LOW-INCOME HOUSING IN CAPE IS DWINDLING

This summer's devastating flood, which damaged more than 130 homes in Cape Girardeau, has further depleted the city's low-income housing stock.

Steve Williams, city housing assistance coordinator, told members of the Cape Girardeau County League of Women Voters Thursday night that flood-affected neighborhoods aren't the only ones where low- and moderate-income residents are having difficulty finding housing.

"I think there's definitely a shortage in available housing for those income levels," he said.

Williams made his remarks after discussing various programs the city has to help citizens with housing needs.

The flooding affected about 300 people living in South Cape Girardeau, the Red Star district, and along Meadowbrook Lane and Route 177.

Williams said he should hear from the state early next week whether the city qualifies for a grant program that will pay for demolition of flood-damaged homes.

"Some of the people with flood insurance have elected to move out of their homes," Williams said. "What the city has done is applied for a demolition grant for about 30 units at a cost of $105,000."

Williams said the voluntary program would enable property owners to have their flooded properties razed at no cost.

Although many of the property owners and renters affected by the flood will be taken care of, Williams said the loss of 130 low-income homes likely will swell the ranks of persons on the waiting list for federal housing assistance.

The East Missouri Action Agency administers a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing voucher program that supplies rent subsidies to poor residents.

Williams said that at the end of July there were 953 people from 353 families on the waiting list for the HUD vouchers.

Aside from the flood-damaged housing, Williams said the planned Mississippi River bridge route along College Street in South Cape Girardeau has affected 69 houses and nine businesses.

To make room for the route, the state highway department relocated 85 families to available housing in the city. That also has put a dent in the available housing for low-income residents, Williams said.

"That, along with the flood victims who have moved out, has put a pretty good strain on our available existing housing stock for low- to mod-income residents," he said.

Also, Williams said many older homes in South and East Cape Girardeau have deteriorated to the extent that they'll have to be condemned and razed.

Up to 10 properties are torn down annually by the city through its condemnation program.

Williams said the city now has no programs to replenish fading housing stock. Instead, the city's primary housing assistance thrust has been to upgrade existing units through state housing rehabilitation grants.

The city is finishing a two-year block grant program in the College-Jefferson streets area that has rehabilitated about 60 homes and improved sewers in that neighborhood. The city also has begun a rehabilitation program for rental units.

But Williams said the city must find a way to replace homes available to poor people. A Housing Assistance Task Force was formed earlier this year to examine the issue.

Williams said that near the first of the year the board is expected to make a recommendation to the city council regarding the feasibility of building public housing in Cape Girardeau.

"We've got several programs that only take care of the existing housing stock," he said. "They don't do anything about adding to the housing stock for low- to moderate-income persons."