OPERATIONS DEAL: Neighbors assisting Affordable Housing after director retires

North Country Affordable Housing Executive Director Barbara H. Willis retired this week, prompting the agency's board of directors to approach Neighbors of Watertown about managing its affairs temporarily.

Neighbors Executive Director Gary C. Beasley said the two agencies entered into a memorandum of understanding effective Monday.

"Our job is to ensure that all programs are continued and carried out, contracts are met and clients are served with the same quality we'd bring to our own consumers," Mr. Beasley said. "That is what we fully intend to do."

He said Neighbors was asked to consider a merger of the two organizations.

"They are two different programs that are funded to do basically the same thing, but in two different ways," Mr. Beasley said. "Neighbors of Watertown is a neighborhood preservation company; that comes under a different legislation and financial structure through the state budget. North Country Affordable Housing is a rural preservation company."

The two agencies don't overlap, but they do collaborate, he said.

North Country Affordable Housing, which covers Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties, has a mobile-home replacement program, first-home club and home-ownership counseling and operates rental units in the city of Watertown and the village of Philadelphia.

Neighbors of Watertown has a first-time home-buyer program, a home-buyer education program, a county- and city-wide owner-occupied-home rehabilitation program, a rental rehabilitation program and a program to buy, rehabilitate and resell vacant, substandard homes. The agency also manages six apartment complexes in Watertown.

North Country Affordable Housing board President John Bartlett was reluctant to provide many details Tuesday afternoon, but said more information would be forthcoming. He also said that he wanted to "keep things positive."

"Barb Willis has done a lot for the community in her 22 years of service," he said.

The only other piece of information Mr. Bartlett offered was that he and other board members were in discussions with agencies that help administer their programs.

He said there is no definitive answer as to what the next step is for North Country Affordable Housing.

Although Mr. Beasley said a merger of the two agencies "might" make sense, but Neighbors needs to become more familiar with Affordable Housing's programs, grants, revenues and expenses.

"We'll decide what the best course of action would be for both organizations, long-term," he said.

Both boards will look at how their agencies can bring in the most funding to the area.

"If we submit one application, does that make sense, or two?" he said. "Should we both be in existence and submit two applications? Those are the questions we've got to get answers on, and we've got to talk to the funding sources."

While the discussions are happening, Mr. Beasley said, individuals who have benefited from either agency's programs or services won't see any changes.