The Tacoma Tall Ships Organization folks appeared before a Tacoma city council committee to discuss their economic impact statement.

Earlier this month, organizers released a study showing a $19.2 million impact. And that played well with the members of the economic development committee.

Councilman Rick Talbert seemed particularly impressed with the infrastructure improvements the festival brought to the Thea Foss Waterway. And, he added, "what isn't measurable is the positive impact for Tacoma and Pierce County from people who visited here."

Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity opens its applications for new homes twice a year, and the next round of informational meetings begins in October.

Habitat opens doors to home ownership to low-income families who are living in a situation that does not meet their needs. They must be willing and able to accept the responsibilities of home ownership - and to help build their own house. And they must have lived in Pierce County for a year.

The families don't need spotless credit histories, but they must show that they pay key bills on time. And they must be able to spend 30 percent of their income on housing. When they are done, they will buy their home at cost with a 0 percent interest rate.
They'll also have to spend 500 hours helping to build it, and the homes of other Habitat families.

All the homes are green, right down to the heating systems which are among the most efficient being built in the county.

Habitat requires applicants to come to one of four information meetings set for Oct. 6 through Oct. 28. People who need help understanding English will have to bring their own interpreter.

Here are the dates, times and places:

Mon., Oct. 6, 6 p.m., Salishan Family Services Center, 1728 East 44th St., Tacoma.

Mon., Oct. 13, 6 p.m., Peace Lutheran Church, 214 E. Pioneer Way, Puyallup.

Sat., Oct. 25, 10 a.m., Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 10333 Bridgeport Way S.W., Lakewood.

Tues., Oct. 28, 6 p.m., Catholic Community Services, 1323 Yakima Ave., Tacoma.

Need more information? Call (253) 627-5626 or log on to www.tpc-habitat.org.

A board member of the Tacoma Tall Ships Organization will head a resource action committee that will raise funds to pay down the deficit from July’s festival and collect donations toward the 2011 event. Already, one anonymous donor has stepped forward with a $100,000 pledge.

Mike McLeod, a commercial real estate developer, will work full-time for the nonprofit organization over the next two months, board members said Tuesday. Tall Ships ran a $500,000 deficit on a $2.5 million budget.

Thirty-five creditors – mostly smaller companies and individuals – have been paid, with 63 still outstanding, board co-chairman Stan Selden said. The organization still owes about $450,000, $50,000 less than the initial deficit organizers announced last month. The nonprofit has received additional payments and bills since then, Selden said.

McLeod was five weeks into a three-month vacation when he decided to return to Tacoma and work to pay down the deficit.

“Bottom line is I couldn’t relax,” he said. “I wasn’t comfortable. We cut the trip short by about a month to come back and work on it.”

McLeod will approach sponsors from this year’s event and ask them to sign up early for 2011. One such deal he’s proposing to sponsors is a four-year commitment: help toward the deficit this year, money toward organizational operations in 2009-10 and donations toward the event in 2011.

The nonprofit has already received one large gift: An anonymous woman gave $100,000 earmarked for The Pollard Group, the Tacoma printing firm.

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I'll be talking to board members of the Tacoma Tall Ships Organization this morning about their financial status. And I'll be at the meeting of the Tacoma city council's economic development committee. They'll be discussing the fair's economic impact.