Costs & Financing

Where we are and how we got here – Oct 2025

Sep 2024 to Mar 2025 –

• Ad hoc committee initiates project with the goal of breaking ground in summer 2025

• Engineer and architect budget $2.5 million for a bare-boned project (no paved roads, no buried powerlines, light project management, etc.)

• Streamlined budget aims to finance project solely through lot sales

• Archived budget and financing info

March 2025 –

• Town vote approves opening reserve fund for project

• Now an official town project, Select Board appoints new advisory committee

April 2025 –

• New committee engages cost estimator to review the budget, resulting in a more conservative estimate, closer to $5 million

• 4/17/25 Budget Worksheet

Spring 2025

• The EVEAC identifies a “Plan A” and “Plan B” for financing the project, acknowledging neither may be the sole source of funding.

Plan A

o   Apply for possibility Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds – up to $10 million available per project; project well-suited as housing infrastructure is especially favored for grant; will require slower timeline and significantly increased expenses; can accommodate non-essential elements (buried powerlines, paved roads, significant project management)

Plan B

o   Utilize funding available from new CHIP bill in which loans for housing infrastructure are repaid with future tax revenue from that new housing – would require streamlined budget and lot sales revenue; could require building on land the public would prefer to keep as open space

Summer 2025

• The committee actively pursues Plan A to apply for CBDG-DR funds (due Sep 30) working closely with Town Grants Administrator, Karen Hatcher, and hires grant writer, Liz Curry

• The budget expands significantly to both meet the requirements of the grant (archeology studies, environmental reviews, significant project and grant management, and significant contingencies) and to take advantage of the $10 limit to include all applicable desired elements, such as $1.1 million of funding for Downstreet Housing & Community Development to build 5 shared equity owner-occupied homes.

• While changes are anticipated before final submission, the current budget for CDGB-DR  application is $9.4 million as of 9/11/25

• 9/11/25 Budget Worksheet

Fall 2025

• The Select Board submitted the CDGB-DR grant on 9/30/25 for the final amount of $9.7 million with development costs for the East Village Expansion

• Final CDBG-DR application

• 9/30/25 Budget submitted with CDBG-DR application

The Future

• The Town expects to hear results of the CDGB-RD application this winter. If awarded a grant the town is not obligated to take the funds – whether this is due to undesirable terms or any other reason.

• The November 4th bond vote will determine whether to authorize the Town to loan low-interest funds to purchase the land. If it passes, the additional preparedness of the project will strengthen the position of the grant and create and avenue for moving forward, should the Town receive adequate grant funding.

• Note: even if the Nov 4 bond vote passes, the purchase and sales agreements on the parcels of land require all project financing to be in place before the Town can complete the purchase.

• Whether incorporating CBDG-DR funds, CHIP funding or other financing means, the project budget will continue to evolve to meet existing and anticipated circumstances, including an additional evaluation by a cost estimator. Final construction bids for all aspects of the project will be reviewed simultaneously prior to the start of construction to ensure that project bids are within budget before funds are spent (most permitting and engineering funds will have been spent by this point).