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Murray • After moving to this midvalley burb as the new community and economic development director 3 1/2 years ago, Tim Tingey launched an intensive study of the community's housing needs.
That survey led to a public-private partnership that now is rehabilitating neighborhoods and producing affordable housing in Murray. It also helped Tingey receive national kudos through the NeighborWorks Government Service Award, which honored him for 14 years of improving housing in Utah and Idaho.
Tingey, who received the award last month in Washington, D.C., from NeighborWorks America, was honored last week by the Murray City Council.
"Tim is extremely dedicated to improving the lives of Murray residents and always strives to utilize city resources to their fullest potential," Mayor Dan Snarr said in a statement.
Tingey, who also is executive director of the Murray Redevelopment Agency, was nominated for the award by NeighborWorks Salt Lake and the Pocatello Neighborhood Housing Services (PNHS). The two organizations work with NeighborWorks America to improve neighborhoods and provide affordable housing to low-income people.
In Idaho, where he managed Pocatello's Neighborhood and Community Services Division, Tingey coordinated projects between city departments and PNHS. In Utah, he worked with NeighborWorks Salt Lake to get a Murray satellite office, which opened in fall 2010.
In recent years, Murray has given $350,000 in federal block grants to NeighborWorks, which has matched the money dollar for dollar. The funds are used to provide low-cost home-repair loans to the city's poor and to buy distressed properties.
The organization already has bought two vacant, foreclosed-upon homes in the city's Box Elder neighborhood. It is finalizing the purchase of a third. The plan is to fix the homes — or build new ones on the site — then sell them at an affordable price. The project would help low-income Murray residents become homeowners, while also raising property values in the neighborhood.
Jan Wells, Snarr's chief of staff, said city officials are excited about how well the program is working.
"It's making a big difference here," she said.
Tingey, who became the director of administrative and development services after a reorganization of city departments, said the partnership with NeighborWorks has given Murray a boost.
"NeighborWorks is not just about housing," he said. "It's about investing in neighborhoods."
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC