Town moves forward with project

Published 1:36 pm Thursday, January 18, 2018

The Commonwealth Regional Council’s (CRC) meeting on Wednesday will include discussion of a housing rehabilitation project in the Town of Dillwyn.

Todd Fortune

Dillwyn was announced as one of 15 localities in Virginia receiving grants, according to a news release from former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Sept. 15.

The Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) aid localities in Virginia to complete projects improving health care access, water and sewer infrastructure, downtown revitalization, public safety and housing rehabilitation, according to the news release.

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Dillwyn’s Housing Rehabilitation Project was awarded a total of $176,300 for the project.

Community Development Planner Todd Fortune, with the CRC, said the project would rehabilitate six homes on the project site, which includes Culbreth Street and parts of White, Carter, Hancock and Conner streets.

One house, Fortune said, will be torn down and rebuilt — a process called a “substantial reconstruct.” He said the house’s owner has had to live elsewhere as the home became uninhabitable.

In a Jan. 8 memorandum Fortune cited that the town has until April 12 to complete pre-contract activities and execute a grant agreement with the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).

“The town was recently granted an extension of the original deadline, due to a delay in executing a programmatic agreement with the Department of Historic Resources (DHR),” Fortune noted in the memorandum. “As of Jan. 8, two main pre-contract items were still pending.”

The pre-contract items include the programmatic agreement with DHR, which is the last piece needed to complete the required environmental review for the project.

“The agreement allows for DHR to review plans for rehab before any work is bid out for construction,” Fortune cited. “I am waiting to hear back from DHR on one final change to the agreement before it can be finalized and executed.”

The memorandum noted that the town is waiting on a decision from DHCD on a proposed revision to the project budget, which was requested by DHCD.

“The housing rehab specialist hired by the town has provided updated cost estimates for the participating house, and I have used those numbers to revise the project budget,” Fortune cited. “The revision is being reviewed by DHCD. As a reminder, DHCD had authorized the town to incur pre-contract costs related to the project and a Memorandum of Understanding has been executed for the CRC to work with the town on this project in advance of a formal agreement for assistance,” Fortune said.

The CRC meeting was originally set for Jan. 17 but was rescheduled to Jan. 24 due to a winter weather advisory.