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January 20, 2010
Bellingham Housing Rehabilitation Grant
The Board of Selectmen are seeking your support in our effort to obtain funding from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to conduct a housing rehabilitation program in south Bellingham, and to replace aging roofs at Wrentham Manor, the Bellingham Housing Authority Property in South Bellingham..
The housing rehabilitation program would assist low- and moderate-income households with funds to repair their homes. Eligible repairs include, but are not limited to, roofing, heating systems, plumbing and electrical upgrades, new windows, siding, accessibility modifications, septic repairs or sewer tie-ins as well as de-leading. Financial assistance is provided in the form of a 0% interest deferred payment loan that only needs to be repaid if your property is sold within 15 years of project completion.
Roofs at Wrentham Manor are 35 years old and in deteriorated condition – at the end of their useful life. Funding from this grant would allow the Bellingham Housing Authority to replace the roofs on these buildings in order to preserve and protect its limited stock of subsidized housing for Bellingham’s lowest income elderly and disabled residents.
We are seeking letters of support for this program. The letter should be addressed to the Bellingham Board of Selectmen and mailed to or dropped off at the Town Administrator’s Office by no later than February 1, 2010. The Board of Selectmen will meet that evening and vote on submitting the grant application.
Your letter can be handwritten, typed or emailed (DFraine@BellinghamMA.org), long or short, and written in your own words. We’ve enclosed a list of sample points made in other support letters to give you some ideas, but the key is to express support for the grant application and the need of Bellingham’s low and moderate income residents for assistance with making repairs to their properties.
The Town has contracted with Community Opportunities Group, Inc. to prepare this grant application. Please feel free to contact Paula Stuart at 617-542-3300 extension 303 if you have questions about the grant application or the proposed projects suggested for funding.
BELLINGHAM HOUSING REHABILITATION PROGRAM
IDEAS FOR SUPPORT LETTERS
- The program provides low and moderate income homeowners (particularly those who are elderly or disabled and living on fixed incomes) to make much-needed repairs to their homes that they could not otherwise afford.
- The program provides expert technical assistance to homeowners by pre-qualifying contractors who are licensed and insured and by inspecting work as it is completed to verify that work completed is of the highest quality.
- The program can make home modifications that make homes more safe and accessible to elderly or disabled property owners (such as wheelchair ramps, bathroom modifications, etc) that allow property owners to remain in their homes as they age or become disabled.
- The program assists the very property owners who are least able to obtain bank financing to make repairs, due to the current economic slump and decrease in real estate values.
- Financing is provided in the form of a 0% interest deferred payment loan. The property owner need not repay the loan as long as they do not sell or otherwise transfer their property for 15 years. At the end of 15 years, the loan is forgiven. Homeowners who sell their properties within the 15 year period pay back only the original amount of the loan. Funds repaid to the town are then used to assist other eligible property owners.
- Repairs made to eligible properties can increase the property value of the home that is repaired, and can benefit the larger neighborhood by visually improving the area, or addressing health or safety issues (such as failing septic systems or unsafe porches or walkways).
- Projects will provide local contractors with business opportunities during this difficult economic time while assisting homeowners with the costs of making much needed repairs.
BELLINGHAM HOUSING AUTHORITY
WRENTHAM MANOR ROOF REPLACEMENT PROJECT
IDEAS FOR SUPPORT LETTERS
- Wrentham Manor is located in South Bellingham and its 7 residential buildings house 56 very low income elderly and disabled households.
- This development represents nearly half of the 120 subsidized public housing units in the Town of Bellingham.
- The roofs at Wrentham Manor are 35 years old, in deteriorated condition and at the end of their useful life. Replacing these roofs would protect the buildings from water infiltration and help to preserve this scarce resource for decades to come.
- Funding for capital improvements to Public Housing Authority-owned properties is quite limited and competition for those funds is fierce as the state’s public housing stock is aging.
- Replacement of roofs at Wrentham Manor is, eligible this year for the first time in several years, for funding under the Massachusetts CDBG program, and there is no guarantee that this project will be eligible in future years, making it imperative for the town to seek these resources this year as part of its grant application.
