Management changes for community action properties
GRANT COUNTY - The nonprofit North Columbia Community Action Council is transferring its residential and business rental properties to the Housing Authority of Grant County's property management company.
There are about 80 people living in the rental properties throughout Grant County in Mattawa, Quincy and Ephrata, said Ken Sterner, the council's executive director.
He said nothing's really changed, just the company the tenants are renting from. There are no new rules for tenants, he said.
No rent increases are planned for the tenants, he said. If a rental agreement is up, it's possible rent would increase. But an increase depends on changes in the income of the person renting the residential unit.
For tenants renting commercial units in the action council-owned Bell Hotel in Ephrata, any rent increases would be negotiated when leases are up, said Sterner.
The Bell Hotel is a national historic site with 14 residential units and seven commercial units, said Shannon Moseley, a supervisor with United Marketing. United Marketing is now managing the hotel and will also manage the action council's properties in Mattawa and Quincy.
There were no plans at this time to raise the rent for the people renting the 14 residential units and seven commercial units in the Bell Hotel, Moseley said.
"We're hoping to come in and not make any structural changes," she said.
Depending on available money, the hotel may be cleaned and painted, she said.
There are units available to rent at the hotel, two residential and two commercial, she said. For more information about the units, call 509-765-9206.
"I'm sure there's people in the community who can really utilize these units," she said.
An action council property in Moses Lake will not be managed by United Marketing because it's associated with the action council's homeless program, he said.
The council helps disadvantaged people by paying their heating bills, weatherizing their homes and assisting low-income people in buying homes.