The Kent County Board of Commissioners voted to adopt Resolution 86 to approve a brownfield plan agreement that the board and staff said will support Flat River Outreach Ministries' new affordable housing project in Lowell.

Wendy Price, executive director of Flat River Outreach Ministries, told the board her nonprofit has partnered with ICCF Community Homes and Eastbrook Homes and is building three buildings that will include 17 units designed as one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and can house up to 40 people. Price described local funding and significant in-kind contributions from the community that helped the project reach construction.

Commissioners and county staff described the county's Brownfield Redevelopment Authority as a tool to support redevelopment and to provide long-term monitoring of affordability. Commissioner Faber and chair Green, who both sit on the county's Brownfield Authority board, said this project represents the county using its authority to assist a local unit and provide capacity for long-term affordable housing covenants.

Josh Spencer, county staff, told commissioners that, officially, no other brownfield applications were active in the authority's queue; he said two projects were working toward submission and several communities were exploring the tool. County Administrator Al Vandenberg added that the county authority can be used by local units that either have or lack their own brownfield authority.

Commissioner Hildenbrand invited fellow commissioners to a site tour the following week to inspect the three buildings under construction east of downtown Lowell. The board adopted the brownfield plan agreement by voice vote.