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Lebanon plans July public hearing and buyer lottery for five Barrow Street modular homes; $158,000 state grant seen as critical
Summary
City staff said bids are due next week for site work on five modular homes at Barrow Street; a council motion scheduled a July 15 public hearing on soliciting a short‑term construction loan (transcript contains both $17,000,000 and a corrected $1,700,000 figure). Per‑unit prices may come in under $400,000; the project team proposed a buyer lottery and debated limiting eligibility to city employees vs. all Lebanon residents.
Lebanon staff updated the commission on plans to build five modular homes on Barrow Street and reported a council motion to schedule a July 15 public hearing to authorize the city manager to seek short‑term construction lending.
Project staff said they have a design that could bring per‑unit construction costs under $400,000 and that they went back to alternate modular vendors (PBS) to price a modified design with full‑height ceilings and additional windows and closets. Bids for site work were issued and are due next week, staff said.
The manager and project lead described financing as a stack of public and private funds. In the June 24 conversation staff listed multiple funding pieces, and said the transcript shows an initial figure of "$17,000,000" that was then corrected in the discussion to "$1,700,000." The manager and commissioners emphasized the smaller ($158,000) state infrastructure grant for Barrow Street as the marginal funding piece that would keep per‑unit costs below a target threshold and enable the project to proceed.
On buyer selection, staff said the original plan was an employee‑based lottery (city, school district, Lebanon Housing Authority employees) but that the council discussion on June 3 opened the possibility of switching to a lottery limited to current Lebanon residents. The project lead described lottery mechanics: draw the top five names, then allow the first pick of available sites, second pick for the second name, and so on. Staff also described prequalification steps, a nonrefundable down payment and backup lists if selected buyers decline.
Commissioners asked about resale restrictions. Staff said deed provisions to discourage rapid flipping (for example, a two‑year hold or deed language) are possible but administratively complex; they intend to keep the program pragmatic while discouraging immediate resale.
Next steps: bids will be evaluated next week, staff will report pricing at the July 15 public hearing and commissioners will discuss eligibility criteria and resale controls at future meetings.
