Block grant to help fund Windsor apartment complex

By CHRIS FROST
Eagle Times News Editor
WINDSOR, VT — The Select Board approved a property complex transfer during its Tuesday, Dec. 12, meeting. An apartment complex is proposed for the lot behind the Diner and is scheduled to close on Thursday, Dec. 21.

The Town of Windsor was awarded a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) intended to make childcare more available, make public spaces more accessible and add affordable housing.

“It will happen, Thursday, Dec. 21,” said Town Manager Tom Marsh. “I have to sit through a conference call every Wednesday at 1 p.m. with about 19 people on it. They are the finance state regulators, all these people who are involved, and there is a whole bunch of paperwork that is coming down the pike.”

Several Vermont senators were in support of the grants and said so in a joint statement.

“The Community Development Block Grant program helps create stronger and more resilient communities here in Vermont and around the country. This federal investment will jumpstart meaningful improvements in towns and cities across the state. CDBG funds provide the resources our communities need to make critical projects a reality. We look forward to seeing Vermonters benefit from this important work,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Peter Welch and Rep. Becca Balint.

This round of CDBG and RHP funds were awarded to 11 projects, including the Windsor project that supports the construction of a new building with 25 mixed income rental apartments.

Marsh said WIC owns the property.

“The town will have the road that goes up to the parking lot that’s going to be a town road, and they will put some utilities under that,” Marsh said. “We’re going to have to convey that, so I had to sign some paperwork related to that, as well as some electrical easements.”

A state agency relayed another grant, a downtown transportation one, to Marsh in conversation.

“We got a grant to build a sidewalk in front of the Diner 10 years ago,” he said. “He said it was one of the first ones that he worked on, so when we talked about housing development, knocking down a burnt house, clearing that lot, getting that done, putting the sidewalk in, trying to find somebody, anybody, that would want that piece of property back there; it wasn’t for lack of trying, but we’re finding out now that it costs $1 million to clean up the dirt there because of Vermont regulations, whatever you think of them, but now there’s going to be a $16 million building there. It’s probably going to get valued at about $4 million, but it’s going to improve our tax base.”