The town of Jay and six homeowners throughout Essex County are set to benefit from more than $1,131,000 in funding from the state’s Community Development Block Grant program, which provides funding for infrastructure projects and housing rehab for low- to moderate-income New York residents.

This year’s round of $33 million in CDBG funding, announced Tuesday, carves out $298,000 for the town of Jay to improve accessibility at its community center and another $450,000 for Essex County to offer home improvement assistance to six low- to moderate-income residents across the county.

–

Essex County

–

Deputy Essex County Manager Mike Mascarenas said that Essex County subcontracts with the Housing Assistance Program of Essex County to apply for and manage the CDBG funds for Essex County. Mascarenas added that HAPEC applies for the grant “pretty much annually” to help make Essex County communities “more viable” with funding for housing remediation projects.

To decide which six projects in Essex County will get the funds, HAPEC Associate Director Megan Murphy said HAPEC will consult its “substantial” waitlist of people who have applied for home repair assistance through HAPEC’s home repair program. But first, she said, the county will have to draw up a contract with the CDBG. Then she said HAPEC could find people who have been on the waitlist the longest and start the qualification process.

Murphy said HAPEC often contracts with the county, and with specific towns within the county — like the town of North Elba — to apply for and carry out CDBG projects. The town of Lewis also received $383,000 for housing rehab and assistance in this round of CDBG funding, and Murphy said that was applied for through a contract with HAPEC. She said the grants have to be spent within two years, and the county attaches a lien to each grant recipient’s property for the amount of the grant. The lien diminishes by 20% every year for five years. If the homeowner moves out before the lien is up, she said, they’d have to pay back the remaining cost of repairs.

–

Jay

–

Jay town Supervisor Matt Stanley said that Jay’s CDBG will go toward renovating the ramp that leads to the town’s community center, as well as making the center’s doors more accessible, replacing a diesel generator with a propane generator and installing a lift to the second floor of the center.

Stanley said that when he was elected town supervisor this past November, one of his top priorities was to get more use out of the town’s community center — specifically, he said, he’d like to see a program in the center where teens interact with the town’s older residents.

“Right off the bat, the things we need are to make it so our seniors can get in and out of the building better,” Stanley said.

Stanley said the town will start planning its first steps in spending the CDBG money over the next couple of weeks. He doesn’t think the grant will completely cover the costs of the renovations as the price of construction materials continues to reach all-time highs.

“We’ll see what we can do and what bids come back so that we can see exactly what we can use this grant for,” he said.

New York’s CDBG program is federally-funded, and it’s administered by New York State Homes and Community Renewal.