Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Home Rehab Grant topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Clinton County outlines $400,000 home-rehab program, environmental review process
Summary
At a May 18 work session, Elizabeth Witte said Clinton County will use a $400,000 grant to rehab homes, set aside $50,000 in affordable housing funds, and require environmental reviews under a proposed professional services agreement; the county will advertise applications in two to three weeks.
At a May 18 Clinton County work session, Elizabeth Witte said the county will use a $400,000 grant to rehabilitate older homes and is setting aside $50,000 from affordable housing funds to support the effort. "We've got $400,000 grant to rehab homes in the county," Witte said, adding that an environmental safety review is required.
Witte said the county is proposing a professional services agreement with the regional reviewer (transcribed in the meeting as "CDECOG" and variably as "CITACOG"/"CITICOG") to perform that review. Exempt activities would be reviewed at no cost; tier-1 environmental assessments were described at $4,500 each, and a tier-2 lump-sum option was quoted as $1,200 for 10 assessments, which the presenter calculated would equate to about $5,700 per assessment after adjustments.
Why it matters: Witte said the program will include eligibility and post-rehab affordability rules designed to prevent flipping. "They need to be at 80% or below the area median income," she said, and she added that rehabbed properties could not be worth more than 95% of other homes in the area after work is completed. The county plans occupancy covenants ranging from five to 15 years depending on investment levels.
County staff said applicants will be required to undergo property inspections before work to identify deficiencies and that repairs must bring dwellings up to both local and building-code standards. Regarding selection, a commissioner asked whether projects would be ranked or handled first-come, first-served; Witte said the county will seek advice from the regional reviewer on ranking and plans to start with five homes that were prequalified when the grant application was filed.
Witte said the county will advertise the application in the local paper in two to three weeks and will present further details at a later meeting. She also said the county expects to limit per-property assistance (a commissioner asked whether a maximum would be set) and noted a likely $50,000 cap per property. Structural reviews will be conducted by an inspector chosen by the county and an RFP for that work has been prepared.
Next steps: staff will publish the application notice and return with a fuller presentation and materials for reviewing and ranking applications at a future meeting.
