Design rendering of Home, Inc.’s senior-focused development, called “The Cascades,” from the southwest. The development, to be completed in four phases, is planned to include 32 senior rental units in duplexes and triplexes, and 10 for-sale townhouses for a range of ages. (Rendering by City Architecture, Inc.)
Village Council to exempt Cascades phase two funding from 2025 budget
- Published: November 15, 2024
With the end of the year in sight, Village Council is in its annual throes of setting the coming year’s municipal budget.
At the outset of the most recent regular Council meeting, Monday, Nov. 4, Council members had their third and final budget work session with the goal of completing a draft budget for 2025 that will be finalized for approval or rejection at a Council meeting in December.
To that end, Council members weighed — sometimes amid contention — what requests and initiatives ought to be included in the draft budget, and what ought to be scrapped.
Among those initiatives was a request from local affordable housing nonprofit YS Home, Inc. for $180,000 for the phase-two construction costs of The Cascades, a 32-unit development focused on rental housing for seniors.
Home, Inc, broke ground on the first phase of the senior housing development earlier this fall. That groundbreaking marked the beginning of the first of four phases of development, which entails the building of eight initial rentals.
According to a memo to Council members and Village staff from Home, Inc. Executive Director Emily Seibel, the newly requested $180,000 would help defray phase two costs — which, ultimately, would add six more rentals — including the installation of an underground stormwater detention system, which would serve all eventual 32 units in The Cascades. As the memo also notes, the Village’s commitment of $180,000 would help the nonprofit to leverage more than $1.5 million in additional, external monies and grants needed for phase two.
Already the Village has granted $159,923 to Home, Inc. for The Cascades — which includes nearly $58,000 in the waiving of tap fees.
Home, Inc.’s most recent request, though, was met with some pushback among a few Council and Village staff members on Monday night.
In a separate memo to Council, Village Manager Johnnie Burns said he did not support the request and insisted Council agree to strike it from the budget.
“It has become evident that Home, Inc. did not adequately budget for the project, leading to their current funding shortfall,” Burns wrote, noting that Village staff had “confirmed that their projections were insufficient” earlier this summer.
From that alleged insufficiency, Burns provided Home, Inc. with three recommendations in July: delay the project, reduce the number of units, or implement a phased approach to building the stormwater detention system.
Home, Inc. Board President Chris Bongorno told Council on Monday that he “ardently disagreed” with the suggestion that the nonprofit “disregarded the advice of the Village or was otherwise incompetent” in the development of The Cascades’ first two phases.
“The importance of local investment up front — for each project phase — can not be overstated,” Bongorno said, adding that Home, Inc. broke its construction timeline into four phases to “maximize those external dollars” that other housing and financial entities would provide.
Executive Director Seibel echoed Bongorno, and said, “When we come to [the Village] with a request for a local layer of funding, we use that funding to get a match for a lot more money outside Yellow Springs. For that reason alone, we implore you to reconsider.”
As an example, Seibel said that Home, Inc. has plans to petition the Ohio Housing Finance Agency for $1.2 million next summer to help with Cascades construction — money that stands a better chance of being awarded, if the Village continues its track record of granting funds to the project.
“We don’t take your commitments for granted,” Seibel beseeched Council. “We get that you have a lot of competing budget priorities, but seniors are counting on this to move forward. Our weekly calls have doubled since the site sign went up. There’s a real affordable housing crisis in this community.”
As previously reported in the News, The Cascades — located on 1.8 acres between Marshall and Herman streets — will encompass 22 low- to moderate-income rental units earmarked for seniors and 10 two-story townhomes to be sold at low cost to qualifying buyers of varying age demographics.
Council members were split on whether to follow Manager Burns’ recommendation to strike Home, Inc.’s $180,000 request from the 2025 budget. Council members Trish Gustafson and Carmen Brown said they were inclined to agree with Burns; Council member Brian Housh and Vice President Gavin DeVore Leonard said they supported the housing nonprofit’s request.
“This would be a clear return on investment,” Housh said. “These kinds of projects — affordable housing or any housing for that matter — bring property tax dollars, income tax dollars and cost savings around utilities. The return is there.”
Council President Kevin Stokes — though he sponsored Home, Inc.’s budgetary request and brought it to the dais for consideration — walked the line.
“I will submit that I am willing to support staff’s position on this,” Stokes said, later adding, “Not supporting this is not an indication of not supporting affordable housing. From my perspective, it’s a matter of wanting to honor the folks we say are our subject-matter experts.”
Stokes suggested tabling the matter until a future meeting to allow for additional discussion — thus stalling the impending finalization of the budget, later to be voted on by Council — and was met with consternation from Village Clerk Judy Kintner.
“You have a hard decision to make and you need to make it tonight,” Kintner said. “If you leave the door open for this request to be amended or to come back when you’ve been convinced to change your vote, then that’s what’s going to happen.”
“It’s off. It’s pulled,” Stokes responded — thus, the decision to include Home, Inc.’s request of $180,000 in the 2025 budget was denied.
As Seibel later noted, Monday’s decision was the first time in her 15 years with Home, Inc. that Village Council had denied a monetary request from the housing nonprofit.
The News will continue to follow Council’s deliberations on the 2025 budget, and will provide a full-length article in a coming issue that breaks down each of the municipal budgetary items.
The next Village Council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 18, in the John Bryan Community Center.
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