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Show Housing Authority Executive Chosen Rick Lutes, Cannonville, Tuesday was selected as executive director of the Garfield County Housing Authority. Lutes received the appointment after Housing Authority commissioners interviewed him and two other applicants ap-plicants for the position, with one applicant ap-plicant failing to show for the personal interviews. The selection of Lutes follows two years of hard work by the local housing authority in seeking low-income and-or and-or senior citizen rental housing for the county, and is a milepost along the way to completion of the project. With loan money committed from the department of Housing and Urban Development and building lots set for inspection by the architect today prior to making the final s.te selection, the five member board is beginning to see its plan finally take shape. ' Chairman of the authority is John , Seaman, manager at Zions First National Bank in Panguitch, and commissioners are Beverly Kuhns, Escalante; Wallace Ott, Tropic; Maxine Crosby, Panguitch; and Ada Thompson, Cannonville. Mrs. Thompson Thom-pson abstained from voting on the selection of the executive director because of her relationship to Lutes as his mother-in-law. As executive director Lutes will be required to travel to St. George, Salt Lake City and Denver where he will be learning the duties of his position, which is expected to be part-time up to 20 hours a week until such time as the units are completed and specific duties established or the scope of the authority increases. Construction for the 4 units, six for Escalante and eight for Panguitch, is expected to begin in February of 1983 with completion expected about eight months later. The duplexes should be ready for occupancy by Garfield County low-income families by the fall of 1983. Cost of renting the units will be based on the applicant's monthly income, not to exceed 25 percent and will cover rent and cost of utilities. Applications will not be acceptod until the project is much farther along, Seaman pointed out. Each duplex is expected to cot in the neighborhood of $85,000 with costs varying according to whether the units are one nr two-bedroom. The local authority hired the architectural ar-chitectural firm of Lantaz and Boggio out of Denv r after also interviewing architects from St. Geroge, Phoenix, Provo and Salt Lake City. The authority conducted a survey several months ago to assess the neec's of the several municipalities of tie countv. There were, Seaman said, '.4 (Continued on Page Z Housing Authority Executive Chosen (Continued from Page 1) responses from senior citizens and 26 from low-income. HUD funds, which were rapidly running out for 1981, were being directed more toward low-income low-income use and the county was fortunate, for-tunate, he said, to have been delegated some of the final remaining funds for this year to be used for low-income rental housing. At the time the county-wide survey was conducted, Seaman said, it was virtually impossible to rent housing of any kind in the county. The situation has changed since the survey, he acknowledged, and the threat by the low-income rental units to the private sector available rentals might be a consideration if those units were now ready for occupancy. "I anticipate the recession will be over by the time the units are ready for occupancy," Seaman said, "removing the potential competition between private landlords and the low-income units." By then if local sawmills are operating at full capacity and tourism expanded as expected, the need for such units will be obvious he indicated. The Garfield County Housing Authority meets once monthly or more often as needed. Comissioners and the chairman function on a voluntary basis and are unpaid. The salary of the new executive director will be set by the commissioners and chairman. Seaman said that the authority, in conducting Tuesday afternoon's interviews in-terviews for executive director, considered con-sidered the availability of the candidate to do the job; his commitment' to remaining in the area; his experience with the tenant-landlord relationship; his housing maintenance capabilities and abiity to renovate units after a tenent has vacated; and his ability to relate to people, especially low-income people. Lutes' early responsiblities, in addition ad-dition to travel, will be to arrange for several engineers to present bids and to find a contractor to do perc tests and site preparation for the project. |