FARMINGTON- A public hearing on a project application for a Community Development Block Grant to provide utility upgrades for low- to moderate-income housing development at 82 High Street will be held 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night at the Farmington Municipal Building.
The proposed grant totals $360,000 and will go to provide new sewer, water and natural gas lines to the residences on Sawtelle Lane in a development off High Street that includes three buildings with 13 apartments and 17 mobile homes. An additional $36,000 is to be secured by the development’s board of directors for the project upgrade through the Genesis Community Loan Fund.
The Office of Community Development gave the partnering applicants-the town of Farmington and 82 High Street Corp.-the go-ahead to move into the developmental phase of the housing assistance grant application. A public hearing to answer questions and hear comments is a requirement of the process.
The 82 High Street development got its start in 1987 when local churches, Western Maine Community Action and Maine Housing Authority got the funding necessary to purchase the privately-owned development, located within easy walking distance of downtown’s services, and bring in new mobile homes and upgrade three apartment buildings on site.
Since then, the development has been managed by a nonprofit corporation board of directors that include residents of 82 High Street. Over the years, through a combination of grant funding, local agencies and volunteer help, the development has undergone renovations to the development’s aging mobile homes.
In 2010, funding through the Community Development Block Grant program that eventually totaled $268,000 was secured and paid for the renovation of the 16 mobile homes and for a new, 17th mobile home to be installed on a concrete slab. The work was completed in 2012.
Now, the board of directors is seeking upgrades to the utility services that include 800 linear feet of both a new water main and a sewer main with service lines to units and a gas line to be installed under Sawtelle Lane, which runs through the center of the development. The street would also be repaved to repair damage caused by construction.
According to the application, the upgrade to the gas line is expected to reduce heating costs by 50 percent. Selectmen approved the town’s participation in applying for the grant in March following a public hearing. If the funding is granted, construction could be completed next summer.
