News for June 2022
Montague Selectboard reallocates nearly $107K toward housing rehab
The Selectboard voted to reallocate $106,909 in leftover federal grant money toward Franklin County’s Housing Rehabilitation Program during Monday’s meeting.
The funding came from a fiscal year 2020 Community Development Block Grant that primarily benefited the $288,000 sidewalk rehabilitation project outside the Shea Theater Arts Center and Colle Opera House building. In total, Montague received $675,519 as part of Massachusetts’ $34 million FY20 award round, which was announced by Gov. Charlie Baker in March 2021. The money was awarded to fund housing rehabilitation assistance, Avenue A streetscape improvements, a design for Hillcrest Elementary School’s playground improvements and improved social services.
Read the full article from The Recorder here.
Six Franklin County Communities selected for MHP’s Complete Neighborhoods Initiative
On Wednesday, at the second day of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s (MHP) annual Housing Institute, MHP’s Executive Director Clark Ziegler announced the recipients of the inaugural funding round of the Complete Neighborhoods Initiative. According to MHP’s website, the program provides targeted, long-term assistance to selected communities to support efforts in creating human-centric and mobility-oriented neighborhoods. MHP staff and/or third-party consultants will work with communities to identify and implement strategies to accelerate public and private investments in affordable housing near mobility hubs.
“The Complete Neighborhoods Partnership is about more than just locating housing near transit stations,” said Christine Madore, senior development manager at MHP. “It’s about creating places where peoples’ daily needs are within their own neighborhoods.
Funds can be used for predevelopment, policy development, community engagement, or financial analyses. MHP Community Assistance staff will provide support throughout the program. In April, Greenfield applied as the lead community in a six-town regional application, including Deerfield, Erving, Montague, Orange, and Whately. MHP’s award announcement to the town’s states: “We are thrilled to share that the joint application submitted by Greenfield, Montague, Orange, Erving, Whately, and Deerfield has been selected for the inaugural funding round. Congratulations! The joint partnership will receive up to $250,000 in technical services from a pre-approved pool of consultants over the program period of 30 months.”
The program is funded by the state’s Economic Development Bond Bill through the Department of Housing and Community Development and Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. In addition to technical assistance, capital funds will also be available to support the creation of low- and moderate- income housing in designated Complete Neighborhoods. Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority staff helped coordinate the regional application and will participate in the six-town partnership. We congratulate these communities on being proactive in addressing housing needs that in turn, also support climate and transportation goals in our region.
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