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Habitat asks for $50,000 in workforce-housing sales-tax support for Dickens & Reith homes; sewer connection is the critical path
Summary
Habitat for Humanity asked the commission for $25,000 per unit (two units, $50,000 total) for a Dickens & Reith workforce-housing project that is currently uninhabitable because a shared sewer lateral was severed; staff and commissioners asked Habitat to return with sewer cost estimates and a timeline for permitting and lot division.
At a Manhattan City Commission work session, Habitat for Humanity of the Northern Flint Hills described a two-home project at Dickens and Reith and requested $25,000 per unit in workforce-housing sales-tax assistance. Josh Brewer, Habitat’s executive director, said the organization negotiated a purchase price of $100,000 for the Oak Grove School property they plan to rehab and that the combined workforce-housing ask for the two homes is $50,000. “Our ask is, $25,000 of support per project,” Brewer said.
Staff told commissioners the site currently lacks sanitary sewer service because a shared lateral was lined and, in the process, the connection to the applicant’s property was severed, rendering the property uninhabitable until service is restored. Randy DeWitt, who briefed the commission on sewer options, said possible remedies include (1) rebuilding a private lateral (which would require permission from neighboring property owners), (2) extending public sanitary sewer within the existing public-utility easement, or (3) exploring benefit-district approaches. DeWitt noted the city has no specific policy for installing public sewer for a single property and that each option carries different cost, easement and permitting implications.
Commissioners asked for ballpark costs and timelines. Brewer estimated sewer reconnection costs “anywhere from 30 to 40,000” and said permitting and public-improvement timing would govern when the rehabilitation could be completed. Commissioners asked staff and the applicant to return with a detailed cost estimate for the sewer work, a timeline for permitting and an explanation of whether an administrative lot split or a replat would be required; they also discussed whether workforce-housing funds or utility funds should be used for sewer work and sought agreement about affordability protections (price caps or community land trust stewardship) for any for-sale units.
