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Date: 8/3/2018
AGAWAM – Reminder Publications reported in February that the City Council was working with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVCP) to apply for a competitive grant to improve Town Hall accessibility and area housing for low-to-moderate income residents. On July 27, the city was awarded almost $800,000.
Agawam Mayor William P. Sapelli traveled to the State House in Boston to accept the $799,750 Community Development Block Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development. Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito greeted him for the award ceremony.
“We would like to thank the Baker-Polito administration for their generous award and continued support of Agawam and all of Western Massachusetts,” said Sapelli in a statement. “We also greatly appreciate the work of Agawam’s legislative advocates: Sen. Don Humason and Rep. Nick Boldyga. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the efforts of Chris Dunphy and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for compiling a winning application for this highly competitive program, as well as Marc Strange, our Director of Planning and Community Development.”
The Massachusetts Community Development Block Grant Program is a federally funded, grant program designed to help cities and towns meet a broad range of community development needs. Assistance is provided to qualifying cities and towns for housing, community, and economic development projects that support low and moderate-income residents, or by revitalizing blighted areas.
With help from the PVPC, Agawam was able to secure the grant money to fund three projects: The Housing Rehabilitation Program, Aging in Place Housing Program and Town Hall Architectural Barrier Removal Design. While the Town Hall project is more of a planning initiative, which seeks to evaluate handicapped accessibility factors associated with the municipal building, the other two focus on improving area-housing conditions.
The following is a breakdown of the amount money set to be allocated to each program, along with a description of the programs themselves:
Agawam Housing Rehabilitation Program: $557,750
• The Housing Rehabilitation Program will serve housing units occupied by low-to-moderate income persons within the Town of Agawam. Improvements will include repair or replacement of basic building systems, lead and hazardous materials abatement, removal of architectural barriers and corrections to sanitary code and building code violations. Both owner-occupied and investor-owned properties are eligible.
The Agawam Aging in Place Program: $87,000
• The Agawam Aging in Place Program will provide grants up to $5,000 per qualified senior household to complete non-structural modifications to increase the health and safety of the occupants. The grant will cover improvements that include the installation of grab bars, door levers, slip resistant stair treads, dead-bolts, peep holes, smoke or carbon monoxide detectors and other similar work. To be eligible, owner occupants must be 65 years of age or older, meet HUD Section 8 income guidelines for low-to-moderate income persons, and have home safety needs that fall under the purview of the program.
The Agawam Town Hall Accessibility Planning Project: $65,000
• Because the Town Hall building is widely accessed, along with the Agawam Senior Center and Public Library, the Council chose to focus on bringing its Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility up-to-code. This project will result in the development of a Town Hall Accessibility Plan by a qualified architectural firm. The town will evaluate the full range of options for barrier removal and related federal ADA compliance so it can make a fully informed decision on how to address the Town Hall Building. The plan will look at a series of construction and services options, provide conceptual drawings, and construction cost estimates for each alternative.
General administration of the programs will cost $90,000.
Sapelli told Reminder Publications that the benefits of having money to fund these programs are monumental.
“The need for these programs is obvious – we have low-to-moderate income families who are having trouble making ends meet. One of the last things they do, unfortunately, is address the needs in their house,” said Sapelli. “To have this money come about for these people, so that they can get those grab bars and ramps in their homes that they normally wouldn’t have, is important. These programs are going to help keep people safe that wouldn’t have the means otherwise.”
The PVPC will be administering the programs, according to Director of Planning and Community Development Marc A. Strange.
He added that the City and the Commission are gearing up to initiate the next phases of the upcoming programs.
“We’re going to be working with the PVPC and it’s going to take a bit of time to do some administrative things. It will probably be a couple of months before we get it out into the public,” he said.
For more information, contact Strange at 786-0400 x8245 or mstrange@agawam.ma.us.