As months go by with the Blaine County Sheriff's Office unable to fill six staff vacancies, county officials have begun to discuss options for providing workforce housing.
During a meeting with the Blaine County Commission on Thursday, Sheriff Walt Femling said he had received numerous expressions of interest in the positions—four on the jail staff and two as patrol officers—but applicants have all backed out when they learned the cost of local housing.
Upon Femling's urging, the county is now considering using county-owned land to build housing units for sale or rent to county employees. His current proposal is to rent units to entry-level employees who would later buy their own houses as their salaries increased.
If the county decides to go that route, it will be following similar actions taken by Ketchum, Sun Valley, Ketchum Area Rapid Transit and the Blaine County School District—all of which are finding it increasingly difficult to fill staffing vacancies.
Thursday's discussion centered around a proposal by Matt Henning, a developer and real estate agent with Windermere Real Estate in Ketchum, to build two units consisting of five bedrooms on a county-owned lot at the eastern end of Walnut Street in Hailey near the public bike path. Henning said he could get the project under way by December. Femling said that would solve his office's immediate personnel needs.
Henning said the project would cost about $472,000—more than the $300,000 now available to the county to spend on workforce housing. Femling said he had hoped to add forfeiture money obtained from drug busts to that amount, but that he was recently informed by the U.S. Attorney's Office that such a use of the money would not be permitted.
The commissioners expressed interest in Henning's concept, but said they would like to explore other options.
"We need to figure out what's the best bang for our buck," Commissioner Tom Bowman said.
Alternatives raised included:
· Building housing units on county-owned land in Carey.
· Selling county land in Hailey and Carey and building in Bellevue.
· Building deed-restricted housing for sale and using the proceeds to build more units.
· Providing rent subsidies for new employees.
"This is just trying to start talking about a plan," Femling said in an interview following the meeting.
Henning said he would like to participate in building a much larger complex than that proposed. However, he said the five-bedroom building is all that could be built under the lot's current zoning. He said it would take about two years to obtain a rezone for the property and build a larger development there.
Henning told the commissioners he would research the construction and financing options available to the county and provide a report in about two weeks. Commissioner Sarah Michael said she would look into the rent-subsidy programs at other areas with high housing costs.
Henning said he is doing the work on a volunteer basis.
