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Date: 8/10/2021
HADLEY – On Aug. 4, the Hadley Select Board hosted a public hearing for the fiscal year 2021 (FY21) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program application.
The Select Board spoke with Ted Harvey, a member of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, who had a presentation regarding the application. “We’ve [the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission], for the last 30 odd years, run and administered the Community Development Block Grant programs throughout the Pioneer Valley,” said Harvey.
Harvey explained that Hadley has been interested in the program and has received funding in prior years, and he’d spoken to them about the program just last year, but were unsuccessful. “Unfortunately we were not funded. Hadley was the next town down to not receive funding, so it was very close,” he said.
Now, Harvey’s working with Hadley again in an effort to receive funding. “For anyone who’s familiar with last year’s application, this year’s is just a rewrite and a resubmittal,” explained Harvey.
The approval of an FY21 Community Development Block Grant Program application is determined by a town’s score. “Every town starts off with a particular score. Those communities with a higher low and moderate income population have a higher score which helps in these particular grant applications,” explained Harvey.
That’s why this year’s application will not only apply to Hadley but South Hadley as well. “South Hadley happens to have a higher need score than Hadley and are also not in a position where they could apply for a full application,” he continued to explain. This meant that the combination of Hadley and South Hadley’s scores could improve the chances of securing funding.
This year they’ve proposed a Housing Rehabilitation Program, an Accessibility Planning Project/Transition Plan and an Aging in Place Program.
Housing Rehabilitation Program
“The Housing Rehabilitation Program is the main component of this,” said Harvey. The application states, “The Housing Rehabilitation Program is intended to serve low and moderate income residents by providing safe, sanitary and affordable housing.” This would assist in repairs, correcting any building code violations and updating things like heating, plumbing, etc. With these corrections and repairs, residents with limited resources would be able to remain in their homes in an affordable manner.
Last year Hadley had a higher request, attempting to rehabilitate 12 units. This year, Harvey said the program reduced its size to 10. “We’re going for a much smaller program to kind of get our feet wet with Hadley and later down the road, if it’s successful, we can build on that,” he said. There’d be three or four units in South Hadley and the remaining units would be in Hadley.
Accessibility Planning Project/Transition Plan
This program would hire a qualified consultant to prepare an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Self Evaluation and Transition Plan for the town, as Hadley doesn’t currently have a plan in place.
“The CDBG has a new requirement for all applications that if a town doesn’t have an ADA plan, we’d have to note that, and at some point, the state would contact you to help create a plan,” began Harvey. “This [current application] would meet that goal and it’s important to have one anyway.”
This portion isn’t a scored piece like the Housing Rehabilitation Program so it wouldn’t count towards the final application score.
Aging in Place Program
Unlike the others, this program wasn’t a part of last year’s application. “It’s similar to our Housing Rehab Program, the difference is it’s a $5,000 grant and it’s for seniors only. So it’s 65 and older,” Harvey said. Like the Housing Rehabilitation Program, the Aging in Place Program would make adjustments to 15 units to allow senior residents to live there a little longer. The adjustments include grab bars, door levers, slip-resistant stair treads, deadbolts and more.
This is a newer program for the PVPC, that started a few years ago in the town of Agawam and then in the city of Easthampton. “It’s been pretty successful in Agawam and Easthampton and I don’t think many towns, if any, are doing a program like this, but it’s pretty popular with towns that have an aging population,” he explained.
The Aug. 4 meeting was one of two required public hearings for the Community Development Block Grant Program; the second hearing would only occur if Hadley secured funding. These public hearings are required to garner input from residents. After Harvey completed his presentation, Select Board Chair David J. Fill opened the meeting up to public comment, but there were no residents who requested to speak on it.
The deadline for the application is Sept. 10.