PUTNEY — The Selectboard on Sept. 25 said it is preparing to schedule hearings and a vote on endorsing and financing a long-proposed 11-unit affordable housing project here now that the project has the blessing of the town's Affordable Housing Committee.
The project, centered on a $2.1 million investment from Windham & Windsor Housing Trust, is touted as likely to breathe new life into 113-year-old lodgings at 27 Old Depot Rd., and to provide low- or fixed-income income tenants with safe, clean homes and ample green space.
The purchase and sale agreement is valid through June 2014. Still to be resolved is the date for a Selectboard discussion and vote on the project, which, if it passes, would clear the way for applications for grants and other financing, and the rehab itself.
State Rep. Mike Mrowicki, D-Putney, told Selectmen that Windham & Windsor Housing Trust Director of Housing Development Isaac Wagner had completed an environmental review and a feasibility study and submitted a grant application to the Vermont Housing Conservation Board.
If all goes well following requisite hearings, construction could begin by fall 2014, he said.
The Affordable Housing Committee vote was unanimous, Mrowicki reported, “and a long time coming. ... A lot of us have been working for a long time to try and get an affordable housing project going in Putney. Hopefully we can engender the support of the town as a whole. It's a good thing.”
At the Selectboard meeting, which Mrowicki attended as an informal guest, Board Chair Josh Laughlin and Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard discussed the time frame for holding a hearing on formally endorsing the project and pursuing $300,000 for it through the Vermont Community Development Program.
Laughlin said the project is being bundled for Federal Housing Authority financing with two other rehabilitation projects in Brattleboro.
He added that the units were envisioned to rent for roughly $450 to $550 for a one-bedroom residence and less than $700 for a two- or three-bedroom residence.
Laughlin, Stoddard, and others on the Board said they looked forward to getting hearings and financing underway to make the project a reality.
“We have already expressed our general sort of conceptual support of the plan, so I'm not sure whether we have to make that official before or after the public meeting,” Laughlin said.
Laughlin also said the Affordable Housing Committee evaluated how the project might affect the tax roll in reducing the number of units by one from the status quo.
“It's not 100 percent clear, but it would appear that even with the building's current value, even at a reduced tax rate, the value of the building would be increased significantly enough so that would more than offset it, but Isaac was going to explore it and let us know,” he said.
Also to hammer out: how to provide current residents with adequate transition assistance. There are federal programs to help with such displacement - and possible return - Laughlin said, all of which would be worked out in time for the public hearing.
Mrowicki said he was personally relieved the project was moving forward.
“The fear is that the housing is substandard right now, and won't be usable as it continues to deteriorate; the Land Trust is ready to go in there where probably no one else is and bring that right up to code and keep it affordable so we can have families in it,” he said.