Selectmen accept housing assistance grant, approve advisory board

FARMINGTON – A project to replace deteriorating apartment buildings at the 82 High Street residential neighborhood took a big step forward Tuesday, with the Board of Selectmen accepting $500,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds and appointing an eight-member advisory board to oversee the program.

A $500,000 federal Home Loan Bank grant and a $540,000 loan for the project were secured late last year with the help of Franklin Savings Bank personnel. The $500,000 from the CDBG Housing Assistance grant, along with the previously-raised funds would be applied to a $1.5 million project to replace three apartment complexes at 82 High Street. The existing two-story, wood frame complexes will be razed and three, two-story, modular four-unit buildings would be purchased and installed near the High Street entrance to Sawtelle Lane.

The town applied for the grant on behalf of 82 High Street, with residents approving the CDBG application at a special town meeting in March. The grant comes at no cost to the municipality.

The nearly 30-year-old housing development 82 High Street was originally established by local churches, Western Maine Community Action and the Maine Housing Authority, all of which pooled resources to purchase the privately-owned development. That neighborhood, at the time overcrowded with substandard trailers and scheduled for demolition, was improved with new mobile homes and upgraded apartment buildings. The low/moderate income residential community now consists of 17 mobile homes and three apartment buildings housing a total of 12 apartments. All living spaces are 100 percent occupied, with the 82 High Street organization maintaining an active waiting list.

Improvements were made to the mobile homes in 2010. Last fall, new sewer and water lines were installed throughout the neighborhood. Razing the aging apartment buildings and replacing them with new modular structures was considered the most cost effective plan, in order to keep the rent affordable.

A potential issue developed earlier this year when Keiser Homes, the company that had been tapped to construct the modular apartments, went out of business in May. 82 High Street’s board met with Cousineau Inc., the project’s contractor, and lined up another company, Kent Homes, to provide the apartments. Tuesday, 82 High Street organizers told selectmen that Kent Homes’ larger size would enable it to “fast track” the project.

The board approved the Housing Assistance Grant program and appointed eight members of an advisory committee to oversee the project: Janet Smith, Ryan Goding, Erick Apland, Caitlin Carson-Gabriel, Rachel Jackson-Hodson, Roger Condit, Willena Jennings and Steve Kaiser. The board signed several documents relating to the grant.

Several selectmen commended the 82 High Street organizers and residents for the improvements to the neighborhood over the years. Selectman Matthew Smith recalled the area being one to avoid decades ago, calling the present-day area a “remarkable improvement.”

Condit, who has served on the 82 High Street’s board of directors since the project’s inception, noted that police calls to the area for noise or other complaints were down to a fraction of the previous years’ volume.

“I want to commend you folks,” Town Manager Richard Davis told the 82 High Street organizers. “You’ve done a tremendous job.”

The 82 High Street leadership hopes to have two buildings complete in September, another in October and a ribbon-cutting in November.