The process of relocating residents of Dunbar has officially begun, with Troy Housing Authority director Debbie Rogers reporting that the “first wave” of vouchers were given to residents Tuesday, July 2.

“Those vouchers are good for 60 days,” Rogers said. “And we’re giving them a 30-day extension on top of that to give them that 90-day window to make arrangements. That window doesn’t start until that voucher was issued.”

The housing authority has been working toward the disposition and sale of the Dunbar Drive property for more than a year, announcing plans to residents in November 2018 to demolish the neighborhood. The housing authority received federal approval in May to dispose of the property.

The 90-day window for residents to relocate was previously reported, but it was unclear exactly when that deadline took effect. Individuals in Dunbar had the option to move into one of the other units of the housing authority or receive a tenant protection voucher to move to another property and continue to pay 30 percent of income as rent, with the housing authority subsidizing the rest of the rent as long as it is “reasonable.”

Rogers said a total of 36 residents requested vouchers, with the first 25 residents to receive the vouchers being chosen through a lottery program.  “We didn’t want to flood the market,” Rogers said.

The rest of the tenants requesting vouchers will be given their vouchers in the near future, Rogers said, and will have the same 90-day window.

Another 20 or so residents chose to move to another property within the Troy Housing Authority. Rogers said previously that families would be moved into those residences as availabilities open.

By federal law, all tenants must be relocated in new residences with the same rental rates before the property can be demolished.

The property is one of two sites still being considered by the Pike County Commission as the site for a new county jail. The other site is already owned by the county adjacent to the Pike County Road Department.