Housing Efforts: More To Come

By Bonnie Davidson

The Courier

If you asked anyone who has recently moved to Glasgow there would be no question or hesitation that housing is a problem in Glasgow. Nearly a dozen people attended a meeting in the city chambers at the Glasgow Civic Center to discuss the development of a housing plan, part of a $10,000 grant given to the city to help assess the need.

The bid for the housing plan was given to the Greater Norther Development Corporation, a company that helps with grants, loans and community development in six different counties in Northeast Montana, including Valley County. Executive Director Martin DeWitt explained that they were working on gauging the public interest and input to help propose a housing plan.

DeWitt explained that they met for the first time at the end of July and they were hoping to have input from the public and city officials and finalize a timeline for the proposed plan. The meeting that took place on Thursday, Sept. 4, was the first meeting for public outreach. The public was given an opportunity to discuss what the needs for housing was, what they projected in growth in the community and interest in not just low income housing, but more housing for everyone as it is very limited.

"If you saw a grey vehicle driving around and looking at the exterior of the homes, they were part of what we call a windshield survey," DeWitt said to those who attended the meeting.

He explained that Breanna Vine, the marketing and housing specialist, was looking at existing housing and recording what type of housing was currently in the city. Dwellings were rated on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being very good and 10 being bad or unlivable. She explained that they could only identify needs from the outside, but it could help give an idea of what it might take for the city to update current housing.

A survey also went out to several in the city and they were surprised on the input that came in. Out of 1,000 surveys sent out over 500 were returned; the normal return rate for a survey is around 20 percent. With still another week before the deadline more surveys were expected to be returned. To help get people interested in the survey $500 in Glasgow Chamber Bucks are being offered in a drawing. Entries are offered on a separate form from the survey and need to be returned by the Monday, Sept. 15 deadline. The drawing will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 16.

"We'll be analyzing the census data and will work in the survey information to create an overall housing plan," DeWitt said.

He also explained an implementation schedule would be set for different goals, such as updating regulations and zoning issues. They will also be looking at creating an increase in opportunities for landlords with substandard housing to update their property. DeWitt also explained that a new non-competitive grant was now being offered to help on specific properties that need to be cleaned up and updated. He explained that while there are grants out there, the process would take time to see results.

"Free money is time and paperwork and it takes someone else's effort," DeWitt said.

An estimated time for the preliminary housing draft was some time in October. He said that the public would have a chance for input before a final submission would be released for one more chance at public comment.

Concerns and questions on how to have landlords comply and fix substandard housing came from a few of the members in the audience, one of them Mayor Becky Erickson. DeWitt explained that housing codes could be written and that enforcement on regulations is more of an issue and would have to be researched. He also explained that it was a state level problem to get a developer interested in building in a community. One of those "carrots," or incentives for developers is a tax credit.

The windshield survey found that out of the 1,246 home surveyed, 250 were in great shape, 356 were in good shape but could use minor work, 394 were rated in moderate condition and in need of renovations, 162 were reported as poor, or barely livable and 85 were considered demolition houses. Some of the demolition homes did have people living in it. Vine explained that some of the homes that needed were mobile homes which were a minimal cost and that demolition of homes cost around $10,000.

"It's a workable number and the city won't be inundated with tearing down properties," Vine said.

A CDBG (Community Development Block) grant could possibly be available to help with properties. The grant of $450,000 was received in Wolf Point and Circle and it helped with demolitions and rehabilitation of homes. Vine explained that the amount could help and did help with 25 demolitions in Wolf Point, which included 50 structures. They cleaned up several burned properties. The rehabilitations had helped with some of the lower income residents who couldn't update.

Vine gave an example of a single mom in Wolf Point who moved onto a property where a building had been demolished and a mobile home was placed. The property is now serving as a daycare and residence. DeWitt and Vine also described a woman in Circle who didn't want to be a burden and didn't tell anyone the conditions she was living in. Her basement was full of water and the foundation was crumbling. They were able to help her fix the home and make it livable again. DeWitt also mentioned a family that couldn't bring their child home because of mold in the home and severe health issues with the child. They used the funds to fix the home so the family could bring the baby home and live together as a family again.

The end of the meeting left those in attendance thinking and answering where Glasgow might be in 10 years, what the community might be like. Several agreed that there would be a growth in tourism, economy, businesses and residents. It was also seen that a large chunk of the population would be retiring and leaving jobs open for newcomers. Those in attendance agreed that at least 500 more houses could be added to help fulfill the need of housing.