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Recent Grants in the Planning Department Some recent grants sought and obtained by the Planning Department: Community Development Block Grant, Community Planning Grant, Housing, $8,000. This $8,000 grant will permit the City of perform a housing assessment. The funds are federal, flowing through the state. The City Council in January identified housing affordability as a priority for a two-year period. Looking at the housing situation comprehensively will allow the city to work with housing groups and developers to address housing issues. The City will put up $4,100 toward the project. The CDBG program has frequently been a source of outside revenue for city programs. Last year we received $300,000 toward the drainage, sewer and sidewalk upgrades in the Temple Pleasant, Green Street area. This project begins with an inventory of existing housing, including the type, age, purchase and rental cost and affordability, local barriers, vacancy rates, new housing construction, subsidized and public housing, population trends and demographic information on local residents. The inventory will explore issues such as blight, accessibility, code enforcement, local barriers to housing production, and rehabilitation needs. The inventory will consider elderly housing, assisted living, special needs housing, family housing, homelessness, and the impact of the local transportation system on housing opportunity. Energy efficiency has emerged as an especially critical component of affordability, and energy conservation, weatherization, and related services will be explored. The results of the inventory will be used to determine what are the most critical housing issues in Saco and the region, and which might be successfully addressed. Certified Local Government (for Historic Preservation), $7,000 This project will develop a Historic Resource Design Manual to help the Historic Preservation Commission with its duties. It will also assist homeowners and property owners when planning renovations in downtown Saco. The city will match this federal grant with $4,667. The design manual will be at least 40 pages with many color photographs of local and regional examples, illustrations, and explanatory text relating local and regional building forms to the ordinance standards. It will also be adapted for the web. Preserve America, $38,500 Maine Humanities Infrastructure, $10,000 These two grants will create permanent regional history exhibits at the Saco Museum, at the new Saco Transportation Center, and as a traveling exhibit for the schools. The grant will support both local education programs and regional heritage tourism promotion efforts. The Dyer Library/Saco Museum is the City's partner in this program. |
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