A total of $3.4 million is coming to Franklin County through Community Development Block Grants to support infrastructure upgrades, housing rehabilitation and social work.
Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus said in a statement that the federal funds — $850,000 for Greenfield, $900,000 combined for Gill and New Salem, $850,000 for Montague and $849,465 for Orange — will support infrastructure improvements to downtowns and funding social services used by residents across the state.
“This year’s CDBG awards will fund housing rehabilitation, street and sidewalk upgrades, planning work and vital social services in dozens of communities,” Augustus said.
Montague’s Avenue A improvements
Coming off the coattails of construction along Avenue A sidewalks last summer, a new section of sidewalks between 152 and 170 Avenue A has been funded by $580,000 of Montague’s CDBG award.
Once construction begins later this year, this section of aging sidewalk will be rebuilt to be more pedestrian-friendly and accessible, joining other sections of the street that have already been reconstructed as part of the ongoing Avenue A Streetscape Project.
The project span funded by this grant will be in front of buildings on the even side of Avenue A, like the Power Town Apartments and Harvey’s restaurant.
The sidewalks here will match the previously completed sidewalk improvements in front of places like the Shea Theater Arts Center and Town Hall on the odd side of the street, and in front of storefronts like The Upper Bend, LOOT found + made and the Great Falls Discovery Center farther up the even side of the street from 152 to 170 Avenue A.
“CDBG has funded before the even side between Third and Fourth streets, and also funded the block in front of the Shea Theater on that side of the road between Second and Third streets,” Assistant Town Administrator Chris Nolan-Zeller explained.
This is the first of two other sections of Avenue A sidewalks that are still in need of redevelopment, with designs presented to residents in the fall of 2024 by representatives from the town of Montague, the Housing Authority and Berkshire Design Group.
The designs by Berkshire Design Group were broken down into lettered project areas. Block A on the side of Avenue A with even address numbers between Fourth and Fifth streets is the current section funded for construction this year. The two remaining sections are Block B on the side of Avenue A with odd address numbers between Fourth and Fifth streets, and Block C is from Fourth Street to Third Street.
Although the sidewalk will be concrete, it will have the aesthetic appearance of brick.
Across these project areas, the existing concrete planters will be replaced by granite planters for durability and aesthetic purposes. There are also plans to update the curb ramps to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. Railings will be incorporated with the ramps.
Outside of the Avenue A sidewalk funding, Montague is using some of the remaining funding from the CDBG grant to support social services, including The Brick House Community Resource Center, LifePath, The Heartwing Center and the Wildflower Alliance.
“I think we’re excited to be moving forward with a new phase of this,” Nolan-Zeller said about the project. “We’ve got really good feedback about the phases that have happened so far of the Avenue A streetscape improvements, and we’re really excited.”
Housing rehabilitation in Gill and New Salem
Gill and New Salem will share $900,000 in CDBG funding for a two-town project aimed at addressing substandard housing. Nine housing units will be rehabilitated through the Gill/New Salem Housing Rehabilitation Program.
“The initial breakdown is … five housing units in Gill [and] four in New Salem,” Gill Town Administrator Ray Purington said at a recent Selectboard meeting. “The numbers could change, depending on where the need is and where the qualifying projects come from.”
The housing rehabilitation program offers eligible households 0% deferred-payment loans of up to $70,000. The loan for these home improvements will be forgiven over 15 years if the resident remains in their house as their primary residence for that entire time.
Purington said that of the $900,000 grant, $135,000 is designated for covering the Franklin County Regional Housing & Redevelopment Authority’s expenses associates with leading the program, and $765,000 will go toward housing rehabilitation. However, Purington noted, that $765,000 is broken down into $630,000 for rehab loans and grants, and $135,000 for program administration and implementation.
Emily Hill, New Salem’s town coordinator, said the town is receiving $280,000 to support housing improvements that bring homes into compliance and improve energy efficiency.
“The town is grateful to be included alongside Gill in this regional effort and has recently concluded its public-comment period,” she wrote in an email.
Anyone who is interested in applying for the CDBG money should contact Bridget Phillips, the Franklin County Regional Housing & Redevelopment Authority’s community development administrative assistant, at 413-223-5203.
