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Garberville
Senior housing infrastructure project begins
by Patti Rose

After a long and challenge-filled predevelopment period, the Cedar Street Senior Apartments project is about to begin. Despite huge gaps in information, complicated easement issues, few community resources to work with, and health complications, this project is moving forward. Supported by prayers, donations of time and effort by board members and collaborative efforts with other nonprofit organizations, and a lot of hard work, often above and beyond the call of duty, the predevelopment challenges are mostly overcome. Planning for the apartments has been easy compared with the offsite infrastructure improvements that are being required by the county and local agencies.
On November 17, bids were opened for the utility and infrastructure improvements project that are needed for phase one of the affordable senior housing project. This largely CDBG-funded portion of the project has been holding up the entire housing project, but the all-clear signal was finally received and the contractor will be hired.
The Cedar Street Senior Apartments will be the first part of a larger development of 31 affordable apartments that will be built adjacent to the hospital, library and county services in Garberville.

In 1998, the County of Humboldt applied for funding from the Community Development Block Grant program to enlarge the water, sewer and storm drain lines needed to support the 31 new apartments. When the engineers' cost estimates came in, the costs were almost twice as much as the original budget. There were significant unknowns and very little coordination between the utilities and the county. In an effort to reduce costs and raise enough money, Southern Humboldt Senior Care, Inc. first negotiated with the utility companies to change the plans, and then with the county and then the state to increase the CDBG funding. All of the negotiations have taken time, but it now seems that details have been worked out.

The first phase of the apartment construction was initially planned to be developed by HUD when the application co-sponsored by the Lutheran Home for the Aging (Fortuna) and SHSC was funded. However, the costs for the first 10 apartments construction doubled between 1998 and 1999-which meant a delay while SHSC applied for funding from the state HOME and the Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing programs. These funds were approved, and now all of the documents needed by HUD, AHP and HOME are being turned in. Meeting all of the requirements of the various sources and coordination of the documentation has been time consuming.

Construction of the apartments is expected to begin next spring. Thanks to the generous donations from Monroe Tobin, the Humboldt Area Foundation and the Grace and Mel McLean Foundation, a new driveway access will be developed which will improve the traffic flow and fire protection for the area.

Patti Rose is the project manager for the senior housing project and also works part-time for Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District in the Mary Bendle Health Resource Center. It is this leadership that won her one of the Area Agency on Aging's 2000 Senior Friend Awards. See page 1. We at Senior News also salute Patti. In addition to everything else she offers her community, she also distributes 200 copies of Senior News every month. For more more information or to support the Southern Humboldt senior apartments, please contact her at 923-2477.