- This construction project will be built under state and federal prevailing wage laws, providing opportunities for local construction contractors and good paying jobs for their workers.
TOWN OF BELLINGHAM
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
Bellingham Overview
Bellingham is a moderate sized residential community situated on the I-495 corridor on the southwestern, semi-rural fringe of metropolitan Boston at the Rhode Island border. Although settled since the colonial era, the town has never experienced any prolonged periods of intensive industrial or commercial development. Bellingham evolved from agricultural village to rural small town and to bedroom suburb without becoming an important economic center. However, over the past 20 or so years this development pattern has been changing substantially.
The dramatic upsurge in business activity in Bellingham is a consequence of many factors. The heavy development of Boston’s inner suburbs and towns along Route 128 has resulted in land shortages, high prices and congestion, leading to increasing the attractiveness of development of the I-495 area. Today, Bellingham has a much larger commercial base, due also in part to changing local attitudes and improvements to public infrastructure. The town is also attracting able and committed developers. Unlike the past, Bellingham is now prepared for and strongly interested in economic growth. Bellingham is strongly committed to providing good municipal services. This commitment is best typified by the recent construction of a new library, fire station, municipal building, senior center, elementary and
high schools, as well as recent improvements in the town’s playgrounds and recreational facilities.
A Comprehensive Planning Process – Community Outreach and Participation C
Bellingham has engaged in a comprehensive community-based planning process over the last decade, involving all segments of the community at each step along the way. The Bellingham that residents envision has been made clear through citizen input at numerous workshops and forums held as part of the master planning process and other planning initiatives; in fiscal and policy decisions made at Annual Town Meeting and at the polls; and from advocacy positions taken by community leadership that are backed with community support. All of these activities demonstrate that “local needs have been identified and priorities determined in a comprehensive manner.” Citizens’ input, visions and desires have been captured in various planning documents that have guided policy, growth and (re)development in Bellingham to
this point and that will continue to do so in the future.
The Town is currently updating the Bellingham Master Plan. Originally adopted in 1998 and now under review and revision, this is the primary document that identifies the kind of town residents want Bellingham to become by addressing “the potential threats and moving to secure a desirable community” through 2020. In the master plan document, goals and objectives are identified for ten key areas of interest: Land Use and Growth, Town Center, Housing, Community and Economic Development, Community Facilities, Circulation, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Open Space and Recreation, and Cultural Resources.
The Bellingham Community Action Statement also guides the town administration’s important decisions. It was developed with the cumulative efforts of the Finance Office, Department of Public Works, Bellingham Public Schools, Conservation Commission, Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator, Planning Board, Parks Department, Fire Department, and Police Department, as well as many other boards and committees and town residents. Town needs are identified in the areas of Administration, Budget, Finance, Accounting and Assessing, Community and Economic Development, Housing, Land Conservation, Parks and Recreation, Planning and Zoning, and Public Works. The initial CAS (later revised) was written two years prior to the master plan, and many of
the concerns that Bellingham identified at that time carried through to the 1998 Bellingham Master Plan.
Other topic-specific planning efforts that Bellingham has completed include: the Open Space and Recreation Plan for Bellingham, Blackstone and Franklin; the Capital Improvements Plan; the Water Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Report and a “Smart Growth” study and plan for a mixed-use zoning overlay to encourage development of the Pulaski Boulevard corridor in south Bellingham.
The Community Development Strategy
Bellingham has invested considerable time and effort into translating the thoughts and ideas of its citizens and public officials into a Community Development Strategy that is a legitimate basis for and roadmap to becoming a town that reflects the character and ideals its residents value. The community development goals and priorities cited in these and other documents are summarized in this Community Development Strategy.
Goals and Objectives are outlined below in major categories and are followed by a list of actions to be taken in support of those goals and objectives.
