Although the Durham City Council's April Fool's Day meeting was not without diversion--the agenda included a motion to extend the maximum time frame for carnivals--the more serious business of the meeting revolved around redevelopment projects.
The council voted to reapprove funding for the Hayti Development Corporation, a nonprofit group repairing dilapidated houses in Northeast Central Durham that has received funding from the city for several years. This followed last year's mandate by former interim city manager Greg Bethea, which outlined a time frame for the group in order to continue receiving city funds.
Hayti will be able to receive six construction loans--up to $130,000 per loan--and an aggregate amount up to $520,000 to rehabilitate and market six single-family houses using funds from 1996 housing bonds.
One point of contention was the overlap of city and state funds. Three of the houses slated for redevelopment also fall under the umbrella of the Hope VI revitalization project, which consists of a $35 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to redevelop Northeast Central Durham.
Council member John Best suggested that city funds--specifically those from the 1996 housing bonds--should be used elsewhere if federal money was already being used to redevelop the area.
Mayor Pro Tempore Lewis Cheek countered Best's point, asking, "Aren't we counting on other nonprofits to come into that area? Isn't it not just as simple as Hope VI?"
Charlene Montford, director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, said non-federal sources of funding are vital to community redevelopment projects.
"That $35 million is just a drop in the bucket," she said.
The motion passed five to one, with Best dissenting. Its passage was contingent on a future meeting of the City Council and the Durham Housing Authority, the recipient of the Hope VI grant, where they would work out the specifics of coordinating city and federal funding.
IN OTHER BUSINESS: The city of Durham continues to grow. The council passed two motions that will result in expanding the Urban Growth Area--defined as land in and surrounding the city limits that has access to urban services, such as utilities. But Mayor Bill Bell stressed the importance of temperance in expanding the area--both motions called for lower densities along the periphery of the city. This measure prevents expansionary development from proceeding too quickly.
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