LEE COUNTY – A Lee County building committee assembled to look at possible options of reducing the county’s facility inventory is working to gift several properties to Fort Madison and Keokuk housing authorities.
The group met on Thursday afternoon to review the possibilities for six units in Fort Madison that are under contract for management services with the Fort Madison Housing Authority until May 14. But after that date, the county will be responsible for managing the properties entirely, a move that doesn’t sit well with county officials.
Lee County Supervisor Tom Schulz said he’s been having conversations with the Housing Authority about possibly gifting the properties to the Authority to own and manage.
“We’ve been tasked with trying to find a way to remove the county from ownership of these properties,” Schulz said.
“I’m very much in favor of trying to keep these properties available for the purpose that they were originally intended, which is to take care of a segment of our society that needs that assistance.”
Schulz said he was in discussions Thursday with the Housing Authority.
“There seems to be a proclivity toward taking ownership of these properties and keeping it within the housing authority, if the county desires to do that,” he said.
“We would receive no financial benefit directly from doing that other than the fact that we would shed ourselves from a fairly significant yearly expense as the buildings age.”
Schulz said it’s his opinion that the county should continue those negotiations and make that recommendation to the full board of supervisors.
“Amen,” said Lee County Auditor Denise Fraise.
Fort Madison Housing Authority Director Mike Dear said he’s presented the idea to the the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
“We’re looking at it,” Dear said Thursday. “It’s being looked at by our portfolio manager with HUD and we’re supposed to talk again about it tomorrow.”
The Housing Authority is a governmental agency under Iowa Code, so Lee County could gift the property over to the authority. However, if HUD would disallow the transfer, the county could decide to sell the properties.
Schulz said the county would need a legal opinion from County Attorney Ross Braden on the possibility of transferring the properties. But a private acquisition would have to be sold at fair market value, and there would be no guarantees those living in the properties would be able to stay past their current leases.
The county-owned properties in Fort Madison are at 617 and 615 3rd Street; 325, 327, 329 and 331 Avenue G; and 313 Avenue G where there are four apartments in one structure. Two of the properties are currently vacant, but are in need of repairs before they can leased again.
Board member Mark Klesner asked what a Plan B would look like because May 14th is coming up very quickly.
Schulz said at that point the county may have to look at selling the property because they don’t have the manpower or expertise to manage the property. Hiring an individual to manage the properties, he said, would be a costly investment.
The Housing Authority was mandated by HUD to end the management contract with the county after they discovered in September that federal funds were being used on county maintenance work.
The Housing Authority Commission, then chaired by Fort Madison City Councilwoman Rebecca Bowker, asked FMHA staff to conduct a cost analysis to determine the extent of the federal funds used. Staff was then ordered by HUD officials to stop any further analysis and use of federal funds on county property, and Dear was told by the commission to end the contract with the county.
Bowker resigned her position at a Wednesday meeting that was called to suspend Dear after he hired a maintenance worker with a criminal background. The item wasn’t acted on at the meeting Wednesday, leaving Dear’s status intact. A separate motion to suspend the maintenance worker he hired was tabled by the commission.
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