As members of the Henderson City Council continued budget deliberations at a work session Monday, they found themselves in lockstep to help displaced families find more permanent housing, but far apart on providing financial support for McGregor Hall.
The Council approved giving $2,000 to 22 families who had to move out of the Motel 121 in early May because it was deemed uninhabitable by inspectors.
Since then, five of the 27 families have found other places to live with help from Vaya Health, leaving 22 families – with 47 children – living in motels in Vance and Granville counties.
State money that has been paying for lodging is running out, and the families face being homeless again without some intervention.
“Twenty-two families, as of tomorrow, are going to be homeless again,” said City Manager Terrell Blackmon during the budget work session.
According to Mayor Melissa Elliott, the bill so far is roughly $144,000 in motel bills.
It would cost close to $40,000 to keep them in their current situation until the end of the month, she said.
After some discussion, the Council agreed to pay the $2,000 voucher to all 22 families and then request that the county reimburse the city for half. That way, the city will end up paying for 11 families and the county would pick up the other 11.
It was unclear when the vouchers would be distributed, where the money would come from or whether the families would be allowed to stay in their current lodging after check-out time Tuesday.
Elliott acknowledged that $2,000 is “not a lot of money to relocate…(but) we have to start somewhere.”
Blackmon said he and County Manager C. Renee Perry had been in communication about the situation, and he said that the feeling is the county would be open to help pay for the vouchers.
“I don’t think they’ll leave us hanging out there on this,” he told the council.
In further discussion, some Council members asked whether there are funds set aside in the budget for providing emergency housing.
Blackmon said there may be funds to provide temporary housing for people whose homes are being repaired with community development block grant funding, but he doesn’t think there is a pot of money that would help in situations like the one at Motel 121.
“This exercise, although unexpected, has shown us that we really don’t have the structure to accommodate and help families a little bit longer,” Blackmon said.
Geraldine Champion said she didn’t want anyone to go through what the families living at Motel 121 have gone through.
“We need to do something and we need to be proactive,” she said.
One option that came up is a shelter for displaced families that could operate in the city.
Blackmon said there typically is more funding available for programs than for brick and mortar projects. “We need to figure out how we can get that type of facility in the city,” he said.
The recommended budget, which totals roughly $45 million, could be adopted as early as June 10. Just as the recommended budget presented to Council in early May didn’t have any money designated for emergency housing, neither did it provide any funding for McGregor Hall.
At last night’s work session, two motions failed that would have provided substantial money to the performing arts venue – Garry Daeke’s first motion was for the full request of $75,000. That failed 5-2, with only Daeke and Council Member Sam Seifert voting in favor.
Daeke followed up with a motion, also seconded by Seifert, to provide $60,000. That motion failed, too. Commissioners Geraldine Champion, Sara Coffey, Ola Thorpe-Cooper, Michael Venable and Tami Walker voted no.
Council Member Lamont Noel was absent.
McGregor Hall Executive Director Mark Hopper – who is the venue’s only full-time employee – had requested $75,000 from the city and $60,000 from the county in this year’s budget cycle, all of which would be used to retire the mortgage debt. Blackmon said $124,620 in debt service is due in early July each year.
On the heels of the two failed motions, Coffey offered a motion, seconded by Champion, to provide $5,000 to McGregor Hall in the form of a one-year renewable grant, as well as placing a voting member of the council on the McGregor Hall board and to know how the funding would be spent.
“I don’t think $5,000 will get anyone the board,” Daeke said. “I would like to see it fully funded.”
Seifert said, “I can’t agree more with Mr. Daeke…We need economic development here in Henderson, and this right here is a beacon that draws it in,” he said of McGregor Hall. “This is a driver for many different things.”
Plans to purchase property owned by McGregor Hall continue, which would add up to $275,000 to the performing arts venue’s bottom line. Blackmon said there’s a CAF that is ready to be presented at the next meeting.
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