CDBG funds will be used for initial lead paint risk assessments or full lead abatement inspections, post-lead remediation compliance inspections, and rehabilitation work related to the correction of code violations and energy efficiency upgrades.
Up to $25,000 of costs associated with this work will be given as a grant to participating homeowners. Through a criteria point system, the program will target the most distressed, substandard housing units with the most code violations occupied by people of low to moderate income. The towns will permit transfer of loans to income-eligible family members. The towns may also consider forgiveness of deferred-payment loans in emergency or hardship cases.
Any funds remaining after the nine units are completed will be used to address more units.
The housing rehabilitation program was initially going to include Shutesbury, but that town opted not to participate. Town Administrator Hayley Bolton said she believes her predecessor felt Town Hall staff lacked the time, capacity and resources to appropriately pursue the opportunity by the deadline.
“The timing wasn’t good on our end,” Bolton wrote in an email. “However, that doesn’t mean the town isn’t amenable to pursuing other opportunities in the future.”
Greenfield
Greenfield was awarded $850,000 to be put toward several projects, including housing rehabilitation, and sidewalk repairs and replacements. It will also support various social services in the city.
“It’s a great source of funding for us to do infrastructure work and housing rehabilitation,” Greenfield’s Community and Economic Development Director Amy Cahillane said.
Cahillane said that $323,000 of the funds will go toward the housing rehabilitation program administered by Community Action Pioneer Valley, which is able to leverage federal funds to stretch dollars further.
“We contract with them, and that provides housing rehabilitation for income-eligible households,” Cahillane said. “We get better bang for our buck working with them.”
The funds will support the rehabilitation of three or four houses, Cahillane said, and are meant to support large-scale projects, rather than smaller projects like window replacements. She added that the funds are considered loans that are slowly forgiven over time to prevent house flippers from getting city-funded renovations. If the property is sold shortly after the rehab project, the money will have to be repaid; otherwise, the loans are typically forgiven.
“It tends to be for people who need larger rehabilitation projects like roof replacements and lead remediation,” Cahillane said. “If it gets sold shortly after, it’ll have to be repaid, but it’s slowly forgiven over time.”
Of the $850,000 CDBG award, $250,000 will go to infrastructure work, specifically sidewalk repairs, Cahillane said. She said the city has not yet decided which sidewalks will be worked on, but has identified a few options and is working with the Department of Public Works to determine which locations should be prioritized this year.
An additional $175,000 will support social work in the city. Cahillane said the funds will be split among five social services agencies: Community Action’s Center for Self-Reliance, Stone Soup Cafe, Community Legal Aid, The Salvation Army and the Wildflower Alliance.
The remaining roughly $100,000 will cover administrative costs associated with managing the grant.
Orange
The town-wide housing rehabilitation program will use $210,000 to address the problem of substandard housing.
The proposed Orange Rehabilitation Program will serve homeowners who are determined through income-verification procedures to have low or moderate incomes. Due to the increasing average cost per unit, combined with the increasing price of building supplies, this rehab loan/grant budget is prepared to cover the costs of three projects at the maximum loan/grant amount of $70,000, with up to $25,000 in project funds given as a grant to homeowners for lead paint remediation work. Any money remaining after the three units are completed will be used to address additional units.
Also, five local social services programs will benefit from a total of $100,000 awarded to Orange. LifePath will get two $20,000 grants — one for a program that will provide home-delivered meals and well-being checks to elderly homebound residents of Orange, Monday through Friday, and one for a program helping Orange elders remain independent in their homes with service provisions to address needs related to their housing, health, comfort, health care access and financial stability.
Seeds of Solidarity gets $20,000 to promote economic security and self-sufficiency; build social capital and enhance civic engagement by families; increase access to fresh and nutritious meals for families and elders; and promote financial literacy and wellness skills for participants through virtual and live activities.
Additionally, The Literacy Project will use $20,000 to provide low-income Orange residents (adults and out-of-school youth ages 16 and older) who are lacking a high school credential with support and skills instruction to allow them to remain in adult basic education classes to pass the high school equivalency test, while a North Quabbin Citizen Advocacy program will get the same amount of money to provide a program of protection and advocacy for vulnerable individuals by creating one-to-one relationships with volunteer advocates.