Revised Hickory Lanes Resolution

The Hickory Lanes Tenant Assistance resolution that I posted last night has been revised. Here is the version that Alder peter McKeever and I are co-sponsoring and that will be before the City Council for a first reading on Monday, February 5. Normally action is only taken after a second reading which would be on February 19.

Resolution No. (_______)
2007
Monona Common Council
Hickory Lanes Tenant Assistance

WHEREAS, the Johns, owners of the Hickory Lanes mobile home park have given the tenants a removal date of March 1, 2007; and
WHEREAS, the residents of the Hickory Lanes mobile home park have requested assistance from the City of Monona; and
WHEREAS, many of the tenants of Hickory Lane are elderly, disabled, poor, and or non-English speaking, and are having difficulty, or are not capable, of finding alternative housing and moving, and are dependent on social service programs such as Meals on Wheels, SSI, SSDI, Veterans benefits, and Medicaid and Medicare; ; and
WHEREAS, the City of Monona Community Development Authority has recommended TIF assistance in an amount exceeding $2.6 million to the Metcalfe Company to redevelop the Hickory Lane property; and
WHEREAS, the Metcalfe Company has agreed to provide a minimal level of compensation to the tenants, but the Metcalfe Company will not own the property before the current owners force the tenants to leave; and
WHEREAS, the Johns, current owners of the property, have made no offer of assistance to the tenants; and
WHEREAS, no social service agencies are known to have conducted any assessment of the needs of the tenants of the Hickory Lane property, provided any support, organized any assistance, or coordinated the provision of any services, including help in finding and securing alternative housing, and
WHEREAS, if the City of Monona does not act to aid these tenants of the Hickory Lane mobile home park and residents of the city of Monona will literally be left out in the cold;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the common council hereby

1. Directs the mayor and the city staff to take necessary steps to immediately provide or coordinate logistical support to aid the tenants in removing the property; including contacting the United Way, Dane county social Services, the Community Action Coalition, the East Side Coalition, and other social service organizations to make them aware of the pending crisis and officially request their assistance; and

2. Urges in the strongest terms that the Johns and Kevin Metcalfe , individually or together, provide increased assistance to the tenants, including a commitment to pay the security deposit and the first month’s rent for each household in an alternative locations; and

3. Urges that the Johns and Kevin Metcalfe fully reimburse each tenant for the cost of his or her family’s mobile home, the intent being to make each family whole and not to make a “profit” on the mobile home.

Dated
Signed