With tonight’s city council meeting, the City of Albert Lea begins getting out of the housing business.

Monday, April 08, 2002

With tonight’s city council meeting, the City of Albert Lea begins getting out of the housing business.

The council will be voting on a transition plan that will move the responsibilities of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) to an independent administrative board with a full-time director.

According to city officials, an independent board is needed because more administrative and policy review of the HRA would be possible with a separate board. The many changes in housing programs have made it difficult for the existing arrangement to work as efficiently as it needs to. They also foresee more staff and board time becoming necessary as HRA properties in Albert Lea age.

A full-time housing director would be able to put more time into maintenance and tenant relations. An independent housing authority also might be able to take over housing programs currently managed by the county.

Currently, the city-run HRA manages nearly 200 rental units, including the Shady Oaks complex, and provides administrative support for other federal housing programs, like the Section 8 program, which currently provides rent certificates for more than 150 low-income residents.

In other business, the council will:

– Act on a request from the county to vacate Pearl Street for the purposes of the courthouse expansion project.

– Hold public hearings on alley improvements and the James Avenue replacement project.

– Expand Development District 5 to include the Habben Business Park.

The city council meets in the City Center at 7:30 p.m. tonight. They meet regularly at that time on the second and fourth Mondays of the month.

Additional information about the items on the council’s agenda can be found at the Web site for the City of Albert Lea: http://www.city.albertlea.org. Follow the link to &uot;Council Agenda.&uot;