BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

WARFIELD — The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has designated the Martin County Housing Authority in Kentucky as a “troubled housing authority.” This announcement triggered an urgent response July 19 at Riverside Apartments, where county officials sought clarity on the situation.

“Housing in this county is a very important issue,” Martin County Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty said at the meeting. “We’re here today to understand the problem and identify solutions to improve the situation.”

He was joined by Deputy Judge/Executive Carolea Mills, Martin County Attorney Melissa Phelps and other executive staff, including Eric Mills.

Judge Lafferty welcomed newly appointed board members Joe Blevins and Patty Murphy and thanked board member Marlena Slone for serving.

Lafferty presented a document from HUD indicating a dismal financial score of 2 out of 25 for the housing authority.

“It appears that a major audit is forthcoming within 60 days,” he added, seeking answers on the reasons behind the issue and the authority’s future course of action. “As the head of the fiscal court, we need to know what that’s about. How did we get there? What’s it all about? What are we doing about it? How did we become a troubled housing authority?”

Winterwood asset manager Bobby Shook said the “troubled” status resulted primarily from financial instability due to the authority bearing all utility costs for the property.

“That is the reason we were attempting to have the residents put those utilities in their names,” Shook stated. “Up until two years ago, when that policy was put into place, the property was operating better. Now we’re paying utilities for every unit.”

Lafferty asked why the decision was made to change the utility arrangement with the residents.

Shook said he was not at Riverside when the policy changed, but the board would have made the change.

“So you’re saying it took two years to become a troubled housing authority? Or did it happen a year ago?” the judge asked.

Shook replied, “This property has been trouble from day 1 when we first came here – and that was three or four years ago.”

The judge asked Shook if HUD officially designated the property as a troubled authority four years ago.

Shook explained that HUD considers financials, the property’s condition, reviews and “several different things” in determining the final score.

“The financial was the biggest hit as far as where the loss of points was made,” said Shook, adding that he is working on a response to HUD’s notice of the failing score.

“Why has it taken four years?” the judge pressed. “You haven’t been able to bring it out of troubled status in four years?”

“Basically, yes,” admitted Shook.

The board and Winterwood will call a special meeting to discuss the response to HUD.

In the meantime, the board agreed it would continue paying utility bills until after the HUD audit.

Winterwood presented an estimate for $29,000 for cameras and security monitoring services. However, Martin County Attorney Melissa Phelps advised the board that they must secure three estimates to comply with procurement law.

There was a discussion concerning financials. Eric Mills stated the utility cost for June was $10,909, of which $6,800 went for water and sewer and $4,108 for electricity.