On Monday the Lima City Council learned more about the Housing Task Force and what it could bring to the local area.
The goal of the group is to make Lima an attractive, affordable, and desirable place to live by addressing housing needs of residents and the workforce.
Back in 2019, the city commissioned an extensive housing assessment by Harsany & Associates (a Columbus, Ohio firm) to identify the extent of Lima's housing challenges. The 70-page assessment also provided a comprehensive set of recommendations to address each challenge.
A report called the "Harsany Report" came as a result of the assessment. The report highlighted three key areas that need to be addressed in Lima.
The report concluded that safe and decent housing is a high priority for Lima residents. Secondly, income is not keeping up with cost of housing.
The report also illustrated that by 2030 the city would need to rebuild/rehab over 1,200 houses for future growth and for the current population.
Another message the report sent was that the city needed a commission in order to address the full spectrum of housing needs for all of Lima's current and future residents.
Back on October 22nd, Lima Mayor David J. Berger wrote a letter to council members, stating the following:
"I firmly believe that city government cannot solve Lima's housing challenges alone, and have asked the city's Chief of Staff, Sharetta Smith, to create the City of Lima Housing Task Force. The work of the Task Force will be to review the set of recommendations from the Harsany Report and develop a comprehensive implementation plan to address the wide-ranging housing concerns and needs in our city."
"What we are going to have to do with the task force is we're going to have to realize that the importance of Lima remaining competitive with other cities has to do a lot with quality of life issues, and housing is one of those," said Sharetta Smith, the city's Chief of Staff.
On Monday, Lima City Council Members heard more on the committee, and how it will impact the city of Lima.
"We're going to have to be honest about where we are, we're going to have to be honest with the resources we have, particularly in light of COVID, and we are going to have to decide as a community 'where do we move forward from here, and how do we do that together?'," said Smith.
Also at Lima City Council, an ordinance was passed that authorizes the mayor to enter into an agreement with the Lima-Allen County Convention and Visitors Bureau using funds from the Hotel-Motel Tax. The tax receipts that were received under City Code 890 for the calendar year 2021 will be used.
