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Date: 11/17/2023
PALMER — During its Nov. 13 public hearing, the Palmer Community Development Office shared an update on the progress of the town’s fiscal year 2022-23 and 2024 Community Development Block grants.
Led by Community Development Director John Latour and Christopher Dunphy, who works part time at the office, the meeting was designed to inform residents on how the projects for each grant have advanced since they were discussed at the previous public hearing on Oct. 17, 2022.
The Community Development Block Grant program is a statewide annual program run by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities that awards competitive grants to towns based on population size and poverty level.
For FY22-23, Palmer was awarded $1.35 million. The funds will be divided between supporting the town’s current domestic violence prevention program and making infrastructure improvements to Maple Street and Maple Terrace in Three Rivers, Dunphy explained.
Currently, the office is receiving proposals for the Maple Street and Maple Terrace project, with design expected to begin in December and construction on Maple Street to occur in late spring of 2024, Dunphy said. While the FY22-23 grant does include funding for the design of Maple Terrace, its construction costs will be included in the requested FY24 grant.
The community development office is also looking to continue supporting the domestic violence prevention program and begin an additional project with the funds from the FY24 block grant. The new project will be discussed with residents during a public hearing before the FY24 application deadline of March 4, 2024, Latour stated. This grant could award up to $950,000 in funds.
“There’s a lot of work before we can select a location,” Latour said, highlighting the office’s detailed procedure to locate and prioritize areas of need in the town.
It is this procedure that has enabled Palmer to win Community Development Block Grants so consistently, Dunphy said. He explained that the town’s “comprehensive approach” allows it to identify and address issues fluently. In this way, the office is able to minimize future costs from poor planning.
Furthermore, the office seeks to involve the public through holding meetings and encouraging residents to visit the community development website, Dunphy stated.
“We hope to continue community outreach,” Dunphy said. “That’s our intent; reach out to Palmer as a whole but specifically to those who benefit [from the work funded by the CDBG program].”
During the meeting, the office also reviewed the progress of FY20 and FY21. Dunphy stated that the FY20 grant is 78% spent with the remaining funds to mainly be used for housing rehabilitation. FY21’s grant is 74% spent and is in the final stages of the completing the projects at Hryniewicz Park and Depot Park after a reevaluation of how funds were divided, Dunphy said.
While residents did not attend the Nov. 13 public hearing, Latour emphasized that residents were “very much active” in the FY 22-23 project and have shared their thoughts at previous meetings.
For more information about Palmer’s CDBG projects, contact Latour by email at jlatour@townofpalmer.com or by phone at 413-283-2614. Residents can also visit the office’s website at townofpalmer.com/communitydevelopment.