Montrose - Daily Press

OLATHE — In the midst of serious need for farmworker housing, the Olathe farm dormitory will stay open and continue operations under the same federal rules.

The Montrose County Housing Authority board decided at its last meeting to rescind its former decision to close the 72-bed dorm June 1 unless foreign workers on visas were allowed to use it.

"They realized closing the dorm doesn't really solve the problem. You have to figure out what to do with the assets," said Tim Heavers, director of the Montrose County Housing Authority. "I think they were also hoping to get a little more attention from legislators, to put some urgency on doing something at the dormitory (to allow workers to stay there)."

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The original decision to close the dorm was made partially out of frustration, said MCHA board member Noelle Hagan. But then the board realized it was putting its equity at risk.

"The dorm is a real asset to the housing authority and to the community of Olathe. We wouldn't want to do anything that risks our ownership of the dorm," Hagan said. "... We're trying to make it work the way it should."

Currently, the dorm is housing about five to six residents, significantly below the minimum 30 residents needed to break even on the costs to run it, said Heavers. "Every year we don't get farmworkers, we do lose money."

The federal Housing Act of 1949 requires all tenants to be U.S. citizens or "persons legally admitted for permanent residence." Workers who don't meet these requirements are kept from the facility. Changing this wording could only happen legislatively and not administratively, said Montrose County Commissioner Gary Ellis.

For years those in the agriculture community and in support of it tried to push for this change without success. As the farm dorm sits empty, the need for laborer housing persists.

"I think it's stupid that we have housing for farm labor and that farm laborers cannot use it," said Diana Read, co-owner of Cottonwood Cellars. "Someone who comes from up from Mexico legally — and underline legally — should be able to use it. It should not sit vacant just because of that rule."

Tuxedo Corn Company owner John Harold said there's still a huge need for housing.

"We're probably going to grow in the valley about 21 percent less sweet corn than last year because of housing," said Harold. He clarified that this change is for all production, not just his company's. "I'm continuing to work on building housing but every time (I) turn around there's another regulation."

Read has worked with Harold for the past few years to share legal farm labor. "We don't need any more government interference," she said.

Though the board decided to keep the dorm open, the facility's future is indefinite as long-term decisions for the dorm have not been made, said Heavers. Some farmworkers are expected to reside in the dorm during the upcoming season. The dorm is also seeking a resident manager after former manager Mary Strohm stepped down from the position at the end of May.

One long-term option being considered for the dorm is to remodel it to create affordable "efficiency units." This would allow each room to be rented as a condo or apartment for year-round use, Heavers said. These units would not preclude the facility's use for migrant workers, he added.

Another option would be to transfer the dorm as an asset to a private entity. However, the county wouldn't gain as much equity by doing this as it would by running the dorm itself, Heavers said.

Built in 1993 to house farmworkers, the dorm has been open to the homeless since 1998, when MCHA appealed to Rural Development, a branch of the U.S.D.A., to allow them to occupy vacant beds, according to a March Daily Press report.

Contact Lisa Huynh via email at lisah@montrosepress.com

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