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Herington housing initiative seeks to remediate blight and leverage $200,000 revolving loan
Summary
Miss Rice proposed a staged housing initiative to restore blighted properties, build infill housing and expand low-to-moderate income ownership; she cited a preliminary Housing Assessment Tool (HAT) count showing 1,146 residential parcels, 138 vacant parcels and 42 blighted lots and said the Community Foundation offered a $200,000 revolving loan to seed work.
Miss Rice presented the Herington Housing Initiative, a staged program to remediate blight, support infill construction on vacant residential lots and expand access to low-to-moderate income homeownership using a mix of local, state and federal resources.
"This initiative is a plan to appropriately and successfully rehabilitate vacant blighted houses, the ones that end up on the tax lot, and economically build vacant residential housing on our vacant lots," Miss Rice told the commission. She said the town’s current low-to-moderate-income (LMI) share is about 58.5 percent and that a preliminary parcel review shows 1,146 residential parcels, of which about 138 are vacant and staff identified roughly 42 blighted or unsafe properties in an initial site view.
Miss Rice said the Community Foundation of Dickinson County initially pledged $150,000 as a revolving loan for remediation and construction and recently increased that offer to $200,000. She described three components: (1) a land-bank/HAT-driven program to identify and prioritize lots and blighted houses; (2) an infill/build program working with partners such as Habitat-type builders or kit/container homes to produce affordable units; and (3) homeowner repair and weatherization assistance for existing low- and moderate-income owners.
She recommended the city complete a Housing Assessment Tool (HAT) to produce parcel-level data for grant applications, and suggested hiring a part-time coordinator (she described 20 hours/week as a target) to manage the initiative, navigate CDBG and other grant processes, and build a pool of potential homeowners. Commissioners praised the work but raised concerns about staffing and the city’s current transitional staff situation; several said the proposal should be revisited during budget season so the commission can consider funding an FTE or part-time coordinator.
Next steps: the housing authority voted to accept the proposal and commissioners asked staff to determine HAT scope and cost and to consider the initiative during the budget cycle for potential staffing and matching funds.
