North Brookfield to pursue FY25 CDBG application for South Common Street infrastructure

Joe Ferguson, principal planner with Central Mass regional planning staff, told the North Brookfield Board of Selectmen on Feb. 25 that staff recommend using the town's FY25 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application to fund subsurface and surface infrastructure work on South Common Street and adjacent connections and that the town pursue a March public hearing and an April 14 application deadline.

The request matters because CDBG projects must meet one of two federal "national objectives": benefit to low- and moderate-income residents or prevention of blight. Ferguson said the town can qualify South Common Street under the income-benefit objective by documenting concentrations of eligible households near Grove Street Apartments and other multifamily properties, and he suggested pursuing a separate "blight" district in a subsequent year to allow larger multi‑street investments without household-by-household income verification.

Ferguson described recent CDBG work in North Brookfield, including a closed FY20 grant used for housing rehabilitation and senior center improvements and an FY21 grant that funded design and phase 1 construction on Mount Pleasant Street to replace a waterline. He said Mount Pleasant qualified in part because it included housing authority property and that a similar approach could qualify St. Clair Avenue and South Common if the town obtains documentation from relevant property managers.

Ferguson said the FY25 project team has prepared a conceptual cost estimate that fits under the FY25 maximum budget of $850,000 and that staff will scope the work with town department heads. He told the board he has scheduled a public hearing (initially March 11, likely moved to March 18) and that he will drop a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) with town staff ahead of the hearing.

Selectmen discussed whether St. Clair Avenue should be included because it ties into South Common and noted sewer and stormwater problems that should be inspected as part of any design work. Ferguson said his team would coordinate with town staff, perform video inspections (CCTV) of pipes where needed, gather complaint and break logs, and work with the town to document conditions for either the low/mod income national objective or a future blight-district application.

After discussion, the board voted to allow staff to proceed with preparing a FY25 CDBG design-and-construction application focused on South Common Street and to authorize the town to sign an MOU with Central Mass regional planning for the application-writing services. Ferguson said the MOU stipulates the regional planning commission will write the application and that, if the grant is awarded, the fee for the application-writing work would be paid from the awarded grant.

The board and staff emphasized next steps: (1) a scoping meeting with department heads to finalize the application scope; (2) coordination with Ashley (town staff) to collect household and housing authority documentation; (3) a public hearing to be scheduled in mid-March; and (4) filing the application by the April 14 deadline.

If awarded, the FY25 work would focus on South Common Street. Ferguson recommended the town pursue a blight/deteriorated-condition district in FY26 or FY27 to enable multi‑street construction projects over a 10-year implementation window under the CDBG blight objective.

The board approved the motions by voice vote.