PORT TOWNSEND — Interlocal agreements between Jefferson County and the city of Port Townsend for homeless housing and affordable housing that were set to expire Oct. 1 have been extended through mid-November.
Jefferson County Commissioners David Sullivan and Kathleen Kler, and the Port Townsend City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Housing and Homelessness members David Faber and Amy Howard, agreed Monday to extend the two interlocal agreements (ILAs).
They also agreed to contract with a facilitator who will convene a housing task force composed of a City Council member, a county commissioner and three other representatives of affordable housing interests.
The position will be funded through ILA revenues or other sources.
County Commissioner Kate Dean was not present for the vote, nor was ad hoc member/City Council member Michelle Sandoval.
Council approved
The extension agreement was discussed by the Port Townsend City Council during its Monday evening business meeting and was approved by a vote of 5-0.
Faber told fellow council members that joint discussions have gone well and they are close to an agreement, but a bit more work still needs to be done.
“The issue is that the 90-day termination window that we set at the end of May is coming up at the end of September,” Faber said. “That leaves us with with one council meeting to possibly approve what comes from this project.
“Unfortunately, we have run out of runway to meet again with BoCC [Board of County Commissioners] before that date. This is for a variety of things, including a significant number of meetings that we have, including strategic planning and the training we have planned,” Faber continued.
“We discussed taking a little more time, extending the window by amending the original 90 days to 145 days. That puts us out towards almost the end of November. Thirty days would have given us only one council meeting to discuss this.”
Faber said the extension gives the ad hoc committee and the commissioners October and November to reach a final agreement.
“It is important not just for the ad hoc committee, but there needs to be plenty of time to hear from providers and service recipients to make sure their voices are heard during this process,” Faber said. “There has been an insufficient amount of involvement from the affected parties at the table.”
He said there needs to be more time to “do it right and create the best possible community product.”
City Manager David Timmons said the discussions are in the final phase.
“Now we are into the addendums of the ILA that authorizes the agreement with OlyCAP [Olympic Peninsula Community Action Programs] and the county so there is a lot of detail that has to be vetted by the City Council, the public and other providers,” Timmons said.
Howard said the reason the group wanted more time was to have a community meeting.
“We want to invite those who have not been at the table yet to actively participate” she said, “and to make sure we didn’t miss anything. We want to ask the people that this directly affects.”
The next meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee of the City Council and the county commissioners had not been scheduled as of Wednesday.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Jeannie McMacken can be reached at 360-385-2335 or a jmcmacken@peninsuladailynews.com
