at 9 a.m. tomorrow to vote on the commission's request for local money to make up the difference between the owner's current price and the limit of $23,500 set be the federal Housing Assistance Admin i s t r a t i o n (HAA). A contract signed late last month by the commission and Sharp Construction Co. of Flint for 151 public housing units on nine sites calis for 24 of those units to be built, in duplexes, at Winewood-Thaler. Commission Chairman Robert P. Weeks said starting and completion dates in the contract could not be met if the city waits to obtain the site by eondemnation. The agreement salls for informing the r tor by June 16 whether he can build on the Winewood-Thaler site. Weeks said an appropriation of between $6,000 and $7,000 by City Council appears to be the only way "to save one-sixth of our program. HAA has authorized $385,018.12 for buying and building on that site." For reasons never made clear by commissioners, the Housing Commission was not . successful in exercising an option to buy the site from Maynelastyear, when Mitchell, a private bunder, became an interested party in the site. Weeks reported last night that the construction contract for all 151 units has not yet been approvedbyHAA's regional office in Chicago. Following a phone conversation with HAA officials this morning, Weeks said, as he did last night, that remaining problems in contract wording "are not grave ... the contract isn't at stake." Weeks, Housing Director Mrs. J o s e p h D. Mhoon, Chief Assistant City Attorney Fred S. Steingold and two representatives of Sharp Construction Co. will meet Monday in Chicago with HAA Regional Director William Bergeron, with the aim of gaining final federal approval for the contract. A resolution authorizing Weeks to name an advisory committee on relations with public housing tenants was introduced by Commissioner Mrs. Robin Barlow and approved last night in response to a letter to the commission from George C. Stewart, director of the Legal Aid Clinic. Stewart requested a meeting between the commission and 30 public h o u s i n g tenants h e represents, known as the Ann Arbor Public Housing Action Committee, initially to discuss a lease form the Legal Aid Society has drafted as a possible replacement for the lease now used by the Housing Commission. Weeks said he will name representatives of the League of Women Voters, the U-M School of Social Work and other interestetf groups such as the Legal Aid Society to an advisory committee on tenant relations. The group will be asked to make an intial report at the commission's next regular meeting, July 9. Commissioners also approved a resolution, sponsored by Commissioner Joseph J. Martin and amended by Mrs. Barlow, eliminating a bylaw which scheduled regular executive sessions, closed to the public, the first hour of the commission's monthly meetings. As revised, the bylaws cali for the commission to meet at 7:30 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month, with the initial portion to be closed to the public if all commissioners present consider a closed meeting necessary. This means that when monthly meetings start with an executive session, the public portion will begin when commissioners decide to end their closed meeting, rather than at a time announced in advance. Weeks said after last night's meeting he opposes closed meetings in principie and intends to minimize them. Mrs. Mhobn reported last night HAA has instructed her to replace 26 oil furnaces with gas heat in the commission's White St. apartments. She said she has received a bid to perform the change for $10,375 which can be paid from the commission's a v a i 1 a b 1 e federally backed budget, although heating conversión was not covered in the contract for rehabilitation of the apartments. At Mrs. Barlow's urging, commissioners made tentative plans for a special meeting in July at which an HAA spokesman will be invited to discuss possible methods of launching a I new 300-unit public housing I ject through cooperation with I private builders. The I sion and City Council I ized a request for a program I reservation with HAA for 300 I units several months ago.