Island County commissioners narrowed down the types of housing-related projects toward which they may put American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funds during a meeting March 2.

Commissioners Melanie Bacon, Janet St. Clair and Jill Johnson determined they were most interested in funding pre-development work, such as studies, permitting and design; acquisition of lots where affordable housing could be constructed; rehabilitation of existing structures to low-income or transitional housing; and consultation services to help the county determine the best projects to invest in.

Though no allocations have been finalized, the commissioners felt these types of projects were most likely to “get pulled across the finish line,” as St. Clair put it.

The commissioners have long maintained that affordable housing is their highest priority for the federal relief dollars and have designated spending as much as $10 million of the county’s allotted $16.5 million on it.

Their biggest concern, however, is that housing projects are time-consuming, and the county has a limited amount of time in which it can allocate ARPA funds.

At last Wednesday’s meeting, they said they want to back projects that could be completed within a reasonable time frame.

For St. Clair, housing projects at the Langley Fairgrounds and a county-owned lot in Oak Harbor may meet that requirement. She expressed her interest in putting ARPA funds toward pre-development costs for these projects during the meeting, stating that the necessary infrastructure already exists in those locations to make housing development feasible.

St. Clair added that the county should make pre-development work a high priority when allocating ARPA funds, because it can be completed in a relatively short period of time.

Bacon said she feels it would help the county to establish a housing-related goal. According to one estimate from the Human Services department, the county is about 2,000 affordable units short of what it needs, she said. She proposed a goal for the county to assist in funding 200 affordable units each year.

Commissioners agreed to send out requests for qualifications for consultation services and begin developing a process for local organizations to submit their eligible projects for consideration.