Wilsall Community Events

Prepared by: Dirk S. Adams

Chief Financial Officer

Wilsall Community Events
February 18, 2008

Summary:
Objective:  To build three duplexes (six units) of affordable senior housing in Wilsall, northern Park County, Montana

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Goals
1. Obtain predevelopment grants to fund housing needs exploration (DONE)
2. Determine housing needs, if any, in northern Park County (DONE)
3. Obtain community opinions and views on those housing needs (DONE)
4. Identify available land for this project WCE has site control(DONE)
5. Confirm that all utilities, including septic, are approved and stubbed to site (DONE).
6. Prepare schematic drawings of project which will have support of community (DONE)
7. Obtain rough estimate of cost of construction (DONE)
8. Build tentative financial forecasts for construction and operation of the project (DONE)
9. Build community enthusiasm for project (DONE)
10. Obtain land for housing project (DONE)
11. Gather both construction and permanent financing commitment (DONE)
12. Secure the support of the Northern Rocky Mountains Rural Conservation and Development District (“NRMRC&D”) (DONE)
13. Seek the support of Rural Community Assistance Corporation (“RCAC”) (NOT YET COMPLETE)
14. Raise approximately $250,000 in grants from private and government sources (NOT YET COMPLETE)
15. Complete architectural drawings (NOT YET COMPLETE)
16. Receive final construction costs and select contractor (NOT YET COMPLETE)
17. Seek federal government guarantee of permanent loan and finalize loan terms (NOT YET COMPLETE)
18. Identify and develop a project construction management process (NOT YET COMPLETE)
19. Identify and develop a process for tenant selection and management (NOT YET COMPLETE)
20. Construct project (NOT YET COMPLETE)
21. Celebrate at the Bank Bar (NOT YET COMPLETE, BUT STARTED)

 

Background
Wilsall Community Events (WCE), founded in 1999, is a Montana non-profit corporation and an Internal Revenue Code section 501c(3) charitable organization. WCE is managed by a five member board of Directors, Tara Swandal, Chairman (local rancher and Chair of the Shields River Valley School District), Henry Hamm (local rancher), Cindy Landers Block (homestead family local rancher and event planner), Lyle Swandal (dean of local ranchers), and Dirk S. Adams, Chief Financial Officer (local rancher, banker, and small businessman). The Bozeman accounting firm of Holmes and Turner prepare WCE’s informational tax returns and reviews the corporation’s financial statements. WCE is the sponsor of the most successful ranch rodeo in the northern Rockies, the Wilsall Ranch Rodeo. The 2008 Rodeo in August will be the eighth one. The Ranch Rodeo is the source of most of WCE’s fundraising to date. WCE has made significant contributions to Wilsall’s Veterans Park and Picnic Pavilion, the Wilsall rodeo grounds, and to the Wilsall Senior Center. Park County (Wilsall, Clyde Park, and Livingston, and the Paradise Valley) and Gallatin County (Bozeman) businesses are the primary sponsors of the Wilsall Ranch Rodeo.
Predevelopment Accomplishments
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle granted WCE $10,000 in 2002 to study the housing needs of northern Park County. Fannie Mae also contributed $1,500. WCE used most of the money (there is still approximately $2,100 left) in funding a housing study, identifying land alternatives and constraints, possible housing designs, and surveying the community’s views on their housing needs. Modest money has also been used to develop a 13 person Senior Advisory Committee. Dirk Adams used one of his Montana State University School of Business seminar classes to complete the housing evaluation, along with the Montana State University School of Architecture’s Community Design class, and the able assistance of Mary Ellen Shay from the M.E. Shay and Company, Sacramento, California. The Housing Study is available upon request.
Housing Study Conclusions

• The median income of northern Park County (generally described as running from the northern Park County border to four miles south of Wilsall, or Census Tract One), is below both the State and County Median Income and most of the population earns less than 80% of the median income for the County. Northern Park County borders Montana’s Meagher County, frequently reported as one of the poorest counties in America.
• There is a significant need for affordable senior housing. While the Tract One? is rural, the elderly tend to move to Wilsall, an unincorporated village of approximately 125 people, offers basic services, including a gas station, grocery, bar, and restaurant, and saddle shop. There is no government housing in Tract One nor are there any medical services. There are no or very few American Indians, African Americans, or Hispanics living in the community.
• The Senior Community and Wilsall, generally, while initially wary, have become enthusiastic supporters of the project.

Building the Dream
With the able assistance of the Northern Rocky Mountains RC&D, the following has been accomplished:
• One of the most talented and innovative architects in Montana, Candace Miller, has prepared several alternative designs, obtained draft estimates of approximate construction costs, and met with the WCE Senior Advisory Committee to obtain and implement their design change suggestions.
• Bank of the Rockies, Montana’s Oldest Bank, and its Chief Executive Officer, Mike Grove, have been steadfast supporters of the project and from the beginning have been willing to provide the construction and permanent financing.
• Park County and its three Commissioners have granted for free Wilsall Community Events 16 lots on the main street of Wilsall and contiguous to the Wilsall Senior Center. This location obviously is ideal for the housing and is more than enough land for the current project. In addition, the Park County Sanitation Engineer has confirmed that the parcel is sufficient for properly licensed septic systems. It is also located within a short walk of Wilsall’s Post Office, grocery store, and cafe.
• The Northern Rocky Mountains RC&D Housing Committee has voted to make the Wilsall Affordable Senior Housing Project its number one housing priority in 2008.

What is it Going to Cost, Both WCE and the Tenants
• WCE’s target rents would range between $465 and $530 per month for one and two-person households, respectively. Our very low-income target population would earn between $18,700 and $21,350. [
Current construction cost estimates are approximately $120,000 per unit.

What Remains to be Done
A number of tasks remain, tasks for which WCE hopes it can look to key individuals in northern Park County, the Northern Rocky Mountains RC&D (www.nrmrcd.org), and the RCAC (www.rcac.org) for assistance:

• Raising funds from private sources and identifying and securing grants from government sources;
• Finalizing the drawings;
• Building a feasible and more detailed development budget and operating pro forma;
• Designing a construction management process;
• Developing a tenant identification and selection process;
• Developing a management plan for the units once completed
• Obtaining a federal government guarantee of the permanent? loan and finalizing the terms of both the construction and permanent financing;
• Build the housing!