Oxford now has a 13-member committee to oversee the development of affordable housing around the city.

The Board of Aldermen approved an Executive Housing Committee that will oversee soon-to-be-formed subcommittees, and includes representatives from the city, University of Mississippi and Lafayette County, among others.

This executive committee will be in charge of forming the  additional subcommittees. However, Mayor Robyn Tannehill said she also encourages assistance from the greater community as well.

“We want to enlist the work of anybody who’s interested in viable, fiscally sound and realistic solutions for this long standing concern,” Tannehill said.

Tannehill said the forming of the committee comes after years of discussion and research, followed by implementation of the City’s Vision 2037 in the past year, and the recent annexation.

Currently, LOU-Home is working as a lead developer on a project to construct 96 townhomes specifically for Oxford’s workforce. The total budget for the project was expected to near $20 million.

Development for this project was set to begin around August 2017, with pre-development to begin over the six months after August 2017 and a final construction period was expected to last over the subsequent 12-18 months.

Tannehill said she was proud of the board’s actions in order to make affordable housing a reality in Oxford.

“I’m excited about this commission moving forward, Tannehill said. “Partnerships and community involvement are going to be a key to success in this commission, and this will board has worked really hard.”

Executive Committee for Housing

Dr. Janice Antonow

Kevin Frye

Joel Hollowell

J R Rigby

Lionel Maten

Teasha Sanders

Lance Hickman

Kathy Sukanek

Ruth Ball

Alonzo Hilliard

Reverend Alfred Hall

J.W. McCurdy

Stewart Rutledge