Phil Dodd
Country Club Road’s infrastructure and Plainfield’s 20-unit housing project could each get a major funding boost.
The city of Montpelier and the town of Plainfield each appear poised to receive state flood grant funding; $5 million for Montpelier, and $5.2 million for Plainfield.
Country Club Road Infrastructure
The city of Montpelier originally applied for $5.225 million to pay for bringing larger water and sewer lines to its Country Club Road (CCR) property and to rebuild the site’s access road, including a sidewalk and bike lane.
The access road project is key to the city’s plans to develop housing on the 133-acre property. A city council subcommittee is currently in the process of meeting with and choosing between four firms that have proposed developing between 249 to 340 housing units.
“It is very big news for us,” said Mike Miller, director of the Montpelier Planning and Community Development Department. He said the grant means the road can be built, though the city is not yet certain whether it will use this flood grant or a federal transportation grant it has applied for to pay a portion of the cost. The city has already received a $3 million Northern Border Commission grant toward what could be a total of an $11 million road and infrastructure project.
The project still needs environmental permits and to be coordinated with the Department of Public Works, Miller said, so he could not predict when construction of the access road project would begin. “If we could break ground in mid-2027, I would be extremely happy,” he said.
At an April 2 meeting of the Vermont Community Development Board, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development staff recommended that two of five flood grant applications — including Montpelier’s application — be approved. The board agreed with the recommendations, and a final decision by the agency Secretary is expected within a week.
Bringing Housing to Plainfield
The other application recommended for approval was for $5.2 million to build infrastructure and a portion of the costs to construct 20 new housing units, 14 of which are for low- and moderate- income households, on a 24-acre parcel in Plainfield. Four duplexes will be built by Central Vermont Habitat for Humanity, and two buildings of six condominium units each will be built by HONE Homes, LLC, of Montpelier.
The 20-unit project is a scaled-back version of a 40-unit plan that had been proposed by the town of Plainfield for the same parcel; Plainfield voters killed the project by defeating a proposed bond. The private, nonprofit Plainfield Community Development Corporation will now be purchasing that parcel, but with plans to build half the number of units, according to Corporation Treasurer Arion Thiboumery.
Denied Again
Three other applications denied by the state in an earlier round of funding were again denied in this second round: a $2.5 million proposal by Downstreet to elevate and rehabilitate 45 apartment units in a building at 87 Elm Street in Montpelier (the organization has already raised $7.9 million for the project), a $5.1 million request by the city of Barre for buyouts and elevations of 12 properties, and a $1.5 million request by the city of Barre for funds to acquire and demolish four flood-damaged properties and rebuild above the base flood level.
Because of the rejections, the state still has $4.2 million in flood grant funds for housing projects, which it plans to award in August, with the application deadline yet to be announced. The state originally received $67.8 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds for grants related to the 2023 flood, and gave away about $53.3 million in an earlier round, which left $14.5 million available for this round.