Goals and objectives for Land Use:
1. Carefully weigh mistakes and miscalculations from the past in the formulation of the Town’s land use goals and regulations;
2. Realize, minimize, and manage future growth;
3. Balance the use of the land (type of use) and investigate future regional planning possibilities; and
4. Maintain the diversity of living environments and housing that currently exists.
Goals and objectives for Town Center and Village Areas:
5. Build on a major local initiative to create a traditional town center, centered on a newly-created town common;
6. Maintain a user-friendly environment to both automobiles and pedestrians;
7. Allow the Bellingham Town Center to be a place of business, culture and natural surroundings;
8. Develop the Center in the character envisioned by residents and users; and
9. revitalize other neighborhood areas, including redeveloping the Pulaski Boulevard corridor in south Bellingham as an attractive mixed-use district and redeveloping the Pearl Street Mill complex in north Bellingham.
Goals and objectives for Housing:
10. Address housing affordability, target needs and promote diversity; and
11. Direct efforts to the physical and socio-economic conditions of populations that show the greatest need, including rental housing, housing inhabited by the elderly and existing housing stock.
Goals and objectives for Community and Economic Development:
12. Maintain a balanced relationship between housing and job growth;
13. Continue to promote the development of low-impact manufacturing, research, warehousing and other industries in previously-developed areas with appropriate infrastructure and adequate transportation access;
14. Select businesses which best promote the town objectives and help strengthen themselves and those businesses which they surround;
15. Offer lower income and elderly homeowners a place to turn for assistance with rehabilitation; and
16. Offer low- and moderate-income residents of the town additional resources to stabilize and improve their economic status by providing financial literacy training, as well as information about and access to available resources provided by federal, state and local agencies to increase income, decrease expenses, or better manage existing resources.
Goals and objectives for Community Facilities:
17. Provide more adequate programs and facilities for the police and fire departments, local library, Department of Public Works, school facilities and senior center.
Goals and objectives for Circulation:
18. Accommodate through-travel safely with minimal congestion and with the lowest feasible impact on the natural environment;
19. Provide adequate access to all areas of the town for resident convenience while minimizing the intrusion of excess traffic into residential environments; and
20. Provide for modal choice when feasible.
Goals and objectives for Infrastructure:
21. Balance the relationship between development and infrastructure capacity;
22. Adequately serve residents and local businesses in order to protect public health and the environment;
23. Avoid excessive public costs for utilities; and
24. Solve the sewer treatment capacity issue for aging housing areas.
Goals and objectives for Natural Resources:
25. Safeguard natural resources;
26. Preserve what open space the town currently has;
27. Obtain as much as possible in the future;
28. Protect priority habitats, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, scenic landscapes and public water supply resources; and
29. Conserve energy when possible.
Consistency with Sustainable Development Principles
The goals and objectives listed above are consistent with the Commonwealth’s Sustainable Development Principles as shown on the chart below:
|
Sustainable Development Principle |
Goals (from above) meeting principle |
1. |
Concentrate Development and Mix Uses |
1-4,8,9,10,11,14,19,20 |
2. |
Advance Equity |
3-5,8-12,15,20,22,23 |
3. |
Make Efficient Decisions |
1-3,9,12,21 |
4. |
Protect Land and Ecosystems |
1,2,7,13,21,22,24-29 |
5. |
Use Natural Resources Wisely |
1-3,8,9,11,13,15,20,21,24-29 |
6. |
Expand Housing Opportunities |
2-4,8-11,24,29 |
7. |
Provide Transportation Choice |
2,3,6-9,13,19,20 |
8. |
Increase Job and Business Opportunities |
3,7-9,12-14,23 |
9. |
Promote Clean Energy |
15,19,22,23 |
10. |
Plan regionally |
1-3,10-12,18,20,24 |
Actions and Planned Activities
In order to achieve the Goals and Objectives outlined above, a number of actions will be required. As can be seen, these are both policy and regulatory actions as well as “bricks and mortar” projects. These are listed below, with responsible parties, anticipated resources and actions to date in italics shown in parenthesis after the action item:
- Update the Bellingham Master Plan (Annual Town Meeting/Master Plan Task Force/Planning Board – Resident Survey underway, Master Plan Task Form created, initial meetings held);
- Broaden zoning choices for (re)development through the creation of overlay districts (Annual Town Meeting/Planning Board);
