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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
August 6, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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August 6, 2020
 
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Page A-2 Shelton-Mason Countydournal - Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020 V County approvesrent assistance grant application Kirk Bozdeimer Hm.rbo)deitner@gmail.com The Mason County Commission voted Tuesday to approve an Eviction Rent Assistance Program (ERAP) grant application to the Washington State Department of Commerce to re- ceive $500,876 in funds through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Econom— ic Security (CARES) Act. David Windom, director of Com- munity Services for Mason County, briefed the commissioners Monday on the CARES Act funding for ERAP, which is effective Aug. 1 through Dec. 31. Windom said ERAP is intended to prevent evictions by paying up to 80 percent for three months of past-due, current and future rent, while target— ing limited resources to those with the highest needs. ' “The goal is to promote equality in who is served (and) focus on‘equity» for groups of people who historically have not been provided equitable ac- cess to rent assistance,” Windom said. “The effect of this is really to get the rent to landlords. We realize there is an anti-eviction guidance out from the governor, but that’s not helpful to the landlords, so what we’re looking to do here with this funding is assist everybody, get the rent paid and en— sure that people stay in their homes.” Windom added that requests have already been solicited to meet a July deadline. District 2 Commissioner Kevin Shutty asked who would be adminis— tering ERAP for the county. “How would folks who are eligible- for this tap into the resources?” Shut- ty asked. “Is- that going to be some— thing that’s handled on our side, or is that something that’s handled by one of our community partners?” Lydia Buchheit, manager of Com- caquv BRIEFS The Board of Mason County Commissioners tackled a trio of proposed Public Works projects that called for the county to approve agreements with‘outsi‘de parties about granting conditional ac- cess to each others’ lands: I The board authorized the county engineer to use the small works roster to contract out the Val- ley Rose culvert replacement project, and enter into a contract agreement. Mike Collins, the county engineer and deputy director of Public Works, was joined by Erik« Schwartz, environmental coordinator for Public Works, in briefing the board Monday. munity and Family Health for Ma- son County Public Health, indicated it would involve coordination among multiple agencies. I “We’re trying to work everything through Crossroads (Housing), through their coordinated entry, but that has some limitations that we’re going to need to make some changes 'with Crossroads,” even as she prom- ised “there will be a process,” she said. Although Buchheit’s preference is to work through Crossroads’ coordi— nated entry, she acknowledged that, “sometimes speed and coordinated entry aren’t compatible with trying to keep somebody in their house, lit- erally, from going back to work and exposing other people.” Windom also touted the efficiency of “keeping someone in their home, connected to their family, connected to food,” as opposed to using hotels or motels, as well as preempting the fear of rent delinquency which could compel people to leave their homes to go to work, thus allowing the county “to cocoon those families in a way that gets us through the COVID problem faster.” Shutty went on to cite the admin- istrative portion of the requested grant, which is capped at 15% of its total budget and amounts to $75,131, as well as the $100,175 in operations costs directly attributable to the pro- gram. “What (are) the operations going to cover?” Shutty asked. “And if we do that coordinated entry program, do} we retain that admin portion?” “We’re trying to work out those de— tails,” Windom said. “In some ways,‘ it’s faster if we can just have the land- lord invoice us and get it paid, but to be a little more square with everyone, going through Crossroads is the goal.” When Shutty asked how much lon- ger Windom expected it would take Due to flooding problems at the end of Valley let. Rose Drive, caused by what they cited as heavy rainfall and a lack of infrastructure, Collins and Schwartz recommended that the County Road We deliVer or U-huul \. NORTHWEST . ROCK, mc. IOWNE [lllllflllY NIIW flPEN! c ; xiv-.. :: Fund cover the estimated $12,000 cost of a culvert replacement project to alleviate the flooding and reduce the hazards to “the traveling public.” The Public Works Department has designed plans to replace an existing cross—culvert while adding another cross-culvert, and has recommend- ed using the small w0rks roster to contract out the work, due to the workload and schedule. I The board then executed an interagency agreement with the state Department of Fish &, Wildlife, with the goal of removing an existing dam and fishway structure from the outlet of Haven Lake and replace them with a natural channel out— The interagency agreement would grant the De- partment of Fish and Wildlife and its contractors access to county-owned property to do this work. “to get this up and running,” and sup- ply funding to those who need it, Win- dom said it could be up and running by the end of the week, subsequent to the commissioners’ approval. TIMING IS AN ISSUE The ERAP grant also requests $300,526 for rent payments, to be made to a third party, and $25,044 in sub-grants. When Windom clarified the county is still waiting on propos- als from subcontractors, Frank Pint- er, director of Support Services for Mason County, pointed out the next board meeting is three weeks away. “Will you be able to enter into any subcontracts until the next board meeting, when those subcontracts are accepted?” Pinter asked, “and does that become an issue for timing for you?” “For us, it becomes an issue for timing, yes,” Windom answered. District 3 Commissioner Sharon Trask suggested convening a sub- sequent emergency meeting, which Pinter agreed was a possibility. “I think that probably the smartest course of action is to get the propos- als, write those subcontracts, have an emergency meeting and deal with it up front,” Windom said. District 1 Commissioner Randy Neatherlin also favored an emergen- cy meeting, “because there’s no yvay I would be supportive of a blanket say— ing we’ll sign something without see— ing it.” . The funding formula allocates 85% of the funds to existing Consolidated Housing Grant contractors, while 10% would go to existing Office of Homeless Youth grantees with expe- rience managing rent assistance. For both categories, the award amounts will be basedon their respective num— bers of renter households and people who are unemployed. The remainder would go to the De- partment of Commerce’s administra— tion and the Department of Children, Youth and Families for rent assis- tance to youth exiting foster care. THEY WANT TO KNOW WHY During her own briefing earlier in the day on Aug. 3 Carol Ehlinger, program manager for the state audit team in Mason County, offered advice that she pointed out applies to federal funds such as those obtained through the CARES Act. Ehlinger noted the degree to which money is coming from the federal gov- ernment with “very little guidance,” and with many guidance require- ments arriving subsequent . to the funds, “which we know is not a very good way of doing it, but that’s how things are coming.” According to Ehlinger, the State Auditor’s Office suggests, when no compliance requirements are sup- plied, agencies should document what that money is being spent on, and why, so when auditors review the agencies’ documentation, “we can understand how your thought process works.” , Ehlinger also warned that any compliance requirements that are supplied are subject to change at a moment’s notice, and once such changes are made, they retroactively replace any prior compliance require- ments those agencies might have been working with. She advised sav- ing each set of compliance require- ments, whether through hard-copy printouts or screenshots. . “We expect an interesting year next yearwhen we audit, so it should be an interesting year for the coun— ties and cities and all the public en- tities, with the money that’s coming out from the federal government,” Ehlinger said. ' The property, Tracts A and B of the Plat of Ha— ven Lake, was dedicated to the county at the time of the plat recording. The Department of Fish & Wildlife had plans to develop the land, to provide public access to Haven Lake, and an agreement was executed in 1956,‘under which Mason County, granted the department the right and permit to develop and maintain that land. That agreement remains in effect. 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