December 21, 2020
Contact: Scott Dadson, Executive Director
828-351-2365
Upcoming Meetings and Events
IPDC Board of Directors Meets for Annual Meeting
The Board of Directors met virtually on December 15, 2020, for their Regularly Scheduled Meeting. The Agenda covered a range of topics to include the adoption of the Five-Year Housing Plan for the Isothermal Public Housing Agency Housing Choice Voucher Program (known as Section 8), the 2021 Isothermal Legislative Agenda, and a presentation by IPDC staff on programs, budgets, and outcomes for Calendar Year 2020, known as the Annual Report.
You can access each of these items by clicking on the embedded links above to learn more or go to this link to see the December 15, 2020 meeting in its entirety.
Regional News
With Modified Stay at Home Order in Effect, Gov. Cooper, Sec. Cohen and Sec. Hooks Call on Local Leaders for Additional Support
Last week, Governor Roy Cooper, Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, and Secretary Erik Hooks wrote a letter to local elected officials imploring them to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in their communities by considering additional enforcement measures.
“Now more than ever we need help with enforcement from our local partners to fight this raging pandemic,” said Governor Cooper. “Taking steps now to protect our communities by enforcing safety precautions will help reduce transmission of the virus and save lives.”
A recent advisory opinion from the North Carolina Department of Justice concludes that local governments may unquestionably enforce local ordinances that establish civil penalties for violations of the Governor’s COVID-19 Executive Orders.
“We are on a dangerous course,” said North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen, MD. “Everyone - our counties and municipalities, businesses, community organizations, and every North Carolinian - must act to save lives and make sure our hospitals can care for those who need them.”
“Good public health is vitally important to maintaining a safe and secure environment,” said NC Department of Public Safety Secretary Erik Hooks. “Public safety professionals at all levels of government are essential to supporting the public health sector of our state and nation’s critical infrastructure.”
Isothermal Region Has New Community College Presidents
ICC announces Dr. Margaret Annunziata and McDowell Tech announces Dr. Brian S. Merritt as their respective presidents
Isothermal Community College has chosen Dr. Margaret Annunziata as its sixth president. Annunziata will begin her duties at Isothermal on Feb. 1, 2021. She will replace Walter Dalton, who is retiring in February after serving as Isothermal’s president since May 2013.
The Board of Trustees of McDowell Technical Community College have named Dr. Brian S. Merritt as the college’s new president. He succeeds Dr. John Gossett, who resigned in March to become the new president at AB Tech in Asheville. Merritt’s appointment will become effective on Jan. 1, 2021.
Rutherford County Awarded CDBG-CV Funding for Broadband and Housing Assistance
Rutherford County has awarded $900,000 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for the NC CDBG Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) Program. Rutherford County partnered with Carolina Community Broadband Alliance (CCBA) and Pisgah Legal Services to request funding for broadband expansion to unserved communities and public service funds to provide subsistence payments to prevent evictions and utility disconnections.
As part of the Rutherford County COVID Response Initiative (RCCRI), the County and CCBA will expand broadband infrastructure through the construction of three broadband distribution sites in low to moderate-income communities in Rutherford County. The RCCRI will also provide funding for rent assistance for as many as 66 low-income residents in Rutherford County.
Aging
Secretary Cohen's Message to Families of Long-Term Care Residents and COVID-19 Vaccines
NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen shares information on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan for families of long-term care residents. For more information, visit covid19.ncdhhs.gov.
Vaccination Rollout Plan: Those Most at Risk Get it First
EDA Invites Applications under its Public Works Program and Economic Adjustment Assistance Program
EDA invites applications to request grant assistance for clearly defined construction or non-construction assistance projects that will advance job creation, job retention, and private investment or enhance economic development decision-making, respectfully.
Through EDA’s grant programs construction may support the construction of new public assets or the renovation of existing public assets, which include but are not limited to water/sewer lines, tanks, systems, pumps; incubators; access roads; workforce training facilities; commercialization centers; port improvements; and other similar projects.
EDA’s non-construction projects can support a wide array of activities, including highest and best use analysis, cluster and supply chain mapping studies, and regional technical assistance projects. Matching share funds are required and must be committed at the time of the project and for the same scope of work. For Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance Programs, the match is generally 50 percent, although communities may qualify for a higher grant rate. To learn more and to discuss potential projects, please contact Hillary Sherman at hsherman@eda.gov. To access the funding notice and application forms, please click here.
Main Street Forward Awards Open for Applications
Want to win a national award for your recovery and resiliency efforts over the past year? NC Main Street communities are encouraged to apply. Communities could win $1000 and be recognized on the national “virtual stage”. Click here to learn more.
FEMA COVID-19 Economic Recovery Resources Roadmap
FEMA has released the federal economic recovery resource for COVID-19, which provides visual maps to key challenges posed by COVID-19 and the variety of complementary federal programs that may be leveraged to meet these needs. Click here to view the roadmap.
Landlord Recruitment for the Housing Choice Voucher Program has a New Partnership!
The Executive Committee met on November 12, 2020, in regular session and discussed among other issues, a proposed contract for Landlord Recruitment services to assist the Isothermal Public Housing Agency (Section 8) increase the number of rental units available to qualified Section 8 participants in the Isothermal Region. Currently, the Isothermal PHA can issue up to 1408 vouchers to families in Cleveland, McDowell, Rutherford, and Polk Counties for housing. The current average number of vouchers issued and housing secured for the same is around 1,180 vouchers and units. The Section 8 program has a large waiting list of families (over 1200 currently on our Waiting List) looking for housing in the four-county region and when issued vouchers, over 75% of vouchers are returned due to lack of housing available for the program.
The Commission issued a Request for Qualifications in the summer of 2020, from local and regional firms involved in Real Estate and Housing Rental Management seeking assistance in working with local landlords, investors, and property owners to open to Section 8 Voucher participants. The Commission received bids from Champion Investments, a Rental Management Company in Shelby NC, and began negotiations on a Contract for services. The contract was approved by the Executive Committee on December 15th, after the Committee adjourned the November 12th meeting to have Legal Staff draft a contract and for staff to ensure that the contract met the objectives of improving the availability of open rental units to Section participants by 25% in the Isothermal Region.
The contract will begin in January of 2021 with Champion Investments Team of Agents working across the four counties to identify issues regarding landlord participation in the Section 8 Program, creating a Landlord Advisory Board, holding meetings with potential landlords and investors, and creating recruitment materials that will help build more affordable housing opportunities for those that qualify for the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) here in the Isothermal Region. For more information on the Housing Choice Voucher Program here in the Isothermal Region, go to our web site at: https://regionc.org/housing-programs/
Rural Transportation
Announcing UNC's Center for Urban & Regional Studies, Carolina Tracker: A Resource for Recovery
UNC-Chapel Hill's Center for Urban and Regional Studies has launched an online dashboard that examines pandemic-related patterns beyond public health. The new website, created with the help of coronavirus relief funding, is known as Carolina Tracker. It analyzes trends down to the county level that is as wide-ranging as police stops, home sales, daycare enrollment and foot traffic to stores, restaurants and parks.
Transportation Access in Appalachia: A New Report
Access in Appalachia analyzes how transportation options, or the lack thereof, can impact economic development and access to services across the Region. The report considers transportation accessibility as the ability of people and businesses to access desired and needed activities, services, and goods from food and broadband, to education, healthcare (including substance use disorder treatment), and more within existing transportation options.
The primer offers an entry point for analysts interested in learning about access issues and measurement. The full research report focuses on methodological detail, background, and test applications.
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