A proposed site plan of Hillcrest Veterans Village in Grants Pass.
Courtesy of Mid-Rogue Foundation / JPR
With the help of a recent state grant and other funding, a nonprofit in Josephine County plans to move forward with a project to build 36 affordable apartments in Grants Pass for low-income veterans.
Some of that additional funding came on Thursday when Josephine County Commissioners voted to allocate roughly $157,000 dollars from the county’s COVID-19 relief money to the project, despite ideological concerns about the viability of public housing.
“I’m telling you that this low-income housing, it’s a scheme,” Commissioner Herman Baertschiger said at the meeting. “And I don’t say that in a condescending way. It is a scheme. I think there’s some big problems that will be coming down the road. And I just hope whoever becomes the administrator of this has the ability to keep it whole and running functionally.”
Commissioners were concerned about the future of the project and what happens if occupants can no longer afford their rent. The apartments are for people making at or below 60% of the area’s median income.
But commissioners ultimately voted 2-1 to approve the funding.
Doug Walker, the volunteer project manager, says Hillcrest Veterans Village, on the north side of town, will meet an important need.
“Grants Pass has the difference between the cost of housing, the availability of housing, and what people can afford. And then veteran housing, well, because we’re passionate about veterans. I’m a veteran. A number of us that are involved in this project are veterans,” he said in an interview on Monday.
The project is run by the nonprofit Mid Rogue Foundation. The group previously used up about $93,000 dollars of the county’s COVID relief money pursuing a different site, but the state found it inadequate. They’re now continuing the project at the new site on Northeast Hillcrest Drive that is owned by the foundation.
“This project fits perfectly with the community’s need for housing, what this site can accommodate and most importantly what our veterans need,” Foundation Executive Director Susan Clark said in a statement on the Foundation’s website.
The project was awarded over $10.6 million dollars from the state earlier this month. Clark said at Thursday’s meeting that the project has also received funding from coordinated care organization AllCare Health, the city of Grants Pass and fundraising efforts.
The project will feature a mixture of one- and two-bedroom apartments. 22 of the apartments will be reserved exclusively for veterans, while the rest will have preference for veterans.
Walker said there’s still a lot of work to do, including running a water line to the site, finishing architectural drawings and applying for permits.
“We do project management contracts, those kinds of things. All this contracting happens for the next four or five months, and then hopefully we start building the actual apartment buildings, maybe, if things go well, May?” he said.
The Foundation’s website says the project will include features for older adults and those with disabilities, including grab bars, walk-in showers and accessible kitchens.
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.