- Strengthen regulatory decision-making criteria: review subdivision regulations and propose appropriate zoning amendments (Annual Town Meeting/Planning Board/Town Planner);
- Increase local planning capacity (PT Town Planner position was established in 2001);
- Develop pedestrian facilities like sidewalks, curbing and clear crosswalks (local funds, c.90 funds, CDBG, CDAG, private developers);
- Complete needed road improvements throughout town (local funds, CDBG, c. 90 funds):
- Examine current zoning and propose zoning revisions to create a village center overlay district (Annual or Special Town Meeting /Planning Board/Town Planner) to enhance the environment surrounding the former commercial parcel that the town developed into a new Bellingham Town Common (local funds and private contributions):
- Redevelop the town-owned mill complex (acquired through tax title) in north Bellingham, into a mixed use development, emphasizing elderly housing and/or assisted living (Board of Selectmen, special ad hoc reuse committee, PDF grant application, local funds, initial developer designation made, later rescinded due to developer’s lack of performance, obtained Brownfields grant for site remediation) and create a redevelopment overlay district (approved by a Special Annual Town Meeting);
- Provide technical and financial support, as appropriate, to foster micro- and small- business development (seek state and federal grants, such as EDA, CDBG and PDF)(Development Handbook updated December 2007-forms and applications available online):
- Improve housing quality and conditions, especially for elderly and lower income residents (CDBG, redevelopment of Pearl Street Mill complex);
- Provide high quality and efficient public facilities; since 1997, the town has constructed a new library (town and library grant funds), a senior center (local funds), a new high school (local and SBAB funds), reuse of old high school as middle school (local and SBAB funds), and a new town office building (local funds);
- Manage land use plan with traffic in mind (Planning Board, Town Planner, DPW);
- Investigate alternate north and south routes along with alternate modes (MassHighway);
- Strengthen a local capacity to assess development proposals to ensure that they contribute to sought-after solutions consistent with the Master Plan and Community Development Strategy (Planning Board, Town Planner, DPW Director and other land use regulatory bodies) (GIS Mapping capacity continues to be expanded. DPW currently working with consultants to map water and sewer lines);
Promote water conservation (DPW, DEP grants);
- Explore a water use review in the zoning regulations and revisions of zoning to avoid sewer extensions to new residential development (Planning Board, town planner)(Stormwater Management Handbook completed December 2007 – available online for new and major upgrades to existing developments);
- Fund next stage of sewer development to increase system capacity (bond authorization article defeated at 2002 Annual Town Meeting);
- Provide financial assistance to individual homeowners to upgrade/replace septic systems in areas not served by town sewer (CDBG, DEP SRLF);
- Research potential grant applications and strengthen town regulations relating to water resource protection (Conservation Commission, Charles River Watershed Association);
- Pursue support for the Community Preservation Act;
- Pursue leads for undeveloped land that could be obtained for future protection and preservation (CPA, CGI, DEM);
- Implement EnergyStar requirements for all town-managed projects, including a town-sponsored housing rehabilitation program (various funding sources);
- Maintain current diversity as a theme that runs through each goal and action.
Updating the Community Development Strategy
In December of 2009, two public forums (December 8th and 9th) were held to discuss and update Bellingham’s Community Development Strategy. In order to increase participation, both an evening meeting and an afternoon meeting were held. The evening meeting was conducted in the Arcand Meeting Room at Bellingham Municipal Center on December 8th and an afternoon session was held at the Bellingham Senior Center on Blackstone Street. Both meeting sites are handicapped accessible. At those public forums, participants discussed specific priority needs and projects that were planned or underway to meet those needs. The meetings also included a discussion of the Commonwealth’s Sustainable Development Principles and their relationship to local needs and strategies.
There was a discussion of the upcoming Massachusetts Community Development Block Grant (MCDBG) funding round. Participants were very interested in applying for funds to continue the successful Housing Rehabilitation Program.
In addition to Housing Rehabilitation, a new joint activity was proposed for the 2010 grant application, to provide replace the roofs at the Wrentham Manor elderly housing complex. Tenants and the Housing Authority staff commented upon the need to replace these roofs which are at the end of there useful life.
A Public Information Session was held as part of the January 19, 2009 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, providing a third opportunity for resident involvement and input. This session was advertised in the Milford Daily News and posted in municipal buildings. . Residents who did not have an opportunity to attend one of the two CDS Forums in December had another opportunity to do so at that meeting. The CDS, including the updated list of priority projects, the Commonwealth’s Sustainable Development Principles and the submission of a 2010 MCDBG Application were all discussed and favorably received at the January 19th meeting.
Geographic Target Area for Community Development Activities:
Time and again, at the various public forums and in other discussions of planned and potential community development projects and needs among town officials and residents, the south Bellingham area has been identified as an area of particular need. People agreed that this section of town needs greater levels of assistance and presents real challenges. Compared to other parts of town, the area has a higher percentage of low and moderate income (LMI) households. This area also has a serious need for improved public infrastructure;, a housing stock that is generally more modest, older and more in need of repair; a large population of senior citizens; and land parcels served by existing infrastructure that both contribute to blight and are well-suited for redevelopment, especially on or near Pulaski Boulevard.
Recently, the Town has spent $3.1 million toward a plan to improve Pulaski Boulevard from Crooks Corner to the Franklin line. These local funds have been used for water, sewer and drainage improvements and to design plans for roadway improvements to be funded by the state. The town has now achieved 100% design plans and is listed on the State Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) for $12.1 million in funding in the 2009-2010 timeframe to complete the necessary transportation improvements. Many of the streets, roads and sidewalks in south Bellingham, especially those close to Pulaski Boulevard, are in poor condition and in need of improvements.
A group of Bellingham residents have successfully raised $120,000 in private funds for playground improvements in the Silver Lake Neighborhood. These funds have been turned over to the town which will manage the playground improvement project.
Bellingham has cooperated with the Town of Blackstone on re-building the Lake Hiawatha dam that is located on the Bellingham/Blackstone town line. This project was recently completed.
Two additional Little League fields were added in south Bellingham using local funds, near the South Bellingham Elementary School.
The “South Bellingham Target Area” consists of Census Tract 4431.02, which is best described as the area of town south of Blackstone Street to the Rhode Island border, bordered on the east by Franklin and Wrentham town lines and on the west by Blackstone. This target area has a higher percentage of low-moderate income (LMI) households than the rest of town.
Community Development Strategy Priority Project List:
- Continue the long-established housing rehabilitation program by submitting a regional application with the Town of Blackstone under the MCDBG FY2009 application round, with funds to be used to be made available to LMI households in the target area. Estimated Timeframe: 2009-2011.
- Continue to work with the State on roadway improvements to Pulaski Boulevard from Crooks Corner to the Franklin town line ($12.1 million TIP and ARRA funding ) as outlined in 100% design plans completed by the Town and supported by recently completed water, sewer and drainage work with local funds ($3.1 million). Estimated Timeframe: Planning/design, complete; construction, beginning spring 2010
- Continue to make infrastructure improvements to roads, sidewalks, water and sewers in the target area using local funds and to seek additional funding through other available resources. The Town continues to appropriate funding each year to augment Chapter 90 funds in support of this work. . Estimated Timeframe: planning/design, underway(ongoing); construction 2010 and later
- Improvements to playgrounds for the Silver Lake Neighborhood (using funds raised by local residents from private sources) were completed in the spring of 2009. The Town is now working with the Franklin/Hockomock YMCA to open a summer camp in June of 2010. Estimated Timeframe: 2010
- Complete the disposition and redevelopment of the Pearl Street Mill. Disposition in process; Redevelopment, 2009-2012 (heavily dependent on economy and real estate market). The Town has obtained $300,000 of Brownfield funding for site cleanup. Assessment of the site is complete and cleanup work will be put out to bid in January of 2010. The Town is securing additional sewer capacity in order to make the redevelopment of this site more viable, and will seek additional CDAG and/or PWED grants. Estimated Timeframe: 2010 – forward.
- Replace aging and deteriorated roofs at Wrentham Manor Public Housing Development in order to preserve these 56 units of subsidized housing for very low income elderly and disabled Bellingham residents.
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