NU housing needs reflect economy

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- New Ulm's Housing Department is seeing the impact of the economic downturn in the local area, according to Community Development Director Dave Schnobrich.

Responding to a question from an Economic Development Authority member at the EDA monthly meeting Tuesday, Schnobrich said, "Very definitely; our waiting list matches the economy."

"We are getting more and more calls on our Section 8 program," Housing Coordinator Colleen Ratcliff added. "When we tell them there's a waiting list, and they can't get into anything immediately, some of them get really angry."

EDA's Section 8 program involves the city providing Housing Choice Vouchers for assisting tenants in making rent payments based on income in 124 privately owned housing units.

There are also 50 units available in subsidized public housing, including Broadway Haus and 10 additional family units in five twin-homes.

Currently, Ratcliff reported, all units are occupied, and there are fairly lengthy waiting lists for nearly all units.

In Section 8 housing, the longest waiting lists are for one- and two-bedroom family units. There are 10 on the waiting list and seven applications pending for the one-bedrooms and seven waiting and nine pending for two-bedroom units.

Those waiting for one-bedroom units for the elderly total four, with five applications pending. There is no waiting list but one application pending for the three-bedroom family units.

At Broadway Haus, there are 24 on the waiting list for one-bedroom apartments and seven applications pending. There is only one waiting for a two-bedroom unit, and there are no applications pending.

The two-bedroom family units have generated a waiting list of five families, with eight applications pending. There are three families on the waiting list for a three-bedroom unit and only one application pending. There is no waiting list for the four-bedroom units.

The department's log of telephone calls for the past month contained a total of 50 calls, nearly double the monthly average. About a fourth of those calls were in regard to the Section 8 program.

The next largest volume of calls concerned the ownership status of Sunset Apartments which has Section 8 assistance for its tenants.