The Green River City Council hosted its monthly meeting on Wednesday during which three new members were welcomed to the council, including Kent Nelson, Bo Harrison and Larry Packer.
During the meeting, the proposal for the residential housing development was discussed. It was stated that, in order for Green River to have any economic development, affordable housing needs to be established in the city. Currently, there are no homes for sale and no homes or apartments for rent.
Ren Hatt, a teacher at Green River High School, made a comment in regards to teachers that have applied for positions in the past, stating, “Over the past decade, there have been multiple people apply and receive interviews, then look for places to live in Green River to then almost immediately call back to cancel the interview because there is no place to live.”
Representatives from the Epicenter, who are creating the housing development proposal, stated that their current plan includes 10 single-family housing units. Their target is to provide homes with a rent of $600-900 per month. It was questioned if the lot of land acquired for the housing units could fit one or two more units.
In response, Epicenter Housing Specialist Steph Crabtree stated, “The project that we have financing for is for those 10 units and that is what we feel is the right capacity and density for the surrounding area. This our first development, so adding more units starts to put us in an uncomfortable place in terms of risk.” She also stated that their current priority is to find local contractors for the project.
The Epicenter is not making a profit from this development and their goal is to help improve the community. A motion was made and approved for the residential housing development.