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Housing committee reviews 19A rehab plans, demolition needs and modular home manufacturing interest
Summary
Council housing committee discussed EPA-backed retrofit plans for 19A homes, demolition schedule managed by the land bank, and a potential modular-home manufacturing facility; State Historic Preservation Office input and funding shortages for demolition were flagged.
The Jamestown City Council’s housing committee discussed rehabilitation and demolition plans for a set of city properties, and heard about a possible local modular-housing manufacturer.
Committee member Mr. Champ reported that staff checked the city’s 19A homes program and found nine properties for sale; two of those have proposals in progress. The committee is exploring an EPA grant to retrofit many of the homes to all-electric systems as a way to modernize the stock and promote energy upgrades.
“That was brought up the evaluation of true value versus true cost,” Champ said, summarizing committee concerns about whether retrofit costs could leave buyers “upside down” on the properties. Committee members debated whether renovating or demolishing certain units would be more prudent.
Committee members also reviewed the land bank’s demolition schematic. Champ said two properties have bids and “looks like they’ll be coming down hopefully soon,” and three additional properties may need HCR-funded demolition pending asbestos inspections. He said CVG money and the city’s demo line item are running short for emergency demolitions.
The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) pushed back on one property because of a historically significant roof that would be “astronomical” to replace, committee members said. Crystal, a staff member who toured a modular-manufacturing site, reported the Monroe Moore site is producing a range of modular units from about 150–450 square feet up to 1,200 square feet and is exploring building a manufacturing facility in the city. “It’s showing some promise,” Crystal said.
The discussion did not include final Council action on demolition funding or adoption of a specific retrofit plan; committee members said cost estimates and further evaluation are underway. The committee noted the EPA funding has already been approved by the council for the broader program.
Committee members requested continued review of funding sources and next steps, and flagged the SHPO review as a constraint on proceeding at least for the property with historic features.
