Big Crowd Wednesday for Special City Council Meeting on Housing

Print

Published on February 27 2019 10:10 pm
Last Updated on February 28 2019 6:51 am
Written by Greg Sapp

 

(EFFINGHAM COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOARD CHAIRMAN JOSH BULLOCK SPOKE ON RESULTS OF A RECENT CHAMBER SURVEY ON HOUSING NEEDS)

A packed house filled the City Council chambers Wednesday night to discuss the housing issue in Effingham.

City officials heard that many feel there is a need for many more homes.

Lake Land College President Dr. Josh Bullock is this year's Board Chairman of the Effingham County Chamber of Commerce. Bullock shared results of a recent survey conducted by the Chamber. 43 responses were received on the question of how respondents define affordable housing and housing needs in general. Many of the responses indicated a need for homes in the $100,000 to $250,000 range, as well as rental properties; apartments, but also townhouses. As to the cost of those apartments, nice ones run to $800/month, while middle of the road rentals range from $400 to $600/month. Bullock indicated that there may be a need for as many as 1,000 units in which to reside.

(PAUL KOERNER SPOKE ON BEHALF OF THE ALLIANCE)

Paul Koerner of Koerner Distributor spoke on behalf of The Alliance. Koerner shared that in a recent survey by The Alliance there was a need suggested for 750 to 1,000 housing units in Effingham.

(DAVE FREDERKING OF FREDERKING CONSTRUCTION)

The construction community was also represented. Dave Frederking spoke on behalf of the Effingham Area Homebuilders Association, Frank Bowman, Executive Director of the Illinois Manufactured Housing Association spoke about the economics of manufactured homes, Jerry Kinkelaar of Kinx Construction spoke on behalf of developers, and Heather Mumma, owner of B&B Homes, also offered comments.

(HEATHER MUMMA OF B&B HOMES SPOKE ON BEHALF OF MANUFACTURED HOMES)

City staff members, particularly City Administrator Steve Miller, City Engineer and Planner Jeremy Heuerman and Economic Development Director Todd Hull shared information on what the City is doing and has done and fielded questions from the audience.

Information was shared on the number of residential properties begun within the last 30 years. In 1990, 56 single-family homes were begun, along with 36 multi-family units. The numbers dropped to the teens for single-family properties in 2012 and has remained that low in subsequent years, down to 11 units in 2018. There has been no more than five multi-family units begun in any year since that big year in 1990, and there have been none begun since 2016.

Wednesday's meeting was a fact-finding effort. We will keep you up-to-date on where things go from here.