MANSFIELD -- Richland County commissioners approved a deal Tuesday with the Columbus-based Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio to improve countywide fair housing efforts.

The project's emphasis is on smaller communities. The agreement calls for the coalition to conduct community workshops on fair housing, design training for housing service providers, assist tenants with applications and complaints and conduct audits on federally assisted properties.

Mansfield fair housing administrator Don Mitchell said the project will allow the county to be proactive and avoid problems encountered by two Ohio cities. He said Zanesville was ordered to repay $10 million in federal funds for projects because the city failed to provide public water in a neighborhood. A Dayton-area community is in trouble because it used zoning to keep low- and moderate-income housing out.

"We are proactive rather than reactive," Mitchell said. "This will enhance our situation and help protect us from some of the same problems."