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| Council approves housing incentive plan |
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| News | |||
| Written by Jesse Trimble | |||
| Wednesday, 03 February 2010 08:00 | |||
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City council members passed a home rule ordinance for a new housing purchase assistance program at the Jan. 26 city council meeting after discussing the program during several previous meetings and work sessions. Discussion around what is now ordinance number 3007 began at the beginning of December, with local businessman Hannes Poetter’s suggestion of boosting the economy and the real estate market within the city with a housing incentive of sorts. Poetter presented his suggestion to city council members, and since then, City Manager Jay Wieland and City Clerk Dan Droste have worked quickly, doing research on other cities and towns in the Midwest that have adopted similar programs to find the best fit for Paola and its residents. With discussions between housing architects, developers and builders, as well as hearing suggestions and concerns from interested residents, councilmembers Johna Dial, Pete Bell and Jim Pritchard passed the ordinance, which will be implemented as soon as March 1 and will end Feb. 11, 2011. A home rule is the power of a local city or county to set up its own system of self-government without receiving a charter from the state, according to USLegal.com. Although a home rule county is still subject to restrictions found in the United States Constitution, state constitutions and in state laws applicable to all counties, City Attorney Lee Tetwiler said after a few changes were made he found no conflicting problems with the new ordinance. Wieland presented a draft to councilmembers at the meeting and Dial was the first to ask for a change. “I feel strongly about the specification on annual income,” she said. “That’s limiting it. We’re not targeting a specific size of home, so why should income be applicable?” Other councilmembers agreed with Dial and it was decided the income specifications would be removed, as well as part of the application process for the grant, which stated applicants had to present a copy of their most recent IRS Federal Income Tax Return. Wieland also made it clear that if an applicant were to take part in the new program that they could not take advantage of any other city housing programs offered — only federal ones. Bell discussed the fees that would be waived under the program and was insistent that councilmembers had agreed to waive building permit fees, though no other member could recall this agreement. The fees waived under the program are water and sewer hook-up fees, except in areas where water and sewer services aren’t provided by the city, in which case the $5,000 grant will be reduced by 50 percent. Carol Everhart, director of the Chamber of Commerce, commended councilmembers on their hard work at the end of the meeting. “I’m excited about it,” she said. “I’m glad we’re doing away with the limits on income, since the point is to bring people in. It’s great.” The application is currently being completed since the passing of the ordinance and will be available March 1.
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