Regional Housing Agency Elects Officers

ST. JAMES—Dent County Presiding Commissioner Jim Biggs was elected chairman of the Phelps County Public Housing Agency, the organization providing subsidized housing assistance to very low income residents in Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps and Washington counties. The group met June 8 at the Meramec Regional Planning Commission in St. James.

Other officers elected were Gasconade County Presiding Commissioner Ron Jost as vice chairman and Phelps County Presiding Commissioner Randy Verkamp as secretary.
The Phelps County PHA is governed by a seven-member board made up of the presiding commissioners in the six counties involved and one housing participant. The PHA contracts with the Meramec Regional Planning Commission to operate the program. It serves the counties of Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Washington and Phelps, with the exception of the city of Rolla, which has its own public housing authority. Osage and Pulaski counties, also a part of the Meramec Region, are served by other housing agencies.

The board also made changes to its administration plan to provide greater assistance to tenants. The minimum amount of rental payment that must be made by a participating tenant was changed from $50 to zero. Additionally, the agency had capped rent rates at 90 percent of the established fair market rate. That was changed to where the PHA will pay up to 100 percent of the fair market rate.

"Both these action will help tenants," explained Linda Hollandsworth, MRPC housing program manager. The changes will cost the agency about $102,000 to $106,000 over the next fiscal year.

"We have the money available now to increase our assistance to our neediest tenants," explained Hollandsworth. "We are actually restoring assistance that we had to cut a few years ago when we did not have the funds. The timing is right, also, because our neediest are having to pay higher gas prices and increased medical costs, like everyone else. The board's action will give them a few extra dollars to deal with those types of issues," Hollandsworth concluded.

Housing assistance is provided to very low income residents who meet federal income criteria and other eligibility requirements. The Phelps County PHA takes applications for rental assistance on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at its office at 4 Industrial Drive in St. James. Persons in Washington County can meet with housing staff and complete applications from 9 a.m. to 12:00 noon on the first and third Tuesdays at the Washington County Library, 235 E. High St. in Potosi.

The assistance application is now available on-line at www.meramecregion.org. Persons should click on the PHA logo for housing information. They can also contact the housing office at (573) 265-4200 for more information.