Earle still working on ‘little homes’

Earle still working on ‘little homes’

City officials hoping to make neighborhood revitalization happen

news@theeveningtimes.com

Earle is still interested in partnering with a Wilson manufactured home builder to put a model home on a city owned lot, but questions remain about how to work out the details to make it happen.

The city owns a lot on Bailey Street which they have offered to Little Custom Homes to build a model on, but can’t legally give the property away.

“Ideally we would love to be generous and help out,” said Mayor Sherman Smith. “But when you deal with a for-profit organization versus a non-profit organization you get yourself in a situation where you can’t give city resources to an individual. But I still think we can do something.”

Little Custom Homes manufactures pre-built, affordable homes at a factory in Osceola and has built homes in nearby Keiser and Bassett which have lured new residents to those depressed communities.

The homes range from 720 square feet to 1,300 square feet and sell for $60,000 for a one bedroom up to $100,000 for a four bedroom. The homes take 40 to 50 days to build and are then transported to the building site, which in most cases was a formerly overgrown or abandoned lot.

City officials have toured the homes and have met several times with representatives from the company about possibly building one in Earle.

Earle has never recovered from a 2008 tornado which damaged numerous homes and led to a population lost. Many of the homes were never rebuilt and are now overgrown.

Smith asked City Attorney Davis Loftin to see if there is any legal way for the city to enter into a contract with the company which will allow them to use city property.

“What I want you to do is figure out how we can arrange a deal and still be within the legality of it all,” Smith said.

Smith also pointed out that the health departments in some of those towns also have had concerns about health inspections being done on manufactured homes by third parties.

He has related his concerns to Turrell Mayor Dorothy Cooper, who has been acting as a go-between for Little Custom Homes and the city, and has promised to bring it up with the owners.

“So if we go forward with this then we will require them to show us proof that they have already been inspected at the site,” Smith said. “I’m still on their side, but we need to make sure that proper codes are being maintained in order to bring a house in.”

Loftin will report back to the council at the December meeting with his findings.

“If it is satisfactory, then we will move ahead,” Smith said.

By Mark Randall