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Date: 2/14/2023
LUDLOW — The Board of Selectmen voted to allow the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) to submit a grant application for up to $1.35 million in available Community Development Block Grant Funds.
The Board of Selectmen and John O’Leary from PVPC hosted a public hearing to discuss the fiscal year 2022/2023 application to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community ahead of the March 3 deadline.
O’Leary met with the Board of Selectmen at its Feb. 7 meeting to discuss the projects that were being included in the application.
Those projects included Roberts Street neighborhood infrastructure improvement project, a downtown infrastructure planning study, another infrastructure project and a housing rehabilitation assistance program.
O’Leary said that the park improvements and downtown infrastructure planning study had to be left out of the grant application because of the budget but also because they did not have enough time to become income qualified based on how much they had.
“For the park improvements, we had to show the state that the users of that park are low to moderate income and that would have required dozens of streets worth of incomes surveys and was not the fastest way to do it,” O’Leary added.
The Roberts Street infrastructure improvement projects will more specifically deal with Marie and Carroll Street and will work on improving and upgrading the water, sewer, drainage and street service in that area according to O’Leary.
The total construction will cost $750,000 for the design fee and other $75,000 to engineer it.
According to O’Leary, this specific neighborhood was chosen for repairs because they qualified through the income survey. Those streets gave a high enough response rate so the PVPC can prove to the state that that neighborhood there was more than 51 percent of low to moderate income residents in those homes.
The other activity in the grant application is the housing rehabilitation assistance program.
O’Leary said, “We felt this this was important because we got some great feedback from the community and residents. We distributed information on the program and got 20 plus people who had an interest. We have about six to eight units worth of funding this year to upgrade what they need.”
Ludlow and the PVPC created a form where residents applied for funding to assist qualified homeowners in making necessary repairs to their homes. Those repairs included roof, windows, siding, plumbing, electrical, heating system, septic system repair or replacement or other program eligible improvements.
Board of Selectmen Chair Tony Goncalves asked if there will be limits on the amount for each unit with the housing assistance program so that they can help as many units as possible.
O’Leary responded, “It is a maximum of $40,000 per unit. The housing specialist will go to the house and write up a scope of work for what needs to be rehabbed.”
O’Leary and the Board of Selectmen mentioned that choosing applicants for the housing rehabilitation program will most likely be based on a first come, first serve basis but talked about the idea of also doing a lottery. They will decide how they would like to proceed before the grant application is due in March.
O’Leary added that PVPC will oversee finding contractors for the improvement project and have their own housing specialist who will conduct the inspections while making sure the improvements are made.
Selectman Derek DeBarge said, “This is nothing but positive no matter what area this is or where it is. We can’t include everything that we wanted but anything helps.”
O’Leary added that PVPC will do a study in designated areas of Ludlow to assess housing and infrastructure and grade them based on a rating system to submit to the state for their approval.
This study will help with potential park improvements and other future projects as it makes it easier for PVPC to apply for future grants according to O’Leary.