Housing grants total $1.39 million

The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board announced new grants Monday. A Springfield rental housing development will get $700.000 for energy-efficiency updates.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150630/NEWS01/706309891

Housing grants total $1.39 million By Lola Duffort Staff Writer | June 30,2015 MONTPELIER — The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board announced new grants Monday. Of those funds, affordable housing projects in Springfield, Fair Haven, Woodstock and Bennington received a total of $1.39 million and conservation efforts in Mendon, Shrewsbury and Pownal received about $190,000. A $150,000 VHCB grant will bring the Vermont forestry department and a conservation nonprofit just $88,000 shy of the $1.15 million they need to make the Jim Jeffords State Forest a reality. The proposed state forest would permanently protect 1,346 acres of hardwood forest, meadows and wetlands, in the area straddling Mendon and Shrewsbury. In linking the existing Coolidge and Aitken state forests, the new state forest would also create a 188,000-acre block of protected land. The Jeffords Forest currently consists of three properties: the 971-acre Mendon Brook Tree Farm, 109 acres owned by the Lincoln Forestry Co., and the 266-acre Heathcote property, donated by Lesley Heathcote of Brattleboro to the Trust for Public Land. Trust for Public Land director for Vermont Rodger Krussman said the project would only go ahead if the Mendon Brook and Lincoln Forestry parcels could be acquired. The project is an “all or nothing deal,” he said, but the VHCB funding was “a huge shot in the arm.” “We’re close enough now that I am confident that we will figure out how to cross the finish line,” he added. The Trust would be trying to fill the remaining funding gap with private donations, he said, from area residents and organizations. Prior funding for the project has come from a previous $367,200 VHCB grant, state mitigation funds, and a $50,000 Land & Water Conservation Fund grant, Krussman said. — In Springfield, Housing Vermont and the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust will use $700,000 in VHCB funds to purchase and undertake energy-efficiency updates to the 44-unit multi-family rental development Evergreen Heights. The developers will convert heat from electric to biomass or electric-powered air source heat pumps. — In Bennington, Housing Vermont and Shires Housing will put $550,315 in VHCB founds and $499,316 in federal HOME funds toward energy efficiency upgrades at Applegate Apartments, a 104-unit family housing development. Upgrades will include insulation, window replacements, and converting the heating system from oil to wood biomass. — In Fair Haven, the Housing Trust of Rutland County will combine $104,142 in VHCB board funds and a $337,000 federal HOME grant to recapitalize a 13-unit senior housing development at the historic marble Adams House in the center of town. The funds will pay to upgrade heating and electrical systems, perform site work and exterior repairs. — In Pownal, the Nature Conservancy will match a $39,850 VHCB grant with $24,675 to expand their Quarry Hill Natural Area with the purchase of a 25-acre plot. A half-acre parcel on the road frontage will be conveyed to the Bennington County Habitat for Humanity as an affordable house lot. — In Woodstock, Housing Vermont and the Twin Pines Housing Trust will use a $35,000 VHCB grant to cover part of the costs incurred during a 7-year permit appeals delay at the 28-unit, mixed housing development Safford Commons.