By Marcia Parnell
The Town’s March 2024 application in partnership with Dalton for a $1 million Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for home improvement assistance to low- and moderate-income, owner-occupied dwellings in Becket has paid off. Governor Maura Healey announced awards totaling $39 million to 65 communities throughout the state, Becket and Dalton among them, on August 12th. Said Healey, “Our cities and towns use these CDBG grants to fix their roadways, expand their housing options, and improve the quality of life they offer their residents.” The $1 million grant will be administered by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC).
For Becket and Dalton, the dollars will go toward Housing Rehabilitation Program (HRP) projects that will keep residents living in their homes by addressing roofing, foundation repair, energy-efficient doors and windows, plumbing, electrical repair or replacement, water supply, septic, lead paint abatement and other repairs needed to bring a dwelling into compliance with all applicable safety and sanitary codes. The maximum project cost is $60,000. The HRP is funded through the FY 2024 CDBG program which receives its funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
Homeowner grant awards will be structured as a zero-interest payment loan secured by a 15-year lien on the property. The loan amount due will decrease each year by 1/15th of the total loan value and after 15 years is deemed forgiven. If the property is sold or transferred prior to the 15th year, then the remaining loan amount must be paid back.
In order to participate applicants must be the owner of record for the property and meet income requirements, which begin at $61,350 for a single owner-occupied property. (A similar program was awarded to Becket in FY 2020 for which 17 residents applied and seven properties were rehabilitated.) For Becket, there is currently an applicant wait list of 51 households, which includes carryover applicants from 2020 as well as residents who expressed interest earlier this year when the Town’s grant application was announced. BRPC Senior Housing Planner, Brett Roberts, says that the long wait list relative to the number of potential projects “shouldn’t discourage people from thinking about the program” because income levels change annually as do individual and family situations and needs. Once on the list, applicants are considered on a first-come, first-served basis and there is no predetermined grant share allocated between Becket and Dalton. Getting on the waitlist involves learning specifics about the program as well as some preliminary vetting. Roberts urges anyone interested to contact him by email at broberts@berkshireplanning or BRPC Grant Specialist, Christie Lewis, at clewis@berkshireplanning.org.
A tentative time frame for the entire process, said Roberts, begins now with BRPC addressing Massachusetts Historical Commission preservation standards, completing an environmental review document, issuing a public Notice of Intent requesting release of the grant funds, and after review, executing a contract with the Town of Becket. Once that’s complete (approximately 45 to 60 days or around October 15th) BRPC will reach out to wait list contacts and begin the application and documentation process. Roberts is hopeful contracts will be signed with resident applicants by mid- December, with work starting within 30 days of signature. Longer-than-anticipated waits for building materials are a wild card, he says, but the hope is that all projects will be completed
by year-end 2